Interior Design for Retail Course @ Central St. Martins, student guest blogger Beverly Chan

Beverly Chan, Environmental Designer, Vancouver, Canada:

Over the last two weeks, having visited factories, learned from artisans, and seen all that goes on behind the scenes of Visual Merchandising, the experience I am most grateful for has been the opportunity to witness works of truly captivating craftsmanship – crafts that have been made even more beautiful by their modest nature and understated importance in the worlds of Retail and Design.
For instance, although the Mannequin manufacturing industry was the last place I would’ve thought to find such a unique craft, it was during our visit to meet Tanya Reynolds at Proportion-London that I discovered a newfound appreciation for the interdisciplinary world of Retail Design. In particular, Proportion-London stands out in my memory because I admire their consideration and care for the finer details. I think their approach to implement antique, innovative, and global influences is very successful: they preserve older techniques that have been passed down from the early 1900s (to create their signature papier-mâché mannequins), they are experimenting with eco-friendly methods and materials, and they continually source inspiration from artefacts from around the world. Companies like this give me hope for the future of Retail Design!
Thank you again, Jonathan, Aarti, Ayu, Barbara, Elsa, Nimet, Sezen, Youjung! It has been an honour getting to know you all… (Next time: World Tour!)

Interior Design for Retail Course @ Central St. Martins, Guest Blogger

Sezen Umitli, Interior Architecture student, Turkey:

I thought that I would spend my Summer vacation doing something useful that would help my future, would be an advantage to me, but also to have fun too. After some research I found Central St. Martins College but still I was worried about the way that the lessons would be delivered. Our tutor, Jonathan Baker sent all of us an e-mail explaining about the course beforehand which was so welcoming and friendly. In fact from the very first day, I made really good friends from various countries such as Canada, Malaysia, Spain, Korea, India and also from Turkey which is my own country. We travelled all over the City of London together and listened to Jonathan's lectures which were not merely just beneficial for learning all kinds ideas about design, but also enabled us to socialize and to prepare the basis of our future lives. We had the chance to visit the back stage of every best place under the subjects of Lighting, Graphic Design, Brands, Exposition, the Mannequin industry (and so on…) at places such as Iguzzini Lighting, Concorde Graphics, The Museum of Branding, In-store Show at London's Olympia, Proportion-London Showroom, Adel Rootstein's and Madame Tussauds’ Factory. These places are very serious in the Design field and normally not everyone can have these opportunities or be allowed to see them. Thus we all are so grateful to our tutor Jonathan Baker for guiding us and also for being so caring with great patience too.
Barbara, Nimet, Beverly, Youjung, Aarti, Rahayu and Elsa, I am so happy to have met you all!!!
Hope to see you again as soon as possible. Our tutor Jonathan Baker, I would like to thank you for everything.

Interior Design for Retail @ Central St. Martins, Guest Blogger Student Aarti Mittal

Aarti Mittal, owner of Bloom, New Delhi, India.
As a student of the Interior Design for Retail course at Central St. Martins it was pleasurable to learn about Visual Merchandising and the impact it can have on its customers. As a retailer in India I have always felt the need to be creative in my store but now I know the importance of visual displays. These Mannequins (below) might not seem very important in a visual display but they give a customer an idea of a brand image even before they enter a store. The kind of Mannequin, its size? shape? colour? features? all need to be like the target customer that the brand is targeting. A Mannequin might seem to be the secondary object compared to the accessories and clothing but without it, the picture is incomplete. These are my favorite Mannequins as my style is bohemian and these Mannequins and bust froms from Proportion-London definitely give my brand an identity.

Interior Design for Retail @ Central St. Martins, Student Guest Blogger

On completion of the Interior Design for Retail Course I asked students to present their projects and to reflect on their experience of London. Here, Nimet Bekar, an Architecture Student from Turkey presents her new concept Shoe Retail experience and offers her thoughts about London. I wanted to photograph the students individually to give them the credit and ownership that they deserved for their hard work. We decided that rather than photograph each other against a White background we would project images from our favourite Artists, Designers, Architects etc. onto ourselves. Following howls of laughter students began giving each other projected moustaches and coloured make overs - the above right image of Nimet is just one of the results.

Nimet Bekar:

This is my second time in London but my first time as a designer in this city. One of the things I like about London is the harmony between past and present and even future. While I was walking around in London during my time here, so many things caught my eye like the contemporary bridge leading to the historical St. Paul's Cathedral. Our class has seen so many neighbourhoods in London on our journey that have been rebuilt after World War II, so you can see lots of buildings which belong to different historical periods. One of the most intriguing scenes I saw was the reflection of an old church in this modern building. Actually I had to take this photo several times because everbody in London is in a rush!

H&M Oxford Circus, London

On an unusually quiet morning I managed to photograph Hennes in Oxford Circus before the crowds of shoppers arrived. Hennes provides a very good example here, where we are able to identify front of store layouts which I have identified as Lakes, Trees and Mountains. There are of course many examples out 'there' of retailers that do this using a low table, fixture and mannequin combination which enables the shopper to view the variety of products at a glance in a small space.

