Design Challenges

In college, during the Spring semester of my Senior Year, ISU participated in a design challenge put on my the Retail Design Institute. Each year RDI puts out a nation-wide competition, for students to participate in. 2009 was for a 45,000 sq ft grocery store, very little criteria except that it was for higher-end clientele and that we had to use an existing space.

Here is the floorplan:

The aisles all point towards the center of the store which has a circular travel center. Since the customers had more money, I knew that they were the type of people who would be able to take trips and vacations.

This is a view from the entrance, looking back into the store, with the travel center right in the center of the store, providing a focal point and leading the customers to the Travel Agent and different vacation destinations. This image was created using SketchUp a free Google download. If you want to do 3d modeling I suggest this program!

This is a view of the customer service area, as you can see destination pictures can be seen all over the store. Bold, rich colors were used to attract the customers to the different areas. Each area such as the Bakery, Deli, Etc. was a different color, to attract the customer's eye.

Once the project was finished we had a panel of judges that came in to judge our projects and to determine the top 10 students to send their project on to the national competition. I was chosen! WOOHOO, while I didn't win the competition, it was a great experience and I learned a lot!

Moral of the Story: A little determination, perseverance and design inspiration goes a long way! Don't be afraid to think outside the box!

Currently Rocking out to: Shark in the Water by V.V. Brown