Swing'n Sock Hop Logo for the Gadsden Arts Center

Swing'n Sock Hop is the theme for the next Gadsden Arts Center's annual fundraiser event. Executive Director of the center, Grace Maloy, gave me the opportunity of creating the visual identity that will represent the gala in all publications and marketing materials.

Creating a marketing timeline and helping in the implementation of the marketing strategy for this event has also been some of my tasks at the center. However, as a graphic designer, I gave special attention to first creating a memorable logo for the event.

The logo I created (see above) was the result of an obligatory research of the advertisement and signage of the 50's and 60's. This initial black and white version has been used for further designing of the "Save the Date" card for the event, and also for announcements in the quarterly newsletter, website and other publications.

The GAC's 2010 Winter Gala will take place on January 30, 2010 at the Sawano Club in Quincy, FL. For more information on the event, visit the Gadsden Arts Center's website at www.gadsdenarts.org.

Art and Business - Again Together.

For those of us in the Arts Administration field, so that we don’t forget how lucky we are to be enrolled in a great program like ours at FSU, which actually gets us prepared for real life…Take a look at what is being done at University of Wisconsin - Madison, to help art students be better prepared to survive after they graduate.

Read all about it following this link to the artsjournal.com weblog "The Artful Manager" by Andrew Taylor. The article is called Podcasting about teaching about art and business. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast!

Are You an Authority in Your Field?

I've always been an avid reader of many professional topics including my new and most recent passion: the Marketing field, and of course, I spend a lot of hours doing research when I find a topic that interests me. I recently ran into this article by Brian Clark, founder and publisher of the Copyblogger blog during one of my searches and found it extremely interesting. For those of you who are also interested in the field of Marketing and how it can benefit your organization, I'm sure you will find this an interesting and very useful reading.

Brian Clarke's free report is called "Authority Rules: The Ten Rock Solid Elements of Effective Online Marketing" and it can be seen at http://authorityrules.com. You can also benefit from visiting the Copyblogger site at www.copyblogger.com for more information and tips on related topics.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Big Bend Bird Club Identity Makeover - Part 2: Billboards!

Well, well, well....Long overdue post: The billboards I designed for the BBBC Exotic Bird Fair are now being displayed at four different locations throughout the city of Tallahassee! They are now showing the club newly re-designed identity.

My intention with this billboard design was to introduce the new logo and colors to the public, so that people begin to recognize the new look of the club and also associate the institution with the exotic bird fair they hold every August at the North Florida Fairgrounds. Their previous billboard, which they had been using (with minor changes) for some years now didn't show any recognizable element, so one of the goals was to make sure it was understood that BBBC is the organization that puts together the fair.

Starting from the logo itself and replacing some of the words in it, I came up with a straight-forward solution that made it the center element of the design. The fun and cartoonish style with the tree and all the leaves makes it stand out as well from the rest of the billboards out there since not many of them present this kind of solution.

The BBBC Billboards can be seen at the following four locations:

1- North Monroe + Tharpe Street (facing North)
2- Crawfordville Rd + Shelfer Rd (facing South)
3- Magnolia + Lafayette Street (facing North)--This is the one in the pictures above...
4- Mahan Dr. + Riggins Rd. (facing West)

Big Bend Bird Club Identity Makeover - Part 1

When Carol V. Spring, board member of the Big Bend Bird Club of Tallahassee talked me into this pro-bono project, I couldn't refuse. Carol and I had worked together last Summer at the LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts and we had kept in touch on these kinds of nonprofit projects.

The non-profit organization needed a new look after 20 years! It would be an exciting project and also a fun one in which I would be able to help the club advance in their marketing and promotion efforts, so I gladly accepted the invitation immediately. Now, the first stage of the project has been completed: I finished designing their new logo.

When I came on board, the logo of the club looked more like a seal instead of a logo. It was clear that the name of the institution wasn't very legible and the realistic illustration with the birds was very complex for a logo. Therefore, I immediately suggested that there was a need for highlighting the name of the organization, and more specifically the words "Bird Club". I also offered to come up with a more simplified image of a bird that could represent them and become their new mascot.

New colors were also implemented in the new design. The result was this colorful, fun, friendly and down-to-earth logo design that I'm now implementing in all their marketing and promotional materials.

Constructivist Museum Working Group Logo

I just designed a logo for the Constructivist Museum Working Group (CMWG), where I am a member. Created by National Art Museum Educator of the Year, professor Dr. Pat Villeneuve, CMWG is a collaboration of museum educators, and researchers interested in examining and developing the potential of constructivism in the museum. The constructivist nature of the museum setting allows visitors to explore and engage in objects to create unique experiences, building on their own perspectives.

More information related to the Constructivist Museum Working Group and its projects will be available soon.

Welcome to Alicia Viera's Blog!

I'm currently in the process of designing my website. In the meantime, I would like us to stay in contact through this blog. Please feel free to browse around to stay updated with news and samples of my work. Come visit frequently!