The image below identifies the shoppers flow through the space from the front door to the escalators. The male mannequins are placed at the base of the escalator indicating that menswear is on the first floor. Again the heads and poses of the figures face the customer flow, following the customer as they move through the space.

How to dismantle a Mannequin

Mannequin Components: Full Figures, Detachable Arms, Detachable Hands, Detachable Waist. One Detachable leg, Glass / Metal Base plate, Screwable spigot, Star Plate, Wig, Make-up

•1. Detach arms and hands from the figure. Place you hand on the shoulder of the figure while holding the arm. Lift the arm upwards until you hear it click and unlock, then place it gently on the floor.
•(The codes written on the inside of the arms and shoulders refer to the collection and catalogues from the supplier)

•2. Remove torso from legs by twisting the figure one direction until you hear it click and unlock, placing it carefully on the floor to avoid scratches and chips. Again the code written on the connecting plate refers to the manufacturers catalogues.

•2. Remove legs from the Glass / metal base place by lifting upwards.
•3. Twist the leg gently one direction until you hear the connecting plates click and unlock.
•4. Place the legs gently on the floor.
•5. Begin dressing from the legs upwards reassembling the mannequin in reverse order.

Optical Illusion potential for Retail Environments?

I came across this piece of Art work earlier today on my way to see Carlo Guzzini from Iguzzini Lighting (the artists name was not credited), however I do remember a few years ago seeing one of the Billboards in Earls Court had something similar.

Optical illusions are such fun pieces to view, and I particularly enjoy the reward in eventually seeing the reality (see image below). What I found so interesting about this piece is its possible application into a Commercial Environment as either an installation, promotion of new products or perhaps as a store window display?

Hermes - London

As my students will tell you, I am not a fan of motifs in Design, although I came across these windows in Hermes, London recently which did raise a smile on my face. Bicycles covered in lots and lots of sea shells used as a vehicle (no pun intended) to promote their Summer merchandise. I thought perhaps smaller shells could have been used to really intensify the detail, although they have of course been so expertly produced and I think they do ultimately work very well.

Interior Design for Retail - Central St. Martins

The wonderful thing about the Museum of Branding and Packaging in West London, is being able to see how materials in packaging, images and sizes of products have changed over the past 100 years. The Robert Opie collection has superb examples of historical packaging from the turn of the last century which includes toothpaste which was sold in ceramic dishes, chocolate bars and cigarette packets - many with the original product contained within them. The student group I took this week represented every continent. What is so interesting is how fascinated they were by the variety and the types of product that have been and still are available in the UK.

Below, an opportunity for a group shot of us all in the reflection of a retailers mirror.

Interior Design for Retail Course - Central St. Martins

Following on from the series of Lectures student's attended this week, they also had the opportunity to visit Concorde Graphics factory and Proportion-London's showroom. Julian Marks and Simi Francis from Concorde toured the students around the factory showing them examples of some of the current commercial advertising campaigns they have been working on for some of the larger retailers. Concorde Graphics are never a company to turn down a challenge and students were amused to find examples of the company's work which even included printing onto pieces of toast..!

In the very capable hands of Tanya Reynolds, students were also shown the latest collection from Proportion-London. Tanya explained the various processes and techniques that the company uses and where students could find examples of the work they do which includes just about every major (and minor) retailer.

Church's Shoes - Knightsbridge

Whenever I visit New York, I always enjoy seeing the American flag being flown outside the major department stores - Americans are rightly proud of their flag and it is very much a part of the 'visual' that gives me the feeling that I am in a different country, a foreign culture and enjoy it accordingly

I do love the iconic image of the British flag. Sadly, it has for quite a few years had other connotations, so it was such a pleasure to see the process of it being re-claimed by Church's shoes in Knightsbridge, London as part of their visual merchandising brand image. Whoever has installed these windows also clearly understands how to lay out the merchandise i.e. never showing the inside edge of the shoes.

G-Shock, Carnaby Street

While walking along Carnaby Street today, I came across G-shock. I don't know much about this company, although what is so interesting is how retailers are coming 'out' of their windows more and more. These things are of course common place in New York where the local authority don't seem to be phased by Health and Safety, so it was a real treat to see this almost Graffiti like art painted on the outside of the windows. These things are of course so wonderfully temporary, that I can hardly wait for the next installation as the Seasons change.

Central St. Martins, Interior Design for Retail

Each year I have the opportunity to work on a collaborative project between Central St. Martins @ the University of the Arts, London, and Domus College in Milan. What is so interesting about the students I work with are the diverse Design and Architectural backgrounds from which they come from (Internationally) and it is always so exciting to work with them. During the first day we discussed Creating Visually stimulating Environments, surveying a space, and the diverse ways in which they could begin to research for their set brief. As it was such a hot day in London on the second day of their course the students worked in Hanover Square in the shade of the trees in the middle one of the world most exciting retail areas - London's West End. Later in the same day students had the opportunity to visit the In-store show at London's Olympia.