Display and Visual Merchandising Section

Getting Your Creative Juices (From page 84)

picture frame sitting next to a small stack of books. Laney Carey , museum store manager at The Museum Store in Oklahoma City, Okla., considers the season, the museum’s current exhibits, and what museum events are happening when creating displays. “Our goal is to sell merchandise that reminds guests of what they have seen,” she said.

Creating Eye-Catching Displays

When creating displays featuring home décor and gifts, designers have come to rely on processes that work well for them. Newman Askew starts by asking herself a series of questions. What do I want to highlight? Who is my audience? Do I have other items that will work with this particular item? What props or other items do we have that will be complementary? Where is the best spot for this display?

Intuit Store Buyer and Merchandiser Julie Blake of the Intuit Store at the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago, Ill. To best protect guests and staff during the pandemic, the store has been closed to shoppers, and a QR code has been displayed that guests can use to access an illustrated checklist of merchandise. Museum personnel assist shoppers with their selections.

After Newman Askew has gathered all the stock items and display supports such as table cloths, bottles, leaves, risers, and so forth she lays out a focal point. Then she starts building the display, and adds on to it until it feels finished. She keeps in mind that odd numbers of things and triangle shapes are most appealing to view.

April Shaw , gift shop manager at Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Miss., chooses one item to focus attention on as a starting point. She’ll make sure it stands out from the rest, and then adds more items to the display.

Carey, who has a degree in interior design, loves to make displays look eye-catching to draw

Continued on page 88

April