Response to Peter Baker Article

The article by Peter Baker was very insightful to the amount of different skills and jobs Visual Merchandisers actually have. His outline of the knowledge needed for VMs is very interesting since it’s very applicable to a lot of jobs, and helpful in understanding VMs.

The three areas of knowledge he outlines include;

technical subject matter expertise-meaning the news, techniques, and technology with the visual industry. He also explains Business Industry Knowledge – which includes the incorporation of business ideas and managerial skills in project, and finally Global Regional Perspective which is the use of market trends and cultural/geographical differences as a lens for your work.

This triple viewpoint approach to VM can have beneficial effects to your overall work giving way to a more well rounded approach to a project; artistically active, cost effective, and accessible to all audiences.

Baker’s approaches to gaining greater knowledge of the industry include walking the streets on NYC, art galleries, trade shows, movies, and so many other highly accessible mediums. Staying current and relevant remains a major part of any industry, especially since experts remain in jobs!

Here’s my Surrealist project we did in class, I honestly am halfway satisfied with it. I find that my projects have been coming out sloppy, and I think it’s time I start taking more care in making sure they’re high quality projects. The objective was to make a Surrealist window display.

Response to Chapter 5

In chapter 5, I read about the various types of display settings which include; realistic, semi-realistic, environmental, fantasy, and abstract.  All have specific benefits, challenges, and moods; each one is used to describe the two main classifications of visual display, institutional & promotional.  Institutional displays are used to help the community and don’t show any merchandise from the store, while promotional displays promote merchandise you can purchase in the store.  When creating a display, both institutional or promotional, you want to use the different types of displays.  Different type of displays are one -item, line of goods, related goods, & variety of goods.  This chapter was very informational, and had amazing examples of whatever it would be talking about at that point in the chapter.   The chapter was organized and easy to read.  I enjoyed reading the chapter, and learned a lot.  I thought the concept of a build up display was so cool. 

What inspires me the most when doing everyday tasks, or even planning an entire event that can change someone’s life… is the circle of life. The culmination of all your work, from thoughts in your head to a finished project. I can’t even compare the feeling of pure happiness I get when I’m part of this process.