Meeting 21/9

As agreed at the previous meeting during our lesson, the members would return to their original groups in order to analyse one of the 5 personas. These personas were developed based upon the level of engagement they have with art. Our group was assigned the persona least engaged with art. 

We unpacked this user based on why they were not engaged with art, then established what their wants and needs might be. This gave us an idea of how we could apply the concept of influencing a person's perspective (worldview) through art. We came up with some suggestions which we will present to the meta group and then come to a compromise that can address all users. 

Members present at this meeting: Helena, Tayla, Nat and Laura :)

Conceptual Development Whiteboards

Writing on whiteboards was an effective method of working in such a large group. This way we could all contribute and no one felt precious about the images and words that were put up. These images come from several different meetings over the course of two or three weeks, it is clear to see that the concept develops dramatically throughout the images.

Schedule for the interim critique

Helena and Josh's cue cards for the interim critique.

Conceptual Development (Holidays)

We did a lot of conceptual development during the holidays and it shifted our project quite dramatically. We began with a human-like black acrylic monolith that would be installed in a public urban space and gradually open up to display local artists work. By the end of the holidays we had established the lens and catalyst circular installation that we presented in the interim critique. 

Here are some pages from my workbook that we used to generate these ideas.

Brainstorm of the functions of this 'happening'. What is it's purpose? Here we established that we wanted people to ask themselves, "what is art's place in my life?" as a result of the 'happening'.

Another similar brainstorm that includes some potential metaphors that allude to art or performance eg. the fourth wall. This map illustrates the connections between the questions of the brief that we were given.

The concept of the cubic monolith with experience details. Here we were questioning the connection between suburban and urban settings to strengthen the 'happening'.

My brainstorm that addressed our belief on the reason of art, why do we have art? By connecting art to escapism, I could establish that art is an opportunity for an individual to engage in some sort of outside world, while being directly in it. This idea of distortion lead us to the idea of altering perspective to influence worldview. 

Some diagrams of structural responses to the above brainstorm. Here we began the idea of the lens as a method of distortion for daily life.

Some Vague Ideas For Hub - Natalie

I like the idea of using shadows as an effect for the inside of the hub

Using light at night time

Wouldn't have this type of furniture but I like the tent vibe you get from this

Once again the idea of using a for of transparent or holy material

Rough Concept Visualisations

These are all examples of what our concepts developed from our previous meeting could look like, in the site which we discussed.

Foam material ~~ ability to leave behind imprints?

foam mat

Grass

Curtain concept with transparent chain material

Hub Ideas - Tayla

Hub Ideas -

So without having heard the discussions on the 'Hub' idea i just went ahead and id some image research on different sharing spaces/ pavilions/hubs that could inspire some Hub ideas.

So I gage that the idea was some kind of area where the artists/performers could interact/share a space with the people attending the festival.

- Some kind of built pavilion structure to transform an empty space into a hangout/meeting area.

- The movement cafe picture was a temporary instalment/ so some kind of hub built especially for the event that could be easily disassembled afterwards.

- It could contain some kind of interactive art piece for all people/artists to collaborate on.

Hub Ideas 2 - Tayla

Visual Hub Ideas - Tayla

 

Recap - meeting 9/8/2015

As Helena stated we have decided to merge as larger group for the project to be able to create something bigger and more exciting for the New Zealand Festival organisers. As Helena is our group liaison she has been meeting with the other teams do discuss big concept ideas so as a large group we can settle on an overriding theme.

As a team we decided the idea of having a HUB for the festival would be a good way to break down the wall between audience and performer while also operating as an isite or information centre for tickets and info regarding the festival. We brainstormed possible uses for the hub, location, materials and logistics.

We decided the hub could be up for the entire event and would run as an isite from roughly 9am until 9pm, this means people could attend before events to get info about where a show is and pick up promotional information while also buying tickets for other events during the festival. The information sector of the hub would be inside a lockable shipping container so that it could be secured overnight.

As a location we looked into placing the hub where the Saturday night market currently is down the bottom of cuba street, this was central to a lot of the shows going on for the festival and is a location where many people walk everyday. The hub would cover a large area from the Burger King/Shoe Connection right up by Manners street and run until Wakefield street. Logistically having this up for 3 weeks would only disrupt the Saturday night market and little car traffic, there are roughly only 10 or 12 car parks down that end of Cuba and traffic is minimal as Manners is a bus only street.

We wanted the hub to contrast the stark, hard aspect of the Wellington CBD and have it be a softer and more malleable structure - this would mean being inventive and creative with the use of materials for the hub, since the festival is held in February we are hoping cold or windy weather won't be too much of a problem if we don't have a solid all enclosing structure. We have also toyed with the idea of having the hub constantly changing outer shell by using some form of material or curtains that the user could alter or change in some way.

