Author Archives: Mr. Turtle
“Cous Cous” by Joan Mitchell
Look. Slowly.
Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH, is participating in Slow Art Day 2012- see more info
Image Source: http://collections.currier.org
Sydney, Australia – Delmar Gallery
Manchester, New Hampshire
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Florence, Italy
“Purple Poem” by Shanee Epstein
Look. Slowly.
440 Gallery in Brooklyn, NY is participating in Slow Art Day 2012- see more info
Image source: www.shaneeart.com
“Phantom Tattoo” by Gene Davis
Look. Slowly.
Image source: http://denverartmuseum.org
Denver Art Museum is participating in Slow Art Day 2012- see more info
Slow Art Day Logo Design, the back story
In early 2009, California-based designer Richard Kramer met Slow Art Day founder Phil Terry in New York while attending the Gel conference. Richard took an immediate interest in Slow Art Day and offered to join the volunteer effort to grow the movement. After the meteoric growth of Slow Art Day over the next two years, Phil knew it was time to create a new logo and website to facilitate and support the goal of growing to thousands of events around the world. Given Richard’s background in design and digital media, he was a perfect fit for the job.
The process of designing the logo was a truly collaborative effort between Phil and Richard. Phil wanted something that communicated the many facets of Slow Art Day: art, global, community, grassroots, and slowing down. He knew the logo needed to become an instantly recognizable mark that would translate across all types of media. But how do you capture the abstract concept of slowly looking at art in a single visual image?
Richard began by exploring a few concepts that centered on people looking at and engaging with art and the emotions that come with it. Here is a sample of first sketches:
After further discussion and collaboration, Richard took these initial sketches and created three distinct logos:
Immediately, the iconized turtle in the far right logo caught Phil’s attention. Not only was the turtle a unique and easily recognizable image, it held kinship with the Slow Food Movement, which uses a snail in their logo. Richard began to explore options with the turtle including the iconized and character sketches below:
Once they settled on the image, it was time to select a meaningful color palette. Phil solicited help from his wife, Lisa Dombrow, whose lifelong love of art and her slow-looking practice originally inspired him to start Slow Art Day. Together with Richard, they chose a palette from the Vincent Van Gogh painting, “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe (1889).” They thought the color palette from Van Gogh counter-balanced the whimsy of the iconized turtle and brought more serious attention to the practice of looking at and loving art, while the shape of the turtle’s shell evoked the global nature of the movement.
The new logo was launched with the revised website and in time to support Slow Art Day 2012, on April 28th. We look forward to it becoming a recognized global image as the Slow Art Day movement continues to grow.
Slow Art Day Announces 2012 Global Event Date
The announcement marks the 4th annual Slow Art Day and debuts a new website and logo.
NEW YORK, NY, February 27, 2012 – Slow Art Day, the international grassroots movement, announced that April 28, 2012 will be the fourth annual Slow Art Day and that 50 events have already been planned around the world. Organizers expect many additional events to be created by April 28, 2012. The announcement marks not only the continuation of the growing movement, but the debut of a new website and logo.
Since its founding in 2009, Slow Art Day has grown from a single event held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to more than 90 events on every continent in 2011. “Slow Art Day has grown so quickly because it is a powerful and simple way to experience art,” says founder Phil Terry, CEO of the experience design firm Creative Good.
Slow Art Day was created as a grassroots movement to empower museum visitors to change their museum experience. Unlike the standard 8-second view, Slow Art Day participants are asked to spend an hour or more looking at just five pieces of art.
The new turtle logo is used to convey the concept of slowing down, the global nature of the movement, and the love for art via a color palette inspired by the 1889 Vincent Van Gogh painting, “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe.” The website is designed to support thousands of simultaneous events around the world.
The new website can be found at www.slowartday.com and features the new logo prominently along with additional information about Slow Art Day 2012.
About Slow Art Day
Slow Art Day is an all-volunteer, self-organized, annual global event that aims to transform the art viewing experience. One day each year – April 28 in 2012 – people all over the world visit local museums and galleries to look at five pieces of art for over an hour or more. After their individual slow viewing, participants meet together to talk about their experience. Volunteer hosts organize the local events using the tools and support available at the Slow Art Day website. Museums and galleries are invited to host Slow Art Day with no requirement to become official sponsors. In many cases, unaffiliated volunteer hosts choose the museum and the art and communicate directly with the pre-registered participants.
Contact Information:
Web: SlowArtDay.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/SlowArtDay
Twitter: @SlowArtDay
Tumblr: SlowArtDay.Tumblr.com
Contact: Kristine Gardner
Phone: 818-397-4002
Email: info@slowartday.com