Friday, October 15, 2010

Exhibition Title Cards

I mentioned that I'm busy getting ready for an art festival in a couple of weeks and one facet of the preparation is designing those cards that are placed beside a painting to give viewers information about the painting.  I didn't even know what they were called until I went searching to see how other artists were handling this aspect of showing their work.

I guess I was fortunate to have stumbled onto a couple of mentions of them or I may not have found any information at all as there doesn't seem to be
much about them on the internet.

If you show in a gallery, most of the time the gallery furnishes these cards and they're usually plain white, simply functional cards.  However, many art festivals and shows leave this part up to the artist and I've seen some very eye-catching cards out there.

I do want to catch some eyes, of course, but I also want my paintings to attract more attention than the informational title cards so I wanted to keep it attractive, yet simple.  I've posted three designs that I've come up with but nothing feels quite right so far. 

It's also been suggested that these cards contain a thumbnail image of the painting on display so that there's no confusion as to which painting the information belongs to.  I've also heard that a card with the thumbnail image could also serve as provenance or a certificate of authenticity with additional information on the back of the card.

Have any of you had experience with these cards or do you have any thoughts on them and how they can be used to promote your art?  What about thoughts on what they should be called?  lol

Let me know which you like best (or if you hate them all) or any suggestions you might have.

I'll be checking the comments here but may not be posting a whole lot as it's a lot of work to prepare for these shows.  I'll let you know how it goes.

5 comments:

Sue Clinker said...

I like the top one best Jan, but I guess everyone you ask will have a different preference :o)

I have to start thinking about mine for the November exhibition soon ... so much to do, so little time!!

Christine Perry | Graphite Art said...

I don't know anything about these cards, and can't give advise. I am with Sue....top one is my choice. ;-)

Jan said...

Thanks to both of you. I printed some of all of them and found that they definitely need a frame and I ended up preferring the top one also.

readingsully2 said...

THe top one is my favorite. It is decorative but to the point...crisp and clean. Good Luck.

Jan said...

Thanks, Carole! Nice to know we all agree.