Worst Job Final: Gap

Fitting Room Woes
by Norma Macias
02/07/12

Materials: Adobe Illustrator

As a current Gap employee, it can be frustrating, at times, to deal with customers. Particularly those who spend hours gathering up clothes only to try them on and leave the dressing room scattered with said items. These customers tend to leave the clothing on the floor and off their intended hangers for reasons unknown. Which leaves me to clean up the mess. Inspired by this frustration I decided to create a piece that reflects the begrudging mess that is left in the fitting room after said customer is done trying on clothes. In order to achieve an overwhelming experience I used the pen tool to create piles of clothing, some are easily read as a blouse or pants while others are not; which in my opinion adds to the chaos I am trying to create. I have also placed the word "Really?" which reflects my reaction to the mess. The word becomes animated by falling off the shelf due to the customer pushing it off with the clothing. To add more to this notion I also placed a sock on top of the letter a. While the piece itself may look chaotic it is indeed geometric. The background shapes (bench, shelf and hooks) are centralized and provide a backdrop for the items. There is also a sense of balance that is achieved by the placement of the clothing throughout the composition. The backdrop itself is meant to mimic the Gap fitting rooms. They are not entirely similar but they do share certain qualities. Such as the wooden walls and dim lighting; the small bench and shelf with hooks. Some people may recognize it as a Gap fitting room but my intention was to portray a general fitting room that retail employees like myself can relate to. For the most part this piece was created to appeal to the retail employee. It is not uncommon to find fitting rooms with scattered items in any clothing store. Thus leaving us sales associates with the question of “Really? How hard is it to hang up the clothes and leave it on the rack to be put back”, for some it might prove too difficult. I believe this piece allows my intended audience to relate to the experience of walking into a fitting room such as the one created in my image. Personally, I believe my work is successful in producing an overwhelming sensation. Although I would have liked to depict the customer throwing the clothing as they walk out the room. I tried to create this effect but was not successful in the realization of it; it just didn’t fit into the piece. I also wonder if it might be difficult to understand that the setting is a fitting room. Yet, I didn’t want to be too literal but there might have been some elements that could have been added like a mirror to contribute to the illusion. Overall, I find the piece to be successful in meaning and illustration.