If our idea is accepted and liked by the larger collective of the New Zealand Festival group then we will expand and mock up some of these ideas, as we are not sure of what the other groups have brainstormed at this stage. It is likely that if we move forward with this concept we may split into other small groups from the larger group depending on our strengths.

Natalie

Concept Development

Drawing from the big group strategy in which we create a framework to all work with as a collective we expanded on the suggestion of having a hub that would connect the public to the artists. We the function of this space and the location. Most importantly, we thought about what this space could look like and what installation we could use to create a lively environment and sense of creative community that under 30's would want to spend time at.

Natalie's concept of having a tent

my site plan view of a curtain/light installation, inspired by the curtains in theatre

I will meet with the liasons from the other groups to discuss and compare our concepts to see if we could collaborate as a whole to the benefit of all groups, and to make a significant impact on the festival.

Edinburgh Festival - Natalie

When the client was talking to us about her vision for the New Zealand Festival she mentioned the iconic Edinburgh Fringe Festival a few times,  she said she wanted the New Zealand Festival to have a similar feel and atmosphere to the Edinburgh Festival and liked the culture it seemed to create in the city while it was running.

I feel as though this festival can be good inspiration for us when thinking of ways to improve our own New Zealand Festival.

This is some research I have done into the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - mostly sourced off their webpage.

- The purpose of the festival seems to be to give breaks to young artists/performers as well as stimulating new work in the art scene.
- It's daring
- Acts as a platform or launch for many artists
- As much about the artists experiences as well as the audience
- Gives people who normally wouldn't normally have an artistic outlet an opportunity
- It's known as an extraordinary experience for everyone involved
- "Nourishing to the arts"
- Gives the audience to get up close and personal with the artists, breaking down that wall between viewer and performer.
- The organisers of the festival and the artists both feel like art is integral to life and the festival is a huge amount of fun that people need every year

The areas of the festival include:

Theatre
Comedy
Exhibitions
Musicals
Opera
Cabert
Childrens Shows
Dance and Circus
Music
Spoken Word

- The festival includes big named artists as well as unknown artists looking to build their careers
- Last year the festival had 49,497 performers, 3,193 shows in 299 locations across Edinburgh
- It was developed to enrich European cultural life in the wake of WWII. Since the performers were actually not on the official programme - they performed on the fringes of the festival, which is where the festival got its name.

THEIR 3 OBJECTIVES:

 - Providing support, advice and encouragement to all the amazing artists, producers and venues who create the fringe every year, from help with choosing a venue or writing a press release, to advice on touring, free access to rehearsal space, and professional development activities/events.

- Assisting the audiences who come to Edinburgh by helping you navigate what is on offer within the festival with comprehensive and up to date ticketing and information

- Promoting the wonderful and unique festival to the rest of the world.


Natalie

Strategy Ideas - Laura

Through these ideas, we aim to refine and define further what it is exactly we are wanting to achieve and move forward with. These ideas come under the 3 main outlines provided for us from the client meeting, in which we aim to development the main idea of art being integral to life, which they felt wasn't being stated loudly enough. 

1. Create some sort of acrobatic/circus performance type scenario, in which the crowd would not be treated as a crowd in so many words, but rather be very much involved where the acts would occur within the crowds popping up in various areas. Ideally something like this would be outside, and most likely a free event. Something to consider in our ideas, as this very much brings art to everyday life. 

2. 'Pop-up' installation art around the city. These artworks (whatever type they may be) would be set up quickly somewhere in a very busy noticeable place for a very short amount of time, before they would be moved somewhere else in the city. Could be an easy way to showcase public art to many areas of the city.

3. Bring the festival into tertiary institutions via many means, such as advertising, free participatory events, advertising, competitions.

4. Advertise the opportunity for young artists to assist/collaborate with the larger, international artists in order to create hype, and show them that they to have the ability to work on such a large scale and interact with incredibly successful artists.

5. Advertising needs to be more thought out, throughout the city, and definitely prepared further in advance. As 4 under 30 year olds of Wellington, we all agreed that we were not incredibly aware of everything happening in the festival let alone exactly what the main message of the festival was about. 

Brain storm from meeting 4/8/15 - Tayla

ART MAKES LIFE BETTER 

- Bring the festival out onto the street/waterfront, so that The NZ Festival lives up to its 'festival' name.

- Incorporating unders 30's more by interacting via social media; Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, ect.

- A way of social media interaction could be by using a #hashtag on Instagram photos/selfies that could be printed large scale by The NZ Festival and pasted all over wellington city - you might see a friends face/ familiar or good looking person that makes you wonder what all the #NZfestival is all about. 

- Building on that to incorporate a more 'performance art' vibe, there could be a competition where you and some friends have to build a human sculpture somewhere in wellington, snap a picture and hashtag it. 

