For the best in visual communication for museums, art institutions and galleries

Welcome to the second edition of the IMCA newsletter.

The jury met in Brussels on 8 February 2007 to discuss the awards. Thanks to the 15 people from 6 different countries, who battled through the snow to make the meeting, the organisation of IMCA is forging ahead! Many of the points raised in the meeting have been actioned already so the website has undergone several changes, with the categories being confirmed and entry forms being added. See what's new at the IMCA website.

Registration open!

Registration for entries is now open. Find out all you need to know about the categories, how to enter and the terms and conditions. Deadline for entries 31 August 2007

4 main categories now confirmed.

There will be 4 main categories for IMCA: Corporate Design, Exhibition Campaign, Integration and Innovation.

A fifth category to be added. Attendees to the awards ceremony will get the chance to vote for their favourite campaigns! A Peers Award is to be introduced, to be voted for on the night – maybe the toughest category where you are voted for by your international colleagues... !

IMCA Book to go ahead.

Following the IMCA event in November a book of the winning entries and others is set to be published in March 2008. Not only will it be a visual record of what is hot in museum communication design, but it will also feature selected essays from leading designers and museum communicators.

News

Thalys International working with key partners in four countries. Musée du Luxembourg for the René Lalique exhibition, TEFAF in Maastricht and also Europalia in the context of the 50th anniversary of Europe and the Museum of East Art for the Liao exhibition in Cologne. With each partner there is a specific action plan that is built together, ranging from press actions to specific tariffs, to VIP events. Thalys connects daily four countries, covering a market of 45 Mio Europeans. In 2007, Thalys will confirm it's strategical choice to develop cultural partnerships in order to address the global expectations of its customers (50% of Thalys passengers travel for leisure and city trips) and to develop global business in creating new reasons to travel. 'Whatever your interest, you will always have a good reason to travel with Thalys'.

Paul Elliman and M/M working in partnership with the Serpentine Gallery, London on a new web project. How to extend the museum with virtual onscreen presence. The 'parallel Serpentine' project currently underway at the Serpentine Gallery intends to do just that. Developing a website that will be an extension of the Gallery is the accumulation of a collaboration of M/M and Paul Elliman with Serpentine Directors, Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Oberist - a website project with a subsequent physical manifestation where the real world and the virtual will eventually intertwine to create a 'whole' Serpentine experience.

Europalia appoints Agenda. Europalia has appointed Agenda to conduct their marketing and media campaigns in France, UK, Germany and The Netherlands. From 3 October 2007 to 3 February 2008, Europalia organises its cultural festival in Brussels. Over the 4 months visitors will experience culture coming from the four corners of Europe.

Tokyo tops museum attendance figure list for third year. The March issue of The Art Newspaper reports that the Tokyo National Museum, with its 'The PrinceCollection: Jakuchu' topped the museums attendance figure list. Daily attendance was 6,446 people with overall attendance being 317,712. This is the third year running that a Tokyo institution has topped the attendance figures chart. The Museum of Modern Art, New York had the top Architecutre and Design shows. 'On Site: New Architecture in Spain' and 'Safe'. www.theartnewspaper.com

Grafiti artisit Banksy breaks the £100,000 barrier. The work, 'Bombing Middle England', by the British graffiti artist sold at last month's contemporary art sales hitting a new record of £102,000. www.banksy.co.uk

7th international Communicating the Museum Conference. Will Gompertz is confirmed chair of this year's conference, to be held in Madrid 4-7 July, 2007. Will is Director of Tate Media, Tate, UK. The conference will welcome up to 300 international delegates from over 30 countries. Details and registration information: www.communicatingthemuseum.com

Communications events for Museum professionals

Frieze Art Fair
11 - 14 October 2007, Regent's Park London
The Frieze Art Fair takes place every October in Regent's Park, London. It features over 150 of the most exciting contemporary art galleries in the world. As well as these exhibitors, the fair includes specially commissioned artists' projects and a prestigious talks programme.

Typo Berlin.
17-19 May 07, Berlin
TYPO is not a meeting of experts, a congress of crazy typographers, but TYPO has developed itself into becoming the largest designer event in Europe. It is interdisciplinary, open-minded, and outward looking. It offers an annual focus, and a combination of presentations, lectures, and panel discussions. It is a showcase for graphic, motion, web, game, typography, sound, corporate and boundless design, from all over the world, compacted and condensed into a 3-day programme, in three parallel series of discussion themes. Typo Berlin

Highly recommanded

C/ID
Visual identity and branding for the arts

Editor & Designer: Angus Hyland (Pentagram Design Ltd) / Text: Emily King

Following the explosion of identity design in the arts and the reinvention of the art gallery/museum as a brand, this book provides a survey of recent and current design work for cultural clients, including galleries, museums, theatres and auditoriums. Thirty international case studies clearly express what good design can do to improve the fortunes and/or image of an institution. The focus is on new identities and their application, as well as smaller design solutions such as gallery guides, promotional programmes (incorporating everything from posters to ad campaigns), exhibition catalogues, branded merchandising, websites, signage systems,temporary exhibition design, renovated environments, new galleries, extensions and completely new buildings. The case studies consider projects large and small - from museums and galleries of international significance, to smaller institutions whose sphere of influence is more local. Each includes comments from the designers and from key stakeholders.

Text and interview by Emily King member of the IMCA Grand Jury

176 pages 265 x 210 mm
ISBN 1 85669 408 9
www.laurenceking.co.uk