Jason Falconer
  • Home
  • Paintings
  • Drawings
  • Design & Photography Work
  • Bio/Statement
  • CV
  • Blog
  • Contact

Memphis Street Art, advertising & how to market yourself as an artist

7/27/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
I was out walking around the Memphis downtown riverfront area the other day with my family and I ran across this bit of "street art" advertising and It caught me by surprise really because it's a printed decal with a painting on it and a QR code for an artist's work and web address. It really got me thinking about an artists’ audience, quality of work and how to market your self as a working artist. 

I grew up in and around the graffiti culture so I am used to seeing gratuitous tagging, bombing, guerilla art, band flyers and all the citizenry screaming for attention that a street corner brings, but a website and QR code for a more traditional painting website… is this really the right place for this kind of art advertising? Well, part of me says no, part of me says yes, and it bothers me.

First off let’s start with audience. Is this particular street corner even the right place to engage an art buying audience? Well it can be, location, location… right? What is even this artist’s audience… a tourist, Memphians, the random passerby, anybody who will buy art? That’s a lot riding on one painting with a website and QR code on a decal on a light pole.  Now the work pictured in the “ad” seems like it emulates the Memphis folk art style of the musician performing or even a reflection of Memphis’s musical roots, so from that standpoint I can make a connection with a potential audience on this street corner, but a small one. It is placed close to Beale Street, a big musical tourist destination and walking distance from a decent size arts district where you can view and buy art, so there is potential to reach this audience again and “make a sale” from this ad so that’s two positives working for it.

Ad execution: I am interested in more info so as I stand on the street corner waiting to cross the street I use my phone to “learn more” about this artist and the work pictured. Instead of a landing page it takes me to the artist main website which I now have to dig through a clunky mobile version and learn he does a myriad of art endeavors not just the type of work pictured. The work in the sticker is bigger than what I can see on my device so I am left wondering and as I keep walking and I put the phone back in my pocket because I lost interest and didn’t want to spend the time searching the site for answers on a busy street corner.  Why did I lose interest? Well, in that slim opportunity I allowed the artist my time and attention when I scanned the QR code I wasn’t directed to a map, address, or landing page that guided me somewhere close to visit a shop or gallery to actually see the work, albeit prints or postcards, something tangible I might buy. Instead I was left to fumble around in the site that had more than I cared about which forced me to wait till I got home to look at it on a larger screen to dig for what I was looking for and to contact directly if I was even still interested. Who wants to go through all that?

The ad failed to do what I hoped it would do as an interested art enthusiast. Think about your site the same way. Do people come to it and “bounce” right out. Are their questions being answered by the design, layout and information presented? Are they interacting with you positively and commenting, or even buying? If not, ask why not?

Now as an artist and a potential buyer I want to see the work up close, my interest in scanning the ad brought about multiple questions that the result didn’t answer so I went on with my life negatively impacted. I would also venture to assume some other potential art buyers who scan would have similar questions and want to see the work too and this is where I feel like this ad missed entirely. Interest brings in a lot of factors that this ad or even website didn't offer an answer to, on a street corner, in a few minutes of a potential customers time. Yes, I now know that this artist exists. But if that is all this person wanted was to be apart of that clutter like a tag or a sticker bomb then he overly succeeded. Why go to the trouble of adding a QR code and web address is what bothers me. The message of your advertising and quality of your website, is just as important as the time and effort you put in to the quality of your art work. Remember that; don’t leave your customers out in the cold because you are speaking to the wrong types of people with the wrong message. As you produce work, as you think about self-promotion, advertising your art, because yes, you want people to know you are out there… remember ultimately you want to sell your work. You have to attract and hook those types of buyers.

Think about this sticker and its attempt to draw in customers. Are you throwing away time and money with your efforts just as this person did? Thinking about and being smart with your advertising really does matter and it can really effect how people remember and respond to you or your art the next time they see it.

1 Comment

Freebies - VECTOR Watercolor Splatters & brush strokes

7/20/2014

0 Comments

 
FREE, VECTOR, SPLATTER, BRUSH STROKES, Adobe Illustrator, download, paint, Jason falconer, strokes, ink, brush
If you are like me I am constantly looking for free downloadable resources to help me make rad designs, so I put together some FREE VECTOR watercolor splatters and brush strokes for anyone who wants them. Please give me credit if you redistribute these on your website for download. The AI file is FREE and is saved in CS4 format for anyone to use. If you want me to custom make you some vectors email me and we can work something out. Thanks!
illustrator_splatter_brush_strokes.zip
File Size: 6922 kb
File Type: zip
Download File

0 Comments

Memphis College of Art Documentary

7/6/2014

1 Comment

 
Memphis College of Art, MCA, Memphis, Tennessee, art school, art, painting, sculpture
I graduated from the Memphis College of Art in 2001 and came to the college on scholarship from CO and never really knew the history of the college (even after I graduated) other than the design of the school building was the result of a competition the city held in 1956.  I recently attended an alumni weekend and was unable to see this newly created documentary about the college everyone was talking about and I finally got around to watching it today, and whoa… what a rich history the school has. Such a beautifully put together documentary about the history of the college and its faculty.  If anybody is looking to get a BFA or MFA I would recommend this school in a second. Check out the documentary below created by True Story Pictures for an in-depth look at MCA. 

The Art Academy
from True Story Pictures
(image from video, I don't own this image but all rights reserved to it's owner(s). I'd give credit to the photographer if I knew who it was. 


1 Comment

Art books to read

7/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Do you have any favorite art books to recommend? I am always looking for books, whether its on photography, graphic design, street art, graffiti, famous artist retrospectives or old renaissance master drawing notebooks.

My Amazon wish list is full of bargain deals. Cheap, cheap, cheap, I try to buy art books under $3 dollars and you would be surprised at how many you can find in great condition for under $3 plus shipping. I just picked up the book laying outside the stack. Its called Backyard Shakedown Photography Book . Put out by UPPER Playground and FIFTY 24SF Gallery. "It is a collection of the most active and exciting contemporary photographers and serves as a great cross-section view of relevant image making today"(excerpts taken from the book description).  
Picture
0 Comments

Mississippi museum of art

7/1/2014

0 Comments

 
I am a museum junkie... I try to go when ever I have free time and I have already taken my 8 month old once, that is how much I love looking at art. I could spend hours a day furiously taking notes, researching a specific painter, dissecting a work of art to figure out how it was created. I am fascinated with technique, and an artists methodology.

Well this past weekend my wife took me to the Mississippi Museum of Art and what is pretty unique about this museum is that the majority of the work is from Mississippi artists. Weather they were born in, work in or lived their entire life in MS and have passed away, it was all by Mississippians. Below is a detail and the full view of Arcola, 1982, 81 x 120", oil on canvas by painter Valerie Jaudon. What is fascinating to me about this painting is how she was able to get such precise thin lines and such thick impasto painting with consistent color at that size. This piece was one of my favorites in the museum. 

Here is a review of Valerie's work in Art in America Magazine 
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    2014 Biennial
    Advertising
    Alumni Exhibition
    Art History
    Business Cards
    Community Art
    Daily Art
    Freebies
    Learning
    Marketing
    Self Promotion
    Studio Photography
    Studio Time

    Author

    Art Blog of Mississippi Artist Jason Falconer

    Archives

    August 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    RSS Feed

 All images ©2021 JasonFalconer.com