My role as a Shop Designer is varied and fast paced encompassing planning and implementation of designs giving me wide ranging skills including; analytics of sales data, spatial planning, visual design, knowledge and expression of current trends, presenting projects to the steering group, alongside practical considerations and skills for installation. In my role I am responsible for a particular department; ensuring the layout meets guidelines, planning in new ranges, reacting quickly to commercial opportunities and working with seasonal products. I also work on projects ranging from planning and reconstructing departments, installing pop-up stores for marketing and overseeing the planning and implementation of different medias within the store to highlight key commercial messages. I was also part of a small team trialing the use of instagram to connect with the local market. I was responsible for creating content for the Stories of the page, using the IKEA tone of voice to show updates within the store and give insight to our ‘home furnishing expertise’ whilst encouraging footfall to the store. During the 18 month trial the page reached 1000 followers and had up to 60% engagement on content. Ultimately these insights were gathered by the Head Office social media team to help inform the type of content they produce for the country pages. This work allowed me to combine my design eye, knowledge of current trends, knowledge of social media and my writing style to producing engaging content and it was very rewarding to interact with customers in this way and use their feedback to inform our work within the store.