LIM College

by Erin Meade (Class of 2013)

At LIM College, the Product Presentation course is taught by Paul Olszewski, the Visual Director at Macy’s. As a senior, this is my last visual merchandising class (bittersweet). For this class, we were asked to create four window displays using the same product. Prof. Olszewski gave us this assignment to see if we really understand the way each store would hold true to their concept and to find out if we knew how to present the product correctly.

Visual branding is an important factor for visual merchandisers when developing window displays. Many stores carry similar products, but they all have a unique and identifiable look they use to present the product. The focus of this project was perfect for me, as I love to be creative and jump right into projects I have an eye for. It was quite easy to come up with concepts I could relate to the stores I chose.

The stores I chose to do in this line-up were Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s and my own store, called Organics. My head was already spinning with ideas when he gave us the concept at the beginning of the school year.  As I progressed with the concepts, they stayed true to the brand of the store.  I created a concept that would flow throughout the boxes, but stay true to the brand of each window displays.

Louis Vuitton is a very traditional company that creates a sleek look. Therefore, the window I created consisted of five spoons, with a watch lying on the spoons. The second store I chose was Saks. Saks is known for creating a whimsical look; they do personalized designs that create a story. Therefore the box consisted of a whimsical large air balloon swaying in the wind, with the watch displayed on the basket. The third box of course had to be Macy’s! I tackled Macy’s by having the watch look like it is floating in midair, with a garbage-like design of gears attacking the watch. The last box had to be your own design. I decided to use the idea of a waterfall, using crystal marbles and moss that was spray- painted. I placed the watch so it was hanging delicately in the middle of the waterfall.

Below you can see the work I created to show how each store would visual brand the watch.