Graphic Artist George Courage to be Featured in MassArt Alumni Exhibition of Design Work

  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Date: June 8, 2015

Contact:
Rae Francoeur
Principal
tel: 978-869-8139
email: rae.francoeur@newartscollaborative.com

 (Salem, Mass.) – Salem resident George Courage has been chosen to participate in the 3^rd Biennial Juried Alumni Exhibition Above the Fold: Alumni Works in Design at Massachusetts College of Art, on display from June 11 - July 11, 2015.

Courage’s design will feature logos created for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Western Massachusetts Scenic Byway rebranding project in 2014. For the rebranding, he created 8 logos, a brochure, and multiple advertisements in collaboration with the New Arts Collaborative team. Three of the Byway’s logos will be shown in the exhibition.

An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on June 11^th from 6-8 pm at MassArt’s campus in the Bakalar Gallery, located at 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA.

For additional details on the exhibition, please visit http://www.alumni.massart.edu.

George Courage serves as Principal Graphic Artist for New Arts Collaborative and George Courage Creative. Trained as an illustrator with an eye for design, he specializes in visual rebranding, logos, print collateral, and advertisements. Past and current clients include the Peabody Essex Museum, the Trustees of Reservations, the Essex National Heritage Commission, the Boston Institute for Contemporary Art and the Crow Collection of Asian Art. He lives in Salem, MA with his wife Amy.

About New Arts Collaborative:  New Arts Collaborative specializes in creative marketing collaborations with arts, nonprofits and entrepreneurial organizations. With extensive experience working with large arts organizations as well as individual artists, they are known for handsome design and photography, smart and focused writing, problem-solving skills, and most of all, for the high quality of their finished work. For more information, please visit http://newartscollaborative.com.

Plan recurring publicity events that extend a warm welcome and build your customer base or audience

The launch of the Western Massachusetts Scenic Byways program drew lots of people and gave stakeholders an opportunity to share the exciting news. For those who did work on the project, it was a perfect moment to step back and acknowledge the many accomplishments. New Arts Collaborative created a comprehensive advertising campaign, brochure, a website (designed by Alex Turnwall of hifinit), even the lime green giveaway bags with one of the eight byway logos inscribed. Road signs and interpretive signs are still to come.

By Rae Francoeur

Instead of writing a news release about a new employee or a new book you’ve just published, consider hosting a publicity event as a way to broadcast your announcement. Just like some people look for a reason to give a party, businesses and arts organizations and artists of all kinds should look for ways to connect face to face with their communities and audiences, cohorts and target markets.

A promotional event doesn’t have to be expensive and it doesn’t have to take a lot of your time. The more often you do it, the easier it gets.

Why offer events?

•             Build a buzz: Event planning involves your staff, your family, your friends. They, in turn, are going to spread the word with a lot more velocity than you could all by yourself.
•            Event Coverage: When you’ve got something going on, like a book reading or a wine and cheese meet-and-greet to introduce a new employee, you’ve got a good reason to invite the press. Having a reporter write up a local story is better than that press release you were going to send out.
•         Get new customers in the door: Make it lively and they will come. If it’s fall and you’re announcing a new line of locally made hats and scarves, offer cider doughnuts and auction a hat and scarf. You’re guaranteed to draw in some new customers.
•         Expand visibility: An event gives you license to put up fliers and posters in your community. On a broader scale, a business event is a good reason to approach business editors, cable stations and bloggers to ask them to feature your new product or interview your new marketing manager in a follow-up story.
•         Promote good community relations: When you open your doors to your business neighbors, they are likely to remember your kindness. This is never a wasted effort.
•         Foster familiarity: Whether it’s a new book or a new hair stylist, an introduction breaks the ice and creates opportunities for one-on-one conversations.

Pointers that work

• Keep it simple: Wine and cheese, or cookies and hot coffee are generous offerings for customers who are accustomed to no refreshments.
• Always add something special: Live music, a special guest to make introductions, a photographer or a giveaway will make your event memorable. Whatever special thing you add, make sure it has something to do with the reason for your event.
• Join forces: If you’re an artist and you’d like to offer a holiday promotion, ask others to join in and rent a space like a church basement or approach a local business like a bank or insurance company that might like to feature some local art.
• Be professional: Make sure any promotions for this event are done well and accurately.
• Personalize: Hand out nametags. If it’s an art event, hire a high school art student to write out each guest’s name with colored pens so they have a keepsake. And be sure to circulate and make introductions.
• Use social media and send invitations: Announce your event and extend invitations in as personal a way as you are able. Make follow-up phone calls to ensure you get a good crowd.
• Keep an events log in your computer: Don’t reinvent the wheel. Keep track of your guest list, quantities of refreshments, etc. Use this as your template for planning follow-up events.
• Collect email: Always put out a guestbook and ask people for their email addresses. These are potential new customers or clients.
• Take photographs: Send these photos to the local media to feature in their business sections. Post some of the best of the photos on your business blog or website to show that there’s always something interesting going on. Post them on Facebook and Tweet them, as well.

Contact New Arts Collaborative if you’d like an Events Planner document to help you plan and followup with your events. Or if you’d like help with event planning, please contact: Rae@NewArtsCollaborative.com.

Rockport Music Postcards for Summer 2013

Postcards designed for the Rockport Music Association, based at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Ma. Printed at Cricket Press in Manchester, Ma.

Western Massachusetts Byways Project Launches

After months of work for the Franklin Council of Governments on the Western Massachuesetts Byways Project which is promoting the 7 scenic byways in western, Massachusetts, major elements of the project are making their public appearance in anticipation of the Byway launch event on June 28th, including print advertising in the major markets of New York, Hartford, Albany and Boston. Promotions include a billboard, NYC transit kiosk posters, and a 20-page brochure. The cornerstone of the promotions and a major component of the project has been the soft launch of the new website bywayswestmass.com . designed by Alex Turnwall of the Hifinit Design Group working in collaboration with New Arts Collaborative.

Alex Turnwall of Hifinit Design Group Joins New Arts

 

Alex Turnwall co-founder of the Hifinit Design Group, has joined New Arts Collaborative for the Western Massachusetts Byways project for the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.
Alex will be developing the website for the project which will be built on a Wordpress platform and utilize several innovative features including a customized Google Map API giving users the ability to interactively map their travels in the region as well as responsive design, optimizing the sites appearance across a variety of platforms and devices.
Alex is an interactive designer and developer with extensive experience in branding and marketing for startups, non-profits, and small businesses. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Art+Design program at Northeastern University, where he teaches interactive foundation, user interface design, and web development.

Rockport Music Postcards

A series of postcards designed for the Rockport Music Association. These postcards promote different programs in the upcoming 2013 season, covering Flamenco, Vocal and Classical performances at the Shalin Liu Center in Rockport, MA. The goal was to have each postcard have a distinctive look, while staying within the existing overall branding. The final postcards were printed at Cricket Press in Manchester, MA.

New Project

New Arts Collaborative has recently been awarded a project by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments to provide promotional campaign services for the seven scenic byways located in western Massachusetts. Using funds obtained from State and Federal agencies,  the goal is to promote and increase tourism to the following areas: Mt. Greylock, Jacob's Ladder, Mohawk Trail, Connecticut River Valley, Route 112, Route 116 and Route 122 Scenic Byways. The Byways connect to each other and cross through Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, and Worcester Counties.
New Arts will develop a comprehensive marketing plan each of the byways, as well as for the overall byway program, as well as logos, print collateral such as maps and brochures, websites, phone apps and signage.
The project is set to last approximately 18 months and is is scheduled to be rolled out by the end of 2013.