Sussex Arts Marketing (SAM)

In Touch With Art. An International Conference on Art, Museums and Visual Impairment

 

Challenge

SAM is an agency that specialises in the arts and cultural sector. They have become one of the country’s leading providers in research, training, conferences, project management, and marketing. They were commissioned by the charity St Dunstans to programme, organise and recruit for the International Conference, In Touch With Art to empower arts organisations to engage creatively with visually impaired people through the visual arts. After winning a 4-way agency pitch my concept and initial design were chosen for development. The brief was to raise the profile of St Dunstans and to raise awareness and recruit delegates to the conference. Deliverables were: creating the brand identity, conference programme, invite, posters and signage. All collateral had to comply with the accessibility guidelines stipulated by St Dunstans.

 

Audience

Artists, educators, young and old, people from the fields of museums and psychology.

 

Solution

Simple. I asked myself the question ‘What is it like to be visually impaired or blind?’ What do we see? Is it darkness, a blur or a pinhole? Truthfully we don’t know. Thus the device was born. A bold question mark with an ‘eye’ replacing the dot underneath. This was such a flexible branding device that it could be used alongside thought-provoking questions or images. It was bold and striking, giving the whole campaign a contemporary feel. Other supporting material featured specially illustrated ‘Ishihara’ diagrams containing typographical words and images related to art and hanging eye charts displaying quotes and facts. The brand identity was featured in Design Week.