- If the performances had a more in/out flow where you could come and go from different performances, walk around the waterfront where all sorts of interesting rings are happening. As opposed to a standard buy your ticket and sit down in a theatre show. 

- Pre festival hype with the help of high Schools/ Universities that have dance groups, art groups, theatre groups willing to preform on the street in the name of NZ festival. This would be exposure for them but also great exposure for the Festival. This way the public can get a taste tester. 

Strategy Ideas - Natalie

WAYS TO INTEGRATE ART INTO LIFE AND SHOW PEOPLE ART MAKES LIFE BETTER

- Some sort of parade or event pre festival showcasing all the different cultures who will be taking part in the festival, will inform people about culture and get them excited about seeing international arts at the festival

- Some online centre where people can digitally create art and then randomly see it displayed on a building or wall at some point during the festival

- Since people are constantly on their phones have some form on snapchat/instagram image sharing media where people can watch parts of the show during or before the events

- Give the festival a more festivally vibe, have a market place of performers or artists on the street during the festival, people are able to pay the artists for their work or a performance. Alternatively they could pay with their own performance???

- Creating a vibrancy throughout the city during the 3 weeks of the festival with street art, banners, posters, installations. Anything that people will see everyday and will change the feel of Wellington CBD during the event.

Also as a group we are interested in finding out whether the emphasis is on New Zealand artists or international artists. With a name like The New Zealand Festival you would expect it to be home grown, but there seems to be a big emphasis on overseas artists? I believe clearing this up will help our group to move on with our project in a more cohesive light.  

Natalie

strategy development ideas- Helena

We met today and began unpacking the brief, debating whether or not the 3 outlines could align.

1. Bring art into everyday life/ highlight the importance of art in life
2. Target under 30s
3. Improve experience journey

What became apparent to me from listening to the client meeting again was that this could be an opportunity to highlight the beauty in non-digital interaction, and similarly a way to celebrate "living that live moment". NZ festival expressed that they were interested in how young people want to engage with "live experience and how that works in context of other habitual stuff that people do". We could find a way for people to experience art through their rituals of everyday life to raise awareness of its presence and significance in human life. I am less interested in presenting a performance for the public, which already exists in the festival and more interested in encouraging young people to generate, collaborate and contribute to an artwork, or the ideology of art.

Strategy Concepts

• create a device that is attached to the pedestrian crossing buttons that engages the user in some performance in order to press the button.
• flashmob-style intervention in a densely populated space that takes people by surprise as the people surrounding them take part in a performative intervention.
• using popular pathways for students as a means to play on walking and art, perhaps including music. For instance, keyboard stairs or wet cement that develops the marks of many feet.
• installations on eftpos machines, where there is an fun attachment on the swipey bit that can potentially use the swiping action to create an artistic movement.
• use themosensitive materials to cover doorhandles, indicating human presence and the diversity of users that use a doorhandle

While these concepts are far fetched, they have a lot of room to be edited, rethought or to just keep one aspect of them.

Culture Segments PDF summary - supplied by NZ Festival client

- 95% of NZ's (15+) population are in the market for arts, culture and heritage
     - between them $2.31 billion is spent on arts, culture and heritage
- 55% state their spending on arts/culture/heritage will stay the same or increase in the next   12 months

Entertainment Segment
Conventional, younger adults for whom the arts are on the periphery of their lives. their occasional forays into culture are usually for spectacular, entertaining or must-see events, and compete against a wide range of other leisure interests.
Attitude and Priorities
Home and pub, TV, celebrity, sports, thrill, escapism, priorities are very close to home
Likes
Blockbuster, must-see, spectacle, musicals, carnival, cinema, pop music, panto
Dislikes
Classic, specialist, intellectual, discovery, museum, galleries, dance, exhibitions
How to reach this segment?
Link into mainstream through TV, sports and celebrity. Emphasis on one off, must-see events and shows. Promote escapism and excitement.

Expression Segment
In-tune with their creative and spiritual side. They are confident, fun-loving, self-aware people who accommodate a wide range of interests, from culture and learning, to community and nature.
Attitude and Priorities
Living life to the full, community and family, arts and culture, faith and spirituality, nature.
Likes
Natural heritage, films, festivals and exhibitions, having a go
Dislikes
exclusivity
How to reach this segment?
Debate and discuss. Build networks that appeal to their community spirit. Highlight the opportunities for participation.

Stimulation Segment
An active group who live their lives to the full, looking for new experiences and challanges to break away from the crowd. They are open to a wide range of experiences, from culture to sports and music, but they like to be at the cutting-edge in everything they do.
Attitude and Priorities
Enjoying life, going out, taking risks, live music, food and drink, contemporary events
Likes
contemporary, music, street art, taking risks, sport/exercise, film, being different, challenