A Visual High

After a month of organizing entries, photocopying project descriptions and (much to my dismay) working in PowerPoint, VMSD welcomed a panel of retailers and designers this week to judge our annual International Visual Competition. Although it’s a lot of work to organize, I always walk away energized and reassured that visual is indeed alive and well.

Reviewing the entries, there were no signs of a shortage of ideas, resourcefulness or creativity (despite what the gloomy headlines tell us). Instead, I heard remarks like “that’s fun and bold,” “how visually arresting,” and, in disbelief to a material choice for a window display, “so you’re saying that’s all toilet paper.” (The answer was “yes” and you’ll have check out VMSD’s August issue to see what all the excitement is about.)

As we sat around discussing visual trends represented in this year’s entries, one of the judges remarked, “a few years ago, I was worried that visual merchandising was dying. But today, it’s more important than ever.”

That’s in part because shoppers are doing a lot more window shopping. So while they may not be coming into your stores as frequently or buying as often, they’re still looking for a connection. Strong, impactful visual campaigns are a way to fuel that relationship for now.

And it doesn’t have to break the bank. Sure, budgets may be slashed and staff sizes smaller, but retailers and visual merchandisers are showing a resourceful side. Yesterday, we saw masking tape, yarn and the before mentioned (pink) toilet paper taken to new heights.

I’ll continue to ride this visual high as I begin the task of writing about these winning projects for VMSD. In the meantime, I encourage you to look around at the creativity flourishing in this industry. It may be just the boost we need to get us through this year.