Building from a Part-Time Job to a Creative Journey: A Visual Merchandising Story
In 2013, at age 19, I was working at a frozen yogurt shop that had steadily been cutting my hours, and I needed a change. As luck would have it, a charming boutique on the same block needed part-time help. What began as just another job transformed into something I could not have imagined. Over the years, I grew to love small business retail and witnessed how local business owners could reach, build, and foster genuine community connections.
I was captivated by how my boss-turned-mentor creatively curated and displayed merchandise, a true art of retail called Visual Merchandising. Something magical happens when taking a simple table of items and transforming them into a display that conveys a specific feeling and mood to others. It felt like watching someone make art. Through years of experience under this mentor's guidance, I've developed an engaging way to maintain these skills as I envision my future.
The Creative Process
To make this process my own, I looked to my current creative practice—Craft Journaling. My approach combines paper, stickers, washi tape, and various other ephemera to create interactive artworks I call Journal Spreads. It's like solving a puzzle or working through a creative problem. This style of journaling lets me communicate both visually and through writing, combining my passions for puzzling, art making, craft journaling, and visual merchandising into something truly unique.
The journey from journal spread to merchandising display begins with selecting random elements - in this case, yellow, pink, zodiac, moon, and stars. I gather crafting elements matching these keywords and create a spread using pink flower stickers, washi tape, mini artist prints, and more. The challenge of connecting the zodiac stickers with heavy black coloring to the yellow and pink theme is solved through thoughtful placement and complementary elements.
After completing the physical piece, I turn to Pinterest to gather digital inspiration and plan the merchandising display. Through this process, I discovered connections between Henri Matisse's vivid colors and organic line work, and Yayoi Kusama's blend of color, flowers, and interplay of graphic and organic shapes. These artistic influences helped shape my bathroom-themed merchandising concept.
From Inspiration to Display
Matisse's "Papiers Découpés" inspired a bathroom theme that combines functionality with artistic flair. The display includes essential categories like linens, storage solutions, fixtures, and décor pieces, all while maintaining a cohesive aesthetic that draws from both Matisse and Kusama's artistic styles.
The color palette centers around yellow and pink, expanding to include other bright and pastel colors. While some elements from the original journal spread, like celestial themes, didn't make it to the final display, new elements like sardines and lemons were incorporated for their pop art aesthetic and bright colors. The addition of checked and striped towels is meant to create a balance between organic shapes and geometric patterns.
The Final Vision
What began as a simple journal spread evolved into a comprehensive bathroom display concept that combines practicality with artistic expression. This process demonstrates that visual merchandising is more than just arranging products - it's an art form that can create magical moments for customers, inspiring them to discover items to make their personal spaces special.
The true joy of visual merchandising lies in creating displays that make people stop, smile, and connect with products in meaningful ways. It's about transforming everyday spaces into sources of inspiration and delight, proving that even the most functional rooms can be elevated through thoughtful, artistic presentation.
