MOOD BOARD - STUDENT SHOP

“Tell the story of what a student is to the public and create an

experience out of it”

Shopping habits as we know have changed, and they will keep changing. People are bored of the High Street shopping experiences, the same shops at the same higher prices, we don't buy it anymore (literally). We all know that we can go online and find exactly what we want in the exact size and colour for cheaper than what the same brand is selling in our town centre. Footfall has dropped dramatically resulting in these well known high street retailers closing down and either moving further out, becoming more online based or even falling into bankruptcy. This is all due to the lack of actual enjoyment we feel from going into a High Street, they are STALE and BORING and if we don't enjoy going there then there is no chance in anyone wanting to spend money there. Our shop needs to take a step back, realise this and see the gap in the market that we can spring on.

composite image Ollie Hills 2020

In this mood board I wanted to showcase the features that I want to see and how I want the shop to feel to the visitor. To begin with, the story behind the shop - What will draw the customers in? Why will they care for it? I want the shop to scream contemporary student, the feel of a working studio space in university is exciting and creative, this is a great environment for someone to explore and to be interested in. As a student I am lucky enough to know this and to study in one every day but to a normal resident of a town centre, they may not know what happens in a studio behind closed doors, I believe this will be a great way to entice passers by in as they will see it isn't just a shop, it is a living breathing studio workshop space that grabs their attention and pulls them in.

Although having a beautifully clean studio space as a shop would be really nice, I also think students are far more than that, we aren't always clean and we aren't always simple with just white and black clean aesthetics. We are radicle and expressive with loud opinions. I show this in the further side of the room where the big wall is used for expressive artwork. This livens the place up and creates a more urban, street feel. This is important because not everyone will be so impressed by minimal design, people want to see art and it being in a shop with even the possibility of drawing on the wall themselves (this will need to be planned so that not anything can be drawn on the wall - commissioned artists?) will work into the idea of it being acreative studio and push people to use their imagination when in the shop.

The studio space in the mood board does look big - Having two sofas may be impossible depending on the space available but they are used to express comfort and relaxation within the shop. This is vital for if we want it to be a communal hub, a place for people to come and talk to each other, create and hopefully buy items at the same time. We don't want it to feel too formal as it may scare people away. If they see a really interesting studio with nice music, people chatting on sofas while drinking a drink then they will be far more happy in stepping inside and seeing whats going on.

In the fore front of the mood board there is a photoshoot happening with a model and a photographer, this is the idea of having residencies in the space. Professionals coming in and showcasing their skills as well as getting students and visitors involved. Residencies are a great way of exploring all that students and alumni have to offer. We are so diverse in ourselves and our skillset now that one shop wont be enough to completely show what is to offer, but monthly residencies of different skills - Animation workshops, event spaces, fashion shows, DJ lesson, for example, could show the public what students are all about. This will help in keeping the shop interesting as it is forever changing residents will be far more motivated to come and check out what is happening compared to coming to a shop that is only changing a certain collection of clothing every 3/4 months.

Of course we need to showcase the students work so clothing and other pieces of work can be in the lime light. The idea of residencies can run through this as well as certain businesses rely on regular but limited stock drops to create hype for the products. For example Supreme have weekly releases but very limited stock and they have people queuing up for the items nights before it drops. This model can be used regarding having limited stock or limited artists coming to the shop and selling it to create natural hype around needing to come to the shop at this time or they will miss out.

To round it up, I believe (and the research shows) that we need to focus on the EXPERIENCE that a shopper gets, not the price, as we cannot win that battle. We can stock cool clothing and other products but that won't be enough, the shop needs to scream and shout at the top of its lungs to passers by that this is the place to be whether they want to look at a product, learn something or simply see what is going on, it is vital that we don't follow the trends of the dying High Street retailers and take a few more risks.

https://swg3.tv/hire/photography-studio