ebonycocozzapromotion

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Evaluation 2 Promotion

For our collaborative end of year degree show my role was within the funding group. Our collective intention was to raise funds to support a potential physical exhibition in the future, by setting up an online pop-up shop on the virtual degree show website. We intended to sell promotional materials, such as tote bags and zines to raise the funds. As a physical degree show was given the green light, the online pop-up shop idea did not go ahead, and instead individual students will have their own merchandise to sell at their booths if they should choose to. Throughout the module the groups had regular meetings via zoom to coordinate, and there would also be a weekly class zoom in which a spokesperson from each team would update everyone about their groups progress.

In my own practice, I prepared for the degree show by cultivating an online presence. I made an Instagram art account, and also make my own wordpress website. In addition to this I made a QR Code which is displayed at my booth which will take the user to my wordpress website and social media. For the CAP degree Instagram account, I also contributed several posts. I submitted a “meet the artist” video in which I discussed my practice and gave examples of the work I intended to display at the exhibition. I also submitted a “process and preparation” post in which I gave visitors a glimpse of what I was working on in preparation for the show, such as framing prints. I also submitted a post as part of an Instagram Takeover which documents the process of creating my work.

When I had my assigned booth, I then began thinking of what I would like to exhibit and the logistics of that. I had a wide selection of my work, which I was able to narrow down to 6 framed cyanotype prints and a large 2 wall-wide projection. At first I had considered an eclectic and colourful space, showing as much of my work as I could. In the end I went with the less is more approach, making a feature of the empty white wall space so that my prints could really stand alone. I chose to project 2 blue resin lightswitches, and I chose blue specifically to complement the cyanotype prints and to make the space visually cohesive. On the walls with the framed prints, I hung my clay lightswitches at around the height one might find a real lightswitch. I think it adds an element of surprise and also ties all of the walls together conceptually.

Overall I have learned more about marketing for artists in this promotion module. I realise the importance of social media as a tool for self-promotion and also the many types of work and many people working together it takes to curate and organise an exhibition.

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Degree Show Installation

Featuring work from both divergent practice and creative enquiry.

Includes framed cyanotype prints, light projections, and sculpture.

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My QR Code which takes the user to my wordpress site. 

I used a free trial on QR Code Generator.com to make my code.

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Final poster design

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Poster design template which won the first round of votes.

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Our intention was to create a zine to raise funds for a future exhibition, however it looks like a physical exhibition can go ahead now - is a zine now needed? This needs to be discussed soon.

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Link to instagram 

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My ‘meet the artist’ video

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Evaluation

The purpose of promotion is to generate awareness of your artwork and grow your professional network. Having an online presence is the best strategy to promote yourself and publicise your work, so I have set up a wordpress website on which I will publish my work. I may also create an Instagram account so that I can generate followers and grow my network. The link for my website can be shared in a number of ways, for example it can be linked to a Linktree landing page which will take the user directly to my website, or a QR code can be generated which when scanned will also take the user directly to my website.

Our collaborative end of year show will be online only this year, so there will be a 2021 CAP degree show website on which every student will exhibit their artworks, and will include artists statements. For this I intend to select pieces that I want to exhibit and photograph them. I will also be making a “meet the artist” video which will be 30-60 seconds in which I will talk about myself and my craft, and how I have been making my artwork from home in the pandemic. I will also be uploading my work to my wordpress website. Throughout the promotion module I will be keeping a personal blog documenting all of the progress and planning throughout the module, for example any research I have done or any minutes from group zoom meetings. For this I have chosen to create a tumblr blog.

As part of the funding group, we would ordinarily be generating funding to support a physical exhibition, but as that is not possible, we are keeping the option open of a future physical exhibition later in the year. For this, we intend to raise funds via an online pop-up shop which we hope to sell promotional materials, which will also be linked to the degree show website. The potential dates discussed for this are the 15th April through to the 15th of June. This will give us a month of sales, a percentage of which will go towards a future exhibition. The promotional materials we have discussed that we plan to sell are zines and tote bags featuring our artwork. We will use a printing service to make our zines, but if we choose to sell tote bags, I can screenprint them myself to keep costs low. The funds raised from the pop-up shop and through sponsorships will help with the costs of the venue.

Through this module I hope that I can gain more knowledge of promotion and marketing for artists and gain experience of working collaboratively on a project which will be useful in the future. I hope to cultivate an online presence so that I can share my work with more people and have more presence within the art community.

