A big thankyou to SkyFilming who have given me permission to use their video of York under lockdown.

We no longer need to imagine how empty Towns and cities would look without shops and businesses open for trade welcoming in locals and tourists alike. Hustle and bustle, so often overwhelming in our beautiful city of York is sadly missed. York’s beautiful display of daffodils along the city walls this year had no audience.  York of course is not alone.  How we miss our freedom, businesses open for trade, colour, cafés, theatres, buzz – where you can see, touch and FEEL the merchandise before buying, and share the experience with friends.

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For over 70 years now the British display society has been representing the Visual Merchandising profession.

Established in 1947 it has always been seen as the authority of good window dressing and styling standards, promoting the highest standard of VM & Display.  Many past students have gone on to create exciting careers in the world of design and display, and today the British Display still continues.

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We were invited to work with Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire in helping them promote local Ales within their district.  As a team we worked on the initial design concept based around their new branding done by Si from Hammer Design.

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From Revive and Thrive’s  magazine

Have you planned your window displays for the coming year yet?

Do your high street traders need a little help and encouragement?

I believe the tinsel I mentioned in last month’s article has well and truly blown away now, and any remnants of Christmas which are still hanging around send very negative signals to everyone. The sales are almost over and the high streets fairly deserted as everyone recovers from Christmas – and the flu! And who wants to be out in this cold, grey, uninspiring weather anyway? The tourist season hasn’t started properly yet – so why bother with your window? Everyone knows what you do – right? Well actually – possibly wrong!

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This was our stand at the VM & Display Show at the Business Design Centre recently. A great place to meet like-minded industry experts!

Utilising our branding colours we wanted to illustrate a few points used frequently in display: colour of course; props;; fabric handling; pyramids; space; lighting; the difference different colour backgrounds can make and of course movement .

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British Flower week was approaching and I was invited to create two displays in York to celebrate it.

The Paper Studio wanted to create a video inspiring florists as to what they could achieve with their window space, so Grant asked Floral Elegance in Acomb and David from Wards if they’d kindly lend us their windows.  The Paper Studio provided the posters and tags, Flowers by Clowance provided some beautiful British grown flowers – and I did the rest …and Grant got his camera out!

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We were recently invited to Global Travel Group’s annual Conference at La Manga in Spain. Well – we couldn’t say ‘no’ now, could we?!

We were invited to speak to tour Operators and Travel Agents to inspire them as to what is possible and how they can create eye-catching displays to promote their amazing holidays.  Many are home-workers, but for those who do have a high street presence quite often their windows are full of posters and hand-written signs…not really selling that holiday dream!

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Catch them while you can!

Is your high street full of colour and excitement with vibrant shop window displays to lure visitors to stop, explore and spend – or is it rather dull and un-inviting so visitors drive straight through looking for somewhere more inviting to stop and stay…?

When was the last time you walked down the High Street and stopped to admire a fabulous window display? I’m sure you remember the shop and what they sold.  Or maybe you noticed a shop that was so scruffy your general assumption would be (quite possibly incorrectly) that it was yet another statistic in the demise of the High Street.

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Well of course you have! You can’t but fail to notice when towns, markets and shopping centres are illuminated with sparkling Christmas lights and the High Street is full of exciting shop window displays tempting you inside to explore further. You are coaxed around the shop floor looking for a solution to your gifting worries…only so many shopping days left …
This is the time of year when everyone pays extra-special attention to the appearance of their businesses and where everything looks fabulous.  Everyone takes more time than usual to create the WOW factor as they know it really helps to increase sales…

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The Northwich Business Improvement District is always looking at ways in which it can help the town’s companies, traders and organisations grow and succeed. As part of this commitment, the BID held a Window Display Masterclass Training Course at its offices in Northwich on Tuesday 5th July. Funded and organised by the BID, the course, run by Made You Look!, taught attendees how to make stunning visual window displays to help them market their offerings in the best way possible and increase interest and footfall in their store.

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