I receive many notices from art organizations and galleries which masquerade as press releases. Today I received a press release from an fairly well established gallery. The email was without a subject line. There was no content in the body of the email, it wasn’t addressed Dear Lisa or Dear Press Editor, and there was simply an attachment without explanation. This happens a lot. I hit delete.

Sometimes I get two, three or even four emails from the same organization in the course of a week . . . sometimes even within 24 hours. I generally stop reading at this point because they are approaching spam. One of the first things I learned in PR was . . . Don’t piss off the press!  No one benefits from this. As such, I thought it might be time to take a look at the proper way to write and distribute a press release.

This article was created for this last weekend’s Career Strategies for Visual Artists Workshop presented by Greater Hartford Arts Council.

Every artist should have an online portfolio. Many artists however are either too busy making art or simply just don’t know how to get started. If you do have an online portfolio this article will help you make it the best it can be. If you don’t yet have one, the tips and resources here will help you as you begin to develop your artistic showcase.

And writers, photographers, musicians, designers and you, too.  Maybe I’m preaching to the choir here, but this morning I attended a social media and power networking breakfast and was surprised at the number of people who weren’t taking advantage of social media to promote their businesses.  Social media (blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) is one of the greatest tools available today in which to market your work and your talent. Hell, it’s a great tool just to meet some excellent people.  Never before have we been able to promote our work to people around the corner, the nation and around the world with the click of a mouse.  Social media makes it possible. Millions of people have a Facebook page and/or a Twitter account… There’s a lot of networking you could be doing right now.

You are not just an artist.  You are an entrepreneur and you’re in the business of selling and promoting your work. The world is changing.  Business models are changing.  Social media is a tool for positive change.  It’s important, now more then ever, to reach out to like-minded people and be a part of the change. I know you are probably thinking, “Holy cow, I don’t have time for that nonsense. And who cares what I had for breakfast?”  Using social media is not about what you had for breakfast.  I guarantee you that marketing using these online avenues only takes about 10 minutes a day and it will make a huge difference in your business plan.  Simply log on and tell your fans, in 140 characters, daily news from your studio or gallery.  Talk about your process or your challenges.  Create a page or group just for your business.  You can create lists to organize your followers according to your interests.  To save you time, there are applications such as Tweetdeck which will allow you to type one entry and display it over several social media networks automatically.  Update Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin all at once.  You’re done.

I’m a believer in social media.  In just the last year, social media has revolutionized my social life and my business life in the most remarkable ways.  I’m now attending art events that I wouldn’t have even know about in 2008.  I’ve met artists, photographers, gallerists, and world class journalists.  I was invited to sit on the board of AIGA CT because of my connections on Facebook.  I’ve gotten writing assignments, retained clients and even went camping because of social media.  I’ve learned a lot.  All these connections created new connections and best of all…new opportunities.

I’d love to share some tips and resources for social media here with you.  Are you using Facebook?  Twitter or Linkedin?  Or does the whole notion of social media just freak you out?

You can find me here:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lisa.mikulski or creativeartsguide
Twitter: @lisamikulski or @creativeartsg
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lisamikulski

ART & COPY, a new documentary film, has the advertising and design world abuzz!  The new film, directed by Doug Pray, is about the creativity and inspiration behind the work and vision of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time.  This is not a film about trashing the evil world of advertising.  It is instead a tribute to those relatively unknown few who actually helped shape our society and our culture with their work. These are the people who’ve created such slogans as “Just do it”, “Got Milk?”, and “Think Different.” They’ve created campaigns for the Energizer Bunny, Apple, MTV and so many other ads which became the signs of our times.  Despite advertising’s evil reputation, these brilliant campaigns and creative minds have helped us laugh, think, smile, and have moved us to act.

