FSStore Multidisciplinary Educational Project

During the 2017 spring semester, a multidisciplinary team of students and faculty members collaborated to redesign the Fashion School Store, linking the Fashion School with the School of Visual Communication Design (VCD) and the Kent State architectural studies program.

Daphne Peters, assistant professor in VCD, and Brett Tippey, assistant professor and program coordinator in architectural studies, co-taught the course, Retail Design from Concept to Fabrication, with the FSStore serving as a client for this semester-long interdisciplinary project.

Students in the class developed and executed a multipart overhaul of the store, making improvements to the flow of store traffic, custom-building a new checkout table with a laser-cut pattern, adding graphic design elements to the feature wall and dressing room and updating clothing tags to better communicate the FSStore's brand and mission to the customers. They also managed the selection of materials, balancing the budget to the fabrication and the installation of key elements.

This project met the FSStore’s core identity and mission: a live retail laboratory where faculty, students and alumni can experiment with design and merchandising ideas. The redesign has made tangible improvements to the store’s aesthetic makeup and offers a unique experience for our customers. This project was possible with the support from both instructors of the course, participating students in the class, as well as funding from the College of Communication and Information and the Fashion School.