The window display does to a store what a film trailer does to a film, or a blurb to a book. It gives us a peek into what’s in store. From having mannequins dressed up, to some catchy phrases, the very art of window display has changed with time. It’s not only creative, but also has to compete with virtual stores to lure customers into the physical store. Jenny Andrews — a visual merchandiseris creating ripples with her out-of-the-box ideas.
Jenny is an award-wining experiential designer. She runs a firm — Studio J. — that deals with visual merchandising, “which basically means window displays,” explains Jenny, who started off with engineering, but switched tracks when she interned in architecture.
“Drawing comes naturally to me. I did struggle when I started in ’97. I am into retail design and visual merchandising. The former is creating brand identity for brands during their launch and the latter is how you enhance the entire experience of the brand within a space. It could be your touch point, the window display, your experience in the trial room, the lighting of a store, and so on,” explains Jenny.
Jenny has created designs for brands such as The Square by Café Coffee Day, Puma, Blue Stone, and Manyavar. Jenny is also the winner of the Creative business of the Year award (2013) at the India Retail Congress, Visual Merchandising & Retail Design Award for Best Visual Merchandising (2013) at Instore Asia among others.
She has created a mural using coffee beans for the Square, which was “treated and sealed”. She adds that she used hay and painted it green to make it last longer than grass for a window display. “We also use 3-D hand painting on the walls. I have a group of talented artists as part of my team,” beams Jenny.
Visual merchandising, according to her, is a “niche segment. Not many are into this field. It’s a growing industry.”
The only challenge she faces is “all about people. You can teach them design but not attitude and humility. One has to come out with an open heart to learn on the job. Even I have learnt much on the field. Learning does not stop when you graduate.”
