November 7, 2016

Over the last 20 years, our Design & Merchandising Program’s Visual Merchandising community window partnership has beautified and enlivened numerous retail window displays for stores throughout the City. This year, the Philadelphia Department of Commerce and the Community Design Collaborative nominated 75 businesses throughout the city for the 2016 Storefront Design Challenge, and we are honored that two of the visual merchandising windows completed this summer were selected as finalists. Bi-annually, students are given the opportunity to work with a small business owner to develop the theme and story of a storefront window design. Students write a contract, create and develop sketches, explore materials based on a budget, make and install the window. Each group balances the wants and needs of the client, producing designs based on the principles and elements of merchandising. Twenty jury members representing different companies from across the City judged the entries and our student designed and installed windows were the only finalists in the category of Best Window Design.
 
To learn about the winning projects and the students that created them, Read More.

Totem Brand

Students in the summer 2106 Visual Merchandising class presented concepts for store windows to the store owner of Totem Brand, a South Street retailer focused on American-made and manufactured brands with an emphasis on high quality, durable and practical fashion. They based their designs on reflecting concepts that embraced the brand's core values, the interior of the store, products carried and market differentiation. Phillip chose a design by student Jennifer Altema. This design was a complete departure for the store that told the story of the Totem brand to pedestrian passersby’s and customers.

Enterprise Center

The 2016 Visual Merchandising students that completed this window included Chloe Williams, Megan Robles, Erica Barry and Jiahui Jiang. When they met with the client, Iola Harper, from The Enterprise Center, she stressed the importance of connecting the design to food and the community. This group decided to keep the design simple and generic so that it could evolve as the interior space is built out. They connected the design to food with the use of the forks, spoons and signage, and the utensils expanding outward signify growth in the community.

The Philadelphia Department of Commerce and the Community Design Collaborative created the Storefront Challenge as part of an ongoing partnership to demonstrate that good design is good business. This bi-annual citywide contest recognizes the best storefront improvement projects in Philadelphia. Business owners, design consultants, contractors, community organizations and enthusiastic customers are invited to nominate businesses who had renovated their storefronts in the past two years. http://www.cdesignc.org/storefront2016