THE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY LAUNCHES YEAR-LONG MARKETING AND ADVERTISING PARTNERSHIP WITH KALDOR BRAND STRATEGY + DESIGN
Vancouver, February 22, 2007—A retrospective of Vancouver photography is kicking off the year-long, advertising and marketing partnership between the Vancouver Art Gallery and Kaldor Brand Strategy + Design.
Fred Herzog: Vancouver Photographs is a collection of the artist’s substantial body of work that chronicles urban life in Vancouver from second-hand shops, vacant lots, neon signage and the crowds of people who have populated the city’s streets over the past 50 years. As the Gallery’s first exhibition of the 2007 year, it is also the first of several major marketing and advertising campaigns designed by Kaldor.
“The Vancouver Art Gallery routinely commissions a variety of design studios to craft a distinct identity for a particular exhibition,” said Dana Sullivant, the Vancouver Art Gallery’s director of marketing and communications. “This year, we felt Kaldor’s emphasis on branding and strategically informed design made them the clear choice to create a unified but distinct look for all of our major exhibitions in 2007.”
Because the photography, artist and subject matter needed to be the primary heroes of the campaign, Herzog’s photographs take centre stage in the design of all print materials, billboards, posters, sandwich boards, banners and bus signage. To maximize the powerful photography, Kaldor utilized a simple, bold typeface that was (and still is) popular over the 50-year span of photographs represented in the show. Branding also needed to be strong, so the Gallery’s trademark red is the only colour to appear outside Herzog’s photography.
“It is an unprecedented honour to be selected by the Vancouver Art Gallery to creatively execute the marketing materials for all of their major 2007 exhibitions,” said Sally Douglas, Kaldor’s principal. “We take great pride in being an integral part of crafting the Vancouver Art Gallery’s visual identity and in forwarding their brand.”
Following Fred Herzog, Kaldor will unveil all print materials, posters and banners for the Acting the Part: Photography as Theatre exhibit, one of the first exhibitions to explore the transformation and wide variety of staged photographs from the 19th century to the present. Later this year, Kaldor will be at the helm of all advertising material for the Monet to Dali: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art exhibition, the most comprehensive showing of European painting and sculpture ever presented in Vancouver.
A client since 2005, the Vancouver Art Gallery has commissioned Kaldor on a number of marketing projects including its 12-month 75th anniversary advertising campaign in 2006. That year, such blockbuster exhibitions as the landmark Protean Picasso (2005-2006), the largest exhibition of the artist’s work in Vancouver history, and Brian Jungen (2006), the critically acclaimed exhibition of work by the young Vancouver artist, shattered attendance records for the times in which they appeared. From 2001 to 2006, awareness of the Gallery’s exhibitions grew at an exponential rate resulting in admissions revenue that doubled from $1 million in 2001 to $2 million in 2006 and membership that more than doubled to 25,000 members, the largest number in the Gallery’s history.
About the Vancouver Art Gallery
In 2006, the Vancouver Art Gallery marked 75 years as one of Canada’s most important cultural institutions. With more than 250,000 visitors annually from across the country and around the globe, the Gallery is western Canada’s largest art museum and the third largest in the country, providing national and international exhibitions of work by a range of artists, from groundbreaking contemporary visionaries to historical masters. The Gallery’s permanent collection is by far the most significant in British Columbia, numbering some 9,000 works valued at more than $100 million, ranging from the world’s most significant collection of Emily Carr works to the recent $3.5-million acquisition of photo-based art from Toronto collectors Alison and Alan Schwartz.
About Kaldor Brand Strategy + Design
With offices in Vancouver and Toronto, Kaldor Brand Strategy + Design is a leading independent brand strategy and communication design firm. Comprising a team of designers, writers and critical thinkers, Kaldor understands the power of questioning and utilizes up-front thinking to ensure all its clients’ marketing communications are based on sound business objectives, not creative whim. With clients such as the Vancouver Art Gallery, Coast Capital Savings and UBC, Kaldor boasts the experience of a high-profile marketing communications firm but with a more personalized, client-driven approach.
Contact:
Kristina Bandic
Kaldor Brand Strategy + Design
604-736-1714
www.kaldor.com
High resolution portrait available for publication. Just ask.