FY2009 Learning Technologies Grants Proposal
(COVER PAGE)
Project Information
Visual Merchandising and Store Design Teaching Stations
Project Title
Jose Blanco F., Assistant Professor
Project Director
Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors
Requesting Department
$ 11,620.00
$0
Amount Requested Year 1 (≤$15,000)
Amount Requested Year 2 (≤$15,000)
Project Director’s Signature
Proposal Endorsement Signatures
Department Head
Dean
Proposal Abstract (100-word maximum)
This project enhances students’ experience with store design and visual merchandising by
providing them with computer stations and software to create store floor plans
(planograms), visual merchandising displays, and other retail plans. The software allows
students to create professional looking projects that complement their learning experience
in the department’s Fashion Promotion and Visual Merchandising course. The computer
stations enhance class assignments associated with planning and executing of a mock
retail store in our Visual Merchandising gallery (Barrow Hall). The innovative software
allows students to develop professional skills and knowledge necessary in a competitive
global economy.
Learning Technologies Grant Proposal, page 2
Visual Merchandising and Store Design Teaching Stations
Section I. Project Description
Introduction
This project enhances students’ experience with store design and visual
merchandising by providing them with computer stations and software to create store
floor plans (planograms), visual merchandising displays, and other retail plans. The
software allows students to create professional presentation portfolios and boards that
complement their learning experience in the department’s recently added course TXMI
4240/6240: Fashion Promotion and Visual Merchandising. The computer stations
enhance class assignments associated with planning and executing of a mock retail store
in our Visual Merchandising gallery (Barrow Hall) and window dressing plans for
downtown Athens stores. The innovative software allows students to develop
professional skills and knowledge necessary in a competitive global economy and puts
the University of Georgia on the leading edge among other schools that offer Fashion
Merchandising and Retail Merchandising programs.
Need Rationale
TXMI 4240/6240: Fashion Promotion and Visual Merchandising is a newly
developed class in the department’s curriculum for students pursuing a degree in Fashion
Merchandising. A number of alumni from the program are employed in areas involving
visual merchandising and fashion promotion and current students often list those
occupations among the top preferences for future careers. The Textiles, Merchandising
and Interiors Department is seeking to emphasize this professional area and expand
students’ abilities to engage in practical professional learning experiences.
The global fashion industry currently depends greatly on the use of innovative
software tools to create models for store design, store floor layouts, and effective visual
merchandising. The store layout and visual merchandising software available at the
requested computer stations (to be located in an office space near the Barrow Hall
gallery) will allow students to use state-of-the-art software to create virtual 3D store
models and floor plans similar to what many retailers around the world use. Students will
also learn how to incorporate digital photography, garment sketches, and fixture symbols
into their planograms and floor plans. In this way our students will learn skills and obtain
knowledge that will aid them in competitiveness in a global economy.
Relevance of the Project to Unit and Students Served
The new class (TXMI 4240/6240: Fashion Promotion and Visual Merchandising)
will be offered for the first time in Spring 2009 (It was previously offered in Summer
2008 as a Special Topics course) and once a year thereafter. At least 40 undergraduate
and 5 graduate students per semester will enroll in the class and use the computer stations
and software. The computer stations will be available to students upon request during
semesters when the class is not offered.
Learning Technologies Grant Proposal, page 3
Visual Merchandising and Store Design Teaching Stations
TXMI 4240/6240 reviews promotion practices in the apparel design, product
development, manufacturing, and retail merchandising environments, including
promotion planning and budgeting, special event organization, advertising, public
relations, publicity, fashion show production, and visual merchandising. The class is
considered an active learning community with several activities culminating in the
production of applied professional projects. Students, working in groups as the promotion
unit for a fashion related business, create a promotion campaign considering aspects
related to advertising, public relations, and special events. The class emphasizes visual
merchandising, an essential component of fashion promotion, by concentrating nearly
half of the semester on the study and analysis of effective visual merchandising practices
based on different display categories and components. The recent opening of a display
gallery in Barrow Hall—as part of the department’s new facilities for the Furnishing and
Interiors major—provides students with the opportunity of re-creating a store
environment in the gallery and practice several visual merchandising techniques during
the semester. Students, once again working in groups, will also complete a final practical
exam by designing a retail environment in the gallery.
Additionally, the Barrow Hall gallery hosts from two to three exhibits per
semester from the Department’s Historic Clothing and Textile Collection and the
department offers a special topics course “Museum Issues in Historic Clothing and
Textiles.” The software requested for the visual merchandising course can also be used to
plan and design historic clothing exhibits, reaching yet another group of students and
allowing the department to better archive and document all exhibits created from the
historic collection.
Nature of Innovation
Visual Retailing will provide a license for Mockshop, a virtual 3D store modeling
tool designed specifically for the fashion industry, to the Department of Textiles,
Merchandising and Interiors as an educational initiative donation. The software license is
valued at $10,000 and it will provide the department with state of the art software that is
widely used by retailers worldwide to design stores and produce store floor layout
planograms. The fully automated program is a state-of-the-art technology that saves
clients planning time and increases productivity by allowing them to create high quality
precise store floor merchandising planograms. The training our students will receive with
this software will give them the edge over graduates from other programs, which
currently do not train students on innovative software programs for store design and
visual merchandising. Reviewers for this grant can learn more about Mockshop by
visiting http://www.visualretailing.com/mock_shop.htm where they will be able to see
sample projects and download a brochure with information about the product.
