INTERIOR MOOD BOARD - STUDENT SHOP

“Walking into a university workshop occupied by creatives”

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

We knew as soon as this project started having a strong story behind our shop space is a vital part of how well we succeed. All well known brands have built up their imagine and reputation for years and years to the point where new customers already know what the brand is about before they've even thought about buying a product from them. Marketing a brand is vital and having a good story to tell is vital to the marketing process.

As I have mentioned in my other blogs, showing the life of a student is a very powerful idea which has many elements to it, the good, the bad and the (not ugly) forever changing let's say. As a student myself I know that there are many sides to the story but this space is definitely focusing on these three:

The clean aesthetically pleasing part showing the lifestyle where you're in a beautiful studio or museum thinking and creating along side professionals in the field and using expensive equipment. It's important to show this side because its attractive, its nice on the eye and passers by will take in the idea of being able to step into a nicely designed space.

Next is the bad side, (I say its bad but it's not bad it's just not as glamorous or as smooth sailing) prototyping, workshop errors, blood sweat and endless days of working on projects that you can't see the end of - And thats just the university work. Real life struggles of lack of finance, political disagreements and wanting to shout your opinion as loud as you can in the face of the government that is letting you down so much (life is hard hey). This is the part that is more real and raw - Graffiti, raw material, expressive art all in a small space... But bringing in some comfort like sofa's so at least you can enjoy the madness (imagine the shop is the students life and the comfy seating is the pillow they run back home to at night for comfort).

Finally the forever changing part. Nothing in this life is fixed (apart from the fixed fact that I'll be neck deep in debt when I finish studying) especially when you're a student, many different variables from your course work load to your accommodation and your mental and physical self. This aspect is vital to what we want to do to this shop, the use of residencies every couple of months will keep our space fresh, interesting and relevant to everyone who sees. Residencies of artists and professionals coming in to teach or design or whatever they'd like to do will be a great way of showcasing exactly what a student life is like and what students need to be good at, which is adapting and being versatile to change.

composite image Ollie Hills 2020