Behind the windows of every shop there are not only clothes mannequins, shoes and all kinds of exhibits. Everything has its own logic and in order to enter this unfamiliar world, one has to enter a different work perspective. We therefore understand how to become a visual merchandiser.
It does not only require a strong sensitivity towards a certain type of order or a particular play of light. This figure, which is developing more and more in Italy and abroad (just think of London Capital of Visual Merchandising) and to which owners and operators of businesses rely on to increase thevisual impact of one's business with the public, it must transform the display of the product into a true instrument of for sale. Often, in fact, during a walk through the streets of the city centre one is caught by something, a potential purchase. But sometimes you don't realise that if that element stands out among so many, it is precisely because behind it there is the study of an expert in the field who has knowingly decided to emphasise one particular element over another.
To understand how to become a visual merchandiser it is necessary to define this figure exactly, simply by translating the two words. We speak of 'merchandise visualisation', in the sense of caring for theexposureof the graphics and the setting to be proposed to the public. This figure has a strong communication side that is expressly requested by companies and is strongly linked to all professions related to the marketing. Indeed, it is to their express merit that customers have an initial approach to the shop and, at the very moment they pause to admire the shop window, they become possible buyers. Who would enter the premises of a shabby business, which conveys nothing sensory and whose displays are just a pile of clothes or randomly placed objects? Few, if any. Sight is in fact the first sense to be stimulated and in order for it to translate into something tangible, it is necessary for our brain to match a particular piece of clothing (for example) with something personally beautiful to wear.
Follow fashion to become a visual merchandiser
But for become a visual merchandiser it is also necessary to keep up-to-date with the latest trendswith the fashion last minute. With the unique objective of increasing and conveying the desirability of the products. Setting and graphics also go hand in hand with the individual display. A sophisticated play of light helps to brighten up a showcaseor even a couple of shoes positioned in a certain way, with the light of a spotlight creating the right shadows can help make them more attractive.
The continued growth of the fashion retail is giving many creative people the opportunity to approach the visual merchandising sector. A figure that, as already mentioned, has become a firm and indispensable point for companies and private individuals and that, to date, has branched out into different subcategories. There is in fact the industry visualswhich deals with a certain type of merchandise for sale. Then there is the visual designerwhich manages the online sales of a brand, working closely with web designers and graphic designers. For the more ambitious, finally, one can also aim to become visual managerthe so-called 'boss' who, on the strength of previous experience, supervises and coordinates the work of a visual merchandiser team. These constitute an additional marketing strategy to be combined with the work of the traders who are often in constant search of this figure to add lustre to their activities.
Visual Merchandising from Stewart Lucas on Vimeo.
The Italian Design Institute's Visual Merchandiser course
Italian Design Institute organises courses for those who want become a Visual Merchandiserin the locations of Milan and Rome.
The programme consists of the following topics:
- Definitions and phases
- Know-how and communication
- The target consumer
- Strategic and sensorial marketing
- Image communication: persuasion, suggestion
- Direct and indirect references to decorative symbols
- Image and store personality
- Color: psychological, physical and cultural factors at the point of sale
- The store semiotic
- Origins, characteristics and evolutions
- Building and communication elements: decompression zone, entrance focus, focal points, display points, mirrors, cashier, dressing rooms
- Mono-brand, multi-brand, flagship, concept, boutique and free-standing stores, temporary stores, pop-up stores, guerrilla stores, supermarkets
- Definition and language
- Structural elements: construction, psychology and communication
- Focal point: positioning, types of construction, function
- Depth and balance of the symmetrical and asymmetrical composition
- The wall: definition, technical constructions and reading levels
- Horizontal and vertical display: construction, psychology and reading
- Hanging and folded clothing display: construction rules, strategies, reading
- Visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory and gustatory factors
- Shopping experience and profitability
Thanks to a specific programme, participants can learn the tools, the Visual Merchandising Languages and Strategies and learn how to develop the dynamics of a contemporary store, develop a technically effective window display proposal, learn and apply display techniques by defining correct guidelines to implement the profitability of a store, as well as using new technologies that make the in-store experience interactive.
The programme is completed with a set-up studio phase on materials used in visual design, language, construction and design.
The phases of the training course
The IDI visual merchandiser course consists of several stages:
- Preparatory lessons: texts for home study and lessons on online platform
- Classroom phase: 48 hours of lectures with top professionals
- Project work with individual project realisation
- Internship phase: 200-hour internship at partner companies in the country
If you also want to become a visual merchandiserwhose task is to make the windows of the shopsSee the Italian Design Institute courses.
