We caught up with Short Course tutor Sarah Manning who teaches on a variety of Visual Merchandising online and classroom based short courses at Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion. Her courses include Visual Merchandising and Display, Store Layout and Visual Merchandising, Visual Merchandising Fashion and Visual Merchandising Trends for Digital Retail Webinar to name a few.
Sarah has also recently started teaching on our Future Creatives courses. These hands-on courses introduce students aged 11-17 years old to a wide range of art and design ideas, techniques and practices with classes online, on the weekends and during the school holidays. Students are given the creative freedom to try their hand at different methods of exploring art and design in a classroom setting with like-minded students.
In our chat, Sarah tells us how she got her start in the industry, what she hopes students will get out of taking a short course and what words of wisdom she has for budding creatives of all ages.
Hi Sarah! How did you come to work in your field?
I got my first job as a Junior Window Dresser for Harrods at the age of 18 - an amazing opportunity! I have also worked as a Visual Merchandiser for Selfridges, Harvey Nichols & Marks & Spencer.
Could you tell us a little bit about something you've been working on recently, as well as your wider practice?
I have recently designed and installed the new season windows for Tower Bridge, celebrating their now famous children's book. I have also designed and am about to install an Autumn installation for a bridal retailer.
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Sarah Manning,
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Sarah Manning,
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Sarah Manning,
How has teaching students on short courses informed your approach to your work?
I love to share my skills and best industry practice with my students. We can all constantly learn new ideas and skills and I have found I have gained new inspiration from meeting students and from them sharing their own best practice.
What is the most important thing that students take away from your course?
Regarding visual merchandising, I feel that students take away current and evolving trends and techniques which can be used straight into the industry. I would like to think that every student leaves my classes feeling inspired and full of confidence about what they have learnt!
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If Sarah has inspired you to take one of our visual merchandising short courses, our upcoming courses starting soon page will show you all the courses we have running in the coming months.
Or maybe you’re a parent who wants to support their child’s artistic expression. Our It’s never too early: art classes for kids and teenagers article details the importance of art and design classes for young people and how Future Creatives can support you.
You can follow Sarah on Instagram @visualmerchandisingcourses and take a look at her work on her website https://visualmerchandisingconsultant.co.uk/
