I wanna talk about working in VM (Visual Merchandising)
My job is cool. I work in a small team of creatives who are fun, inspiring and focused. We are responsible for the overall look of our large three level store. Each of us is attached to a number of specific departments. We receive national guidelines and parameters, but we have huge scope for our own creativity (within reason of course!) And all with a view to enhancing the shopping experience for a customer.
Did u know that if you see a colored wall or wall treatment in a department store, we did it? Did you know that all promotions and seasonal collateral are set up by us? VM teams do more than just change mannequins. But did you know that changing a mannequin is a skill and a talent. And often quite a physical task when you are changing a male mannequin that is taller than you and weighs a ton!
We come up with original creative concepts and execute them- all at store level. We take the directives given and use then as a jumping off point for our dias', displays and VM points. The team I work with is awesome at adding to and enhancing the themes and concepts we are given. I love looking at work done by team mates and thinking, 'Wow! I never would have thought of that!' And then remembering it next time and pushing myself a bit further. Inspiration.
Every day is different. Eg: This week I put a life size horse in the cosmetic department, fixed and painted an old dresser and made a floor lamp to put in a sleepwear display, changed mannequins and hung signage
I guess I just thought people might be interested to know that a very small team is responsible for what you see in a department store. Oh, and we don't work in the middle of the night like the crazy dude and Andrew McCarthy did in 'Mannequin'.
Did you know visual merchandising was a job? Did you like the movie Mannequin?
LOL - I didn't see the movie Mannequin and I had no idea that there was a team of people responsible for all that you do. (I thought it was the fairies in the middle of the night !!!) I was going to say that I have never seen anyone doing that while I have been in the store but given I don't shop at ''my store' - that probably isn't strange !!!
ReplyDeleteHave the best weekend lovely lady !
Me
What a cool job to have. I'd never put an awful lot of thought into how the displays get there and just assumed the floor staff dressed the mannequins.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was about 8 yrs old, we were shopping at Kmart one day and as I walked past a display with my Mum, the mannequin moved... it was actually a guy standing there posing! It scared the utter crap outta me!!! lol.... Thankfully, I don't have a phobia of Mannequins due to that experience. haha