LIM College's Student Run Concept Shop: Visual Experience course offers students an immersive, hands-on opportunity to gain practical experience.
In this class, students take on the role of creative directors to create a selling and experiential space in LIM's on-campus concept shop in Maxwell Hall. Participants work alongside course instructor Professor Grailing King to assess, conceptualize, and implement their creative vision and visual plan for the store window and displays.
Professor King noted how excited students get about the class because of the hands-on experience it offers, along with the fact that they can apply the work they’ve done in other courses.
“This course is about application, so everything that the students do can be portfolio work,” Professor King said. “All of the installations and visuals can be incorporated into their portfolio.”
Professor King says that he runs the class as if students are in a workplace setting. “I built this course on the idea of preparing them for industry, so that when they get out into the industry, they’ll have an idea of what to expect.”
At the beginning of the semester, students brainstorm innovative ways to present the space. The Spring 2023 theme was “Hollywood Renaissance.”
The shop was made to look like a theater, with old school movie stills and famous quotes adorning the walls, a screen running movie reels, and a vintage popcorn maker.
“I want students to really build up their creativity and just use their imagination and run with it,” Professor King said.
Another way students can be involved in the store is by working on the retail side.