In addition to Mockshop, the computer stations will also be furnished with other
relevant design software program such as Photoshop and Illustrator and with a large
format scanner and large format printer.
Learning Technologies Grant Proposal, page 4
Visual Merchandising and Store Design Teaching Stations
Section II. Budget
ITEM
QUANTITY
TOTAL COST
REQUESTED
FROM LTG
Computer
Stations
2
(Optiplex 755
Minitower or
similar at
$1600.00 each)
$3,200.00
$3,200.00
PROVIDED
BY OTHER
SOURCES
$0
nVIDIA or
similar ATI
Graphics card
Large Format
Printer
2
($110.00 each)
$220.00
$220.00
$0
1 (HP
DesignJet 130 A1 Plus, ARCH
D or similar)
1
(Microtek
Scanmaker
1000XL Large
Format Scanner
or similat)
1
$1,700.00
$1,700.00
$0
$1,500.00
$1,500.00
$0
$10,000.00
$0
Installation and
Training
Lab/Office
Space
1
$5,000.00
$5,000.00
Provided by
Visual
Retailing Inc.
as a donation to
the department
$0
1
N/A
N/A
Office Supplies
(paper, ink,
etc.)
N/A
N/A
N/A
Large Format
Scanner
Mockshop
Software
TOTAL
$11,620.00
Provided by
Department of
Textiles,
Merchandising
and Interiors
Provided by
Department of
Textiles,
Merchandising
and Interiors
Learning Technologies Grant Proposal, page 5
Visual Merchandising and Store Design Teaching Stations
Budget Justification
Space for the creation of a small Visual Merchandising Design lab area will be
provided by the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors which will also
provide paper, ink and other supplies. Visual Retailing Inc. will provide the department
with a license to install Mockshop. The license is valued at $10,000.00 and covers up to
100 computers. The project request from the Learning Technology Grant is for the
purchase of two computer stations in order to create a small Visual Merchandising Lab
(the software can be potentially installed in other computer station in the future). Along
with the two computer stations we are also requesting a large format scanner and large
format printer to allow the students to scan images that will be used in their design and to
print high quality hard copy versions of their work. A high resolution graphics card is
also needed for each of the computer stations.
Visual Merchandising works in conjunction with the CGI Group Inc. to provide
required installation and training for the software. The training is covered in two days and
includes the following segments: Visual Library (the section of the program where
materials, fixtures and templates are stored), Visual Range (the section of the program
where the garment information is stored and shown in a graphic, visual, easy-to-navigate
way), Visual Store (the section of the program where the merchandising takes place in a
3D environment), and Visual Storyboard (the document creation section of the program).
CGI’s rate for training is $1,750 per day which brings the cost to $3,500 plus travel
expenses for the CGI consultant to Athens which are estimated at $1,500 for a grand total
of $5,000 for installation and training.
Project Timeline
Date
January 2009 (or as soon as
funds are released)
Objective
- Acquisition and
installation of equipment.
February 2009 (or as soon
as equipment is installed)
- Software Installation and
Training
March – April 2009
- Students create class
projects using new software
Person (s) Responsible
- Project director
- College of Family and
Consumer Sciences
Computer Services Staff
- Provided by CGI Inc.
- Class Instructor and
Students registered in
TXMI 4240/6240
- Fashion Merchandising
faculty and graduate
students
- Class Instructor (Project
Director) and Students
registered in TXMI
4240/6240
Learning Technologies Grant Proposal, page 6
Visual Merchandising and Store Design Teaching Stations
Project timeline continued
Date
April - May
Post May 2009
Objective
- Evaluation of learning
outcomes and software.
- Recommendations for
future developments.
Person (s) Responsible
- Class Instructor (Project
Director)
- Students registered in
TXMI 4240/6240
- Department Head
- Continuous use of
equipment and software in
future courses
- Class Instructor (Project
Director)
- Students registered in
TXMI 4240/6240
Section III. Learning Outcomes
The availability of the computer stations and software program to students in the
Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors will allow them to:
- Understand the impact creative and efficient store design and visual merchandising
practices will have on merchandise presentation, sales conversions, and customer
loyalty.
- Develop and experiment with new ideas and concepts for the design of successful
stores and visual merchandising schemes.
- Produce planograms, floor plans, and store designs that can be partially or totally
executed in the Department’s gallery, in projects with actual retailers and in their
future professional lives.
- Create successful visual merchandising and fashion promotion campaigns using
state-of-the-art software for retail merchandising products.
- Utilize experience obtained in hands-on store design and visual merchandising in
the classroom to analyze and critique current trends in visual merchandising and
fashion promotion.
The project will be evaluated based on successful completion of learning outcomes by
students enrolled in the class; specifically the creation of sample store designs,
planograms and visual merchandising plans that can be shared with other students,
faculty, retailers, and any other person interested in areas including business marketing,
non-fashion retail, and business communication.
Learning Technologies Grant Proposal, page 7
Visual Merchandising and Store Design Teaching Stations
Section IV. Support Plan
TXMI 4240/6240: Fashion Promotion and Visual Merchandising will be taught
every other semester and possibly during a summer session (if funding for teaching is
available). The lab will be managed by the class’ instructor during the semester the class
is taught and will be available for student practice in a per-appointment base during
semesters when the class is not offered. Graduate Assistants will also assist managing the
computer stations. We expect that the equipment purchased with LTG funding will be
very popular and widely used by students in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising
and Interiors and will also be open for use by other majors upon request.