[FASH 49] – Final Group Projects

Each week students were tasked with designing and installing displays according to a theme I provided. This semester’s class was larger than usual. I had 52 students!! Many hands do make for lighter work, but it can also get really crowded in our small classroom with everyone working on either a:

Window display
Cubes (had to present twice)
Table display
Wall display
Shelving display

Here are a few pictures from some their work:

This is actually a display from Group 6. It was the first week group projects launched. The theme for this week was POP CULTURE. I thought it was so clever that they used three very distinct time periods that Britain is known for – the Mod 60s, the Punk era, the Royals, which is reflected in the decoupage of their hand-made blocks inside the cubes.

The above display is from Group 2. Their cube display for POP CULTURE week was inspired by the artist Yayoi Kusama as you can see in the book cover of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Up above, Group 4 also looked to Great Britain for inspiration in the iconic image of the Beatles crossing the street. They actually continued the street on the table! Nicely done!

Group 1 looked to the current fashion trend of studs as their POP CULTURE inspiration! I loved everything about this display, it’s nicely balanced, clean, and they cross-merchandised.

Considering all the displays shown above was everyone’s first time at doing this type of work, I must say I was impressed! Students are required to provided all materials and merchandise themselves, they get no outside help, besides each other! Is it tough to work this way? YES, but in the world of display one of the first things you must learn and really need to be is RESOURCEFUL.

Throughout the weeks I saw many groups recycling materials and props into other displays – without me having to tell them, they automatically realized that is basically what display is all about! Stores don’t have unlimited budgets to spend on one-off props, so how do you take what’s used and make it look new again. If you can do that you will have a long and prosperous career as a display artist!

In my next post I will show more photos of student group projects from the other themes of:

Holiday/Wedding
Sports/Music
Fashion Designer
“pick a City”
Green (eco-friendly)