Home Furnishings and Interior Design INT 4444. Independent Study. Individual study and research under the guidance of a member of the department. Admission by permission of the chair. One to four credits. INT 4810-4815. Student Internship. Three, four, six, eight, ten or twelve credits. VMD 2235. History of Fashion and Visual Merchandising. This course focuses on elements affecting dress, fashion, and visual merchandising from antiquity through the 20th century. Fashion is examined for influences of society, aesthetics, geography, religion, politics, and technology. Explore relationship between dress and textiles as a reflection of material culture. The history of product placement in regards to consumer behavior will be explored, as will technologies, designs, and the evolution of visual merchandising as a profession. Offered spring semester only. Four credits. VMD 2300. Materials and Textiles. This course is an investigation of materials and textiles related to material culture and consumer motivation. Through a series of examinations students gain a technical awareness of a broad range of materials and textiles, and consider their application to the design development processes of visual merchandising. Students will address their performance requirements, appropriate applications, and merchandising/ retailing decisions that impact visual design and consumer behavior. Offered spring semester only. Four credits. VMD 3105. Studio IV: Visual Display Design. The studio will demonstrate the theoretical foundation and practical design application of visual merchandising and display in small interior spaces, windows, and vignettes. Principles of merchandising, consumer behavior and visual display are applied to small built environments. An introduction to display lighting is embedded in the studio content. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisite: VMD 2300. Five credits. VMD 3150. Branding, Licensing & Ownership. This course provides an overview of branding, licensing, pricing, product and line development, brand merchandising, brand management, and copyright or ownership rights, as applied to furnishings, interior products and fashion industries. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisite: Junior Standing. Two credits.
VMD 3200. Special Topics. This special topics studio gives students the ability to engage design opportunities outside of the prescribed program of study. Students may choose from elective studios being offered by the department or university or take the opportunity to study design abroad. Students may also choose to complete a studio-based internship with faculty advisor and department chair approval. Offered spring semester only. Prerequisites: VMD 3105 or INT 3160 and INT 3180. Four credits. VMD 4100. Merchandise Planning and Control. This lecture course is a survey overview of the typical business practices of industries that employ and /or interface with visual merchandisers/store designers on a daily basis, and exposes the student to a variety of expected skills necessary for successful visual merchandising practice. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisite: Junior standing. Open only to VMD majors and minors and FMD minors. Two credits. VMD 4205. Studio VI: Temporal Design. Visual merchandising design strategies for temporary and mobile design settings are applied in this studio. The studio highlights point-of-purchase displays, kiosks, pop-up shops, mobile displays, trunk shows, traveling exhibits, booths, showrooms, and special events. The temporal characteristics of lighting as dynamic, dramatic and transitional display elements are confronted in the contextual framework of power supply, lighting budget and mobility. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisites: VMD 3105, and VMD 3200/INT 3285. Five credits. VMD 4305. Studio VII: Retail Design. This studio builds on information and skills learned in previous studios, addressing visual merchandising design applications in retail design settings. Studio emphasizes merchandising floor plans, plan-ograms, and design for multi-product (soft goods and hard) lines, in mid to large sized built environments. Store planning strategy and retail business interactions will be integrated with design applications. A variety of functional, energy-efficient, ambient and spot lighting strategies are addressed. Offered spring semester only. List of prerequisites: VMD 2300, VMD 3105, VMD 3200/INT 3285, and VMD 4205. Five credits.