Since The Toby opened in 2009, we have held a Winter Nights film festival in January and February. This winter the theme for our Winter Nights 2012 series is Technicolor.

Design is generally a pretty subjective endeavor, so when starting a new project I like to do a little research into the subject in order to guide the generation of formal elements. Fortunately Technicolor offers a wealth of visual elements to play with, but the methods and appearance of color film varies a lot depending on the time. The earliest versions of color motion pictures involved three separate rolls of film—black, cyan, and magenta—that were layered together in order to produce the color projection. It’s a very distinctive look, and is wholly different from the colors you see in The Godfather: Part II, the last American film made using Technicolor’s dye transfer process. The early three-strip technique provided inspiration for the initial Winter Nights designs, involving a large and somewhat abstract W made from shaded cubes to reference a frigid, icy winter.

While working on this abstract and wintry version, we also pursued a more literal direction using film as the starting point. Keeping the W, this solution retains the grainy texture that characterizes many of those older movies. While each had its merits, ultimately we decided to go with the film-centric version for this year’s series, and a final version was created that made very clear the series’ relationship with film, as well as including the Technicolor theme in the graphic.

Using film stills in a campaign for Technicolor movies is a no-brainer, but this was not as straightforward as one might think. In the 1940s, Technicolor threw out a large volume of color negatives after the studios didn’t reclaim them, and unless they’ve been re-mastered those movies are now only available in black and white. Fortunately, we were able to find some great color images from Charade and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The beauty of these movies speak for themselves when you see them, and in order to try imparting some of that drama and motion in print pieces, I relied on careful crops.

One particularly seductive image of Marilyn Monroe offers plenty of details to highlight—Marilyn’s face, her eyes lightly closed, could be mistaken for being asleep when viewed alone. The diamond bracelet and thick gray fur are a glimpse of luxury, sensuality, and elegant excess. The full image, my favorite among Marilyn’s publicity shots for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, shows the actress dressed in red, wrapped in fur, and draped in diamonds. Her open mouth, even more red than her dress, completes a frozen moment of ecstasy, and was the perfect image to use for our Winter Nights banner.

Filed under: Design, Marketing, Public Programs, Uncategorized

I saw Cézanne on a bus today!!! …well, sort of. There is a new IndyGo bus in town and it’s hard to miss. The new bus features a painting by Paul Cézanne from the IMA’s collection. As you can see from this photo, the painting covers the entirety of the bus.

If you’re a little rusty on your art history, Cézanne was a French painter from the 19^th Century whose artwork was from the Post-Impressionism period. Cézanne’s paintings bridged the gap between late Impressionism and the 20^th century movement, Cubism. His artwork is usually very recognizable because of his repetitive and exploratory brushstrokes. These defining brushstrokes are easily seen in the painting featured on the IndyGo bus, House in Provence, which consist of a single farmhouse set in the landscape of Mont Sainte-Victorie, a mountain in Cézanne’s native Provence in southern France. You can also check out the painting at the IMA, as House in Provence is currently on view!

If you happen to see the bus around town, snap a photo of it! Then upload your photo to the IMA’s Flickr group and send us the link to your  image by emailing it to web@imamuseum.org. We will then send you an email with a coupon code for 50% off to the Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial exhibition or Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria. Happy searching!

Filed under: Art, Local, Marketing

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is filled with amazing pieces of work. I know that because I’ve been here, a lot. In fact, a lot of people who have never been to the IMA know it’s filled with amazing works. Our challenge isn’t convincing the public there is art here; it’s convincing people there is art relevant to them here.

Meg Liffick is the Assistant Director of Public Affairs here at the IMA. Meg and her team tightrope a difficult role between the curator and the museum-goer. The curator, as I understand it, is the head-of-household in the gallery and the coming/going/hopefully staying artwork is his or her children. It’s the curator’s job to know the artwork inside and out. It’s Meg’s and her teammates’ job to translate that expertise to a viewer who doesn’t know anything about the artwork or any artwork for that matter.

So how do they do it? How can someone be motivated to come to an art museum? Well, they have a few tricks up their sleeve.  Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial is our most recent exhibition/huge marketing undertaking. Dial is an extremely bold artist. You won’t find political, social or historical commentary listed as any of the many materials Dial employs in his art, but they’re there. Because Dial’s work embodies such strong emotions, it’s the very kind of art some people are afraid of. It can make you uncomfortable—not because it’s vulgar or offensive–but because you might not know how to feel at first. We’re used to the art of the snap judgment, not the art of the deeply expressive Alabama welder.

Thornton Dial. Photograph by David Raccuglia.

All of our marketing materials (brochures, posters, radio spots, etc.) are designed here. “We do everything in-house. Everything.  That’s what’s special about the IMA—we all collaborate, no one does anything alone.” says Meg.

The marketing around the city for Hard Truths pushes the story or experience of the exhibition and Dial, himself. Meg explains, “Once they’re on-site we allow people to form their own perspective, but we need to give people a reason to come initially.  We wanted to communicate that these works were largely 3-D.”

"Stars of Everything," 2004, 98 × 101. 1/2 × 20. 1/2 in., Collection of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation.

The people involved with the IMA’s marketing have to create a way to honor and advertise the art, however, most -  if not all of them – don’t have formal art history training. Meg explains, “We don’t have art backgrounds, but we can communicate passion.” This exhibit is a completely different experience; one that not everyone would jump at initially. But it’s still relevant. It’s important to have some surprises in life, to (as our radio spots encourage) “Be amazed.” “Be inspired.”  I think Meg says it best, “Museums are here to fulfill the need that you have of finding spirituality, creativity and inspiration.”

Filed under: Art, Exhibitions, IMA Staff, Marketing, Thornton Dial

The Circle was anything but square today.

Today (yes, Friday the 13th) a couple dozen Andy Warhol look-a-likes dashed around Monument Circle to the rockin’ sounds of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Run Run Run’ for a little thing we like to call a flash mob.

That leaves two kinds of people in this town: those who saw it, and those who didnt.

You were there? Awesome! You can upload your pics and vids to using your Flickr account. Missed the action? Don’t get your wig in a twist. Stay tuned for great footage and images here.

Filed under: Current Events, Exhibitions, Marketing, New Media

When is a lamp not a lamp?  When it’s designed by California architect Greg Lynn—who’s coming to the IMA to dialogue with IMA CEO Maxwell Anderson Wednesday evening.

Call it a mod beehive, a jaunty porous blob, a bold yellow organ.  In the hands of Greg Lynn, form reigns…with materiality a close second.  Lynn is credited with coining the term “blob architecture.”

I first heard the name Greg Lynn last year while reading a piece in The New York Times Magazine about architects with an ardor for sailing.  Guys like Lynn and Frank Gehry regularly hit the waves in sleek, complex contraptions in a true test of human-made forms vs. the energies of nature’s elements.

Preview Lynn’s design perspective with this recording of a talk at the Univ. of Michigan.

Filed under: Design, Education, Public Programs, The Toby