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Degree Show Proposal

The BA CAP 2021 degree show will be online only this year due to the pandemic. As such there will be a degree show website which myself and my fellow students are collaborating on, which will act as a virtual exhibition. Our work will be installed physically in the college’s exhibition space, and photographed/filmed. These images and videos can be uploaded to the website, which will allow for viewers to browse our digital gallery space without being physically present. We have discussed as a group potential ways of presentation. Artvive is an augmented reality tool which will allow us to select a ‘trigger image’, which when scanned via the app will open up a video which will tell the viewer more about the piece. Another potential presentation idea is to have a 360 degree shot of the gallery space, which will allow the viewer to move around the space virtually to view the artwork. Our collective degree show website will also have links to each student’s personal websites to promote individually. There will also be a press release which will be made public.

In terms of installation, I will be exhibiting 2D and 3D work - framed work, light projections and some clay sculptures. For this I will need picture hooks to hang my framed work, and I will also need use of the projector so that I can project my resin sculptures. For my clay sculptures, these will ideally be resting on a shelf, which I have sourced myself but will need assistance in installing on the wall. The quantity of pieces I will exhibit is yet to be decided but this will be established later.  

Exhibition requirements

-          Use of projector, resin pieces

-          Nails & picture hooks, framed prints

-          Shelf to be installed – clay tiles

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Promotional Strategies

My wordpress website and Instagram will be my main personal promotional strategy as I believe social media and online presence are vital tools for self-promotion and marketing in the modern world. This allows for wider visibility and connection to the art community. I have set up my wordpress blog to be as user friendly as possible. One way I have done this is by allowing visitors to leave comments on my blog. Another way I have done this is by separating my artworks by category – I have a separate page for each type of artwork which the user can click on to search for a specific category, for example a page just for collagraphs, a page just for sculptures, etc. That way everything is organised and the website is easier to navigate for the user. There is also a marketing tool embedded within my website which allows me to analyse statistics such as website traffic and page views.

I am also in the process of setting up an Instagram account, which I feel is more informal but slightly more personal. Instagram has the feature of hashtags, which will be beneficial for visibility and gaining followers as when a specific hashtag is searched, my artwork will appear in the results, driving traffic to my account and also to my wordpress website. My Instagram account will show development and the process of making, as opposed to my wordpress website which will show finished pieces only.

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Minutes from Fundraising Meeting – 8th March

Sarah, Martha, Ebony, Lynsey 

1. Fundraising for a physical show for our year group in the Autumn (venue outside of college) Suggestions: 

A) A Zine that is contributed to by everyone in CAP 4th year e.g. Haiku, poem, crossword, cartoon, photos, creative writing, recipes – and much more! Theme of zine (to be refined)- Art Students in Lockdown: How did we (collectively and individually) survive lockdown? Keep the theme pretty loose.

 Actions: 

Martha is investigating costs of producing this but it looks to be about £66 for printing of 100 zines (20 pages)

 2. If we each promoted and sold 5 of them for £5 each, we would make about £500 minus the £66. They would be sold as a physical zine and posted/handed to friends and family. What do the year group think? Make a decision very soon. The upfront costs of printing will be shared equally between CAP 4th years. Money will be collected via a paypal set up.

 3. Content would be uploaded by class to padlet and curated/laid out by the fundraising group

 4. Timescale: 19th April deadline for uploading content for Zine. 15th May (approx. 1 week before degree show opens) Online shop selling Zine & other artwork opens 15th June (approx. two weeks after degree show ends) online shop closes All money goes into a Paypal account set up for the degree show fundraising group. B) Tote bags with one design – probably front page of Zine – to be sold in Online pop up shop alongside the Zine. Any profits from the sale of the totes will go towards fundraising for a physical year group show in Autumn.

 Actions: Lynsey will investigate costs of

 a) Buying plain totes to print ourselves 

b) Having totes printed up professionally 

Actions: If we go with option

 a) then Ebony has offered to lead on printing up these bags at college with help from others.

 2. Online pop-up shop to sell our individual work at a profit to the individual artist. With a 20% ‘commission’ towards the collective fundraising pot for a physical degree show. 

Actions: 1. Year group decide if they have work they would like to sell online during the pop up shop. If so, then individuals take responsibility for postage and package and pricing of their work to include P&P and 20% to collective fundraising pot for a physical show. 

2. Year group make a decision on when and where they will deposit this work for inclusion in an online pop up shop

3.The question arose of whether a catalogue was being produced for the degree show and if so what are the costs? 

a) Would it be a physical printed catalogue?

b) Would the college pay for this? What are the costs?

c) We would need someone from the year group to lead on this and do collection and layout for a catalogue. Would anyone like this job that doesn’t already have a role?

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Online Presence

Wordpress Site

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Could potentially use this printing service for my promotional materials