INDEX: Giraffe Themed Display Visual Merchandising

INDEX:
Giraffe Themed Display
Visual Merchandising

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This Giraffe Themed Display Visual Merchandising index page links
to all posts and photos of retail merchandising, display, and outfitting
as well as deep Background courtesy of Wikipedia.

BACKSTORY: The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Traditionally, giraffes have been thought of as one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into four extantspecies, with seven subspecies, which can be distinguished morphologically by their fur coat patterns. Six valid extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.

The giraffe’s distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, horn-like ossicones, and spotted coat patterns. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other ground-based herbivores cannot reach. Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males but are gregarious and may gather in large groups. Males establish social hierarchies through “necking”, combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear sole responsibility for rearing the young.

The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerableto extinction. It has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Giraffes are still found in many national parks and game reserves, but estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010.

The name “giraffe” has its earliest known origins in the Arabic word zirāfah (زِرَافَةْ), of an ultimately unclear Sub-Saharan African language origin.^[2] The Middle Englishand early Modern English spellings, jarraf and ziraph, derive from the Arabic form-based Spanish and Portuguese girafa.^[3] The modern English form developed around 1600 from the French girafe.^[2]

“Camelopard” (/kəˈmɛləˌpɑːrd/) is an archaic English name for the giraffe; it derives from the Ancient Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis), from κάμηλος (kámēlos), “camel“, and πάρδαλις (párdalis), “leopard“, referring to its camel-like shape and leopard-like colouration.^[4]^[5] (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

BACKSTORY: Visual merchandising is the practice in the retail industry of optimizing the presentation of products and services to better highlight their features and benefits. The purpose of such visual merchandising is to attract, engage, and motivate the customer towards making a purchase.^[1]^[2]

Visual merchandising traditionally occurs in brick and mortar stores using a blend of lighting, color combinations, and articles of decor to stimulate an observer and generate interest.^[2]

When giant 19th century dry goods establishments like Marshall Field & Co.shifted their business from wholesale to retail, the visual display of goods became necessary to attract consumers. Store windows were often used to attractively display the store’s merchandise. Over time, the design aesthetic used in window displays moved indoors and became part of the overall interior store design, eventually reducing the use of display windows in many suburban malls.^{[citation needed]}

In the 20th century, well-known artists such as Salvador Dalí^[3] and Andy Warhol^[4]^[5] created window displays.

In the beginning of 21st century, visual merchandising was becoming a science. Currently, visual merchandising has become a major tool of business promotion which is widely used to attract customers and increase sales.^[6]

WindowsWear is a community and database of visual merchandising from around the world.

Visual merchandising contributes to a brand‘s personality and the characteristics associated with the brand.^[7] The design of the store should reflect this as part of their retail brand strategy. This includes the in-store environment and brand communications used, such as signage and images displayed in-store.^[8] These visual elements play a part in building a retail brand and therefore they help a brand differentiate itself from its competitors, create brand loyalty, and allows for a brand to place premium pricing on their products.^[7]^[8] Part of the brand strategy used in visual merchandising is research into the brand’s target market to find out what their customers’ values and self-images are. This information can allow the retailer to cater the design of a store and their advertising to match their consumers.^[8] (SOURCE: Wikipedia)