What is social media? Are you using it? Here are some amazing facts and figures as to why you might not want to dismiss the social media revolution. As freelancers, artists or designers can your business afford to overlook these opportunities? Have a look.
Found via Debbie Millman – President of AIGA

Creating graphic design for the arts is a bit like tightrope walking.  Like designers, artists are creative too and they usually have some very specific ideas.  This can be good.  Sometimes not so much.  In addition to being a designer, you will also find yourself in the role of consultant.  This can also be good.  Sometimes not so much!

Regardless, the designer must always remember the #1 rule: Do not overshadow the art. The art and the design must sing together much like a canvas in its complimentary frame.  When I designed the website for artist, Daryl Zang, we kept the presentation very minimal and clean. The website palette was selected from the artist’s own palette and I designed the navigation buttons using Daryl’s artwork.  Artist websites and promotional materials don’t have to be boring for sure and the designer need not feel like they must abandon creativity for the sake of the client, but the focus is on the client’s artwork… not your design, not flashy elements. One little caveat here… this rule might be broken when designing posters and CDs for music clients. Music is a different genre from the visual arts and an edgy complicated design is often just what the project entails to promote rock n’roll or heavy metal artists.

Just like any other business or corporation, all business collateral should be consistent.  Business cards, brochures, web site, letterhead and letters of authenticity should all have a similar look and feel.  Consistent use of fonts, color palettes and paper selection are all considerations. This establishes visual recognition.  But again… never should the branding be so loud that it competes with the artwork.  Simple, creative and relevant gets the job done.  Branding creates a signature for the artist much like a signature piece of art work but in a ‘business kind of way’.  The main mission in creating design for an artist (or sculptor, photographer etc) is to showcase the art and to create business collateral for distribution… usually to make a portfolio, brochure of works, hard copy artist statements and resumes etc. This mission is a bit different when designing for a gallery or art organization.

While galleries also display and focus on the artworks of it’s stable, galleries are art market oriented.  For this reason, the designers frame of reference will differ from that of creating design work for individuals.  First and foremost, the difference here is commercial. SEO and advertising on a website will hold a major focus in the information architecture and design work. The designer must also keep in mind the genre of the artworks being sold.  If a gallery is selling 19th century American Art, a European styled font and contemporary design may not be the best choice.  Graphic design for galleries and organizations will focus on the work of all its represented artists and no one artist is treated differently (better or worse) than the others.  The idea is to create unity.  Palette selection and fonts are the identity of the gallery, not taken from any one artist’s oeuvre, and the gallery’s presentation materials should allow the artwork of its members to shine.

Graphic design for an exhibition or installation is again a different type of animal then the two examples above.  Exhibitions always have themes and the successful translation of that theme into the design work can promote the show in a very creative and unique way.  For instance, graphic designer Peter Good, of Cummings & Good, created 20 posters over 20 years for the Manchester String Quartet. Incorporating scanned textiles, a hand embellished violin and musically referenced illustrations into his poster design, Peter was able to keep the design fresh and punctuate the yearly event with style and class.  The website for Cummings & Good displays many fine examples of incorporating a theme in great design work.

In addition to the design of the project, some other things to keep in mind are color accuracy and photographic content.  Artists who spend considerable amounts of time mixing the exact perfect color deserve to have that color displayed as accurately as possible in both web presentation and in print.  This means color optimization across platforms and browsers and an accurate color representation in CMYK as well.  Not always an easy trick.

Photographic content is another consideration.  Sculptures are 3 dimensional objects and the proper photograph taken from the right angle can really speak volumes and capture the attention of a buyer or curator in a second.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right?  I’ve actually seen photographs of sculpture that were more impressive then the actual sculpture.  Photography of painting should be accurate and clean enough so that brushstrokes and details can be detected and used successfully in ‘detail’ presentations.  In all cases, photographs should be taken at high resolution for print purposes.  These same high resolution photos can be dumbed down for display online at 72 dpi but always start with the highest resolution possible.

So in closing, my advice for designers and artists who are looking at promotional graphic design is:

1. Be creative but never overshadow the artwork.
2. Keep branding simple but memorable, use elements of the artists own work to create a unified front.
3. Remember when promoting a gallery, both art and the market are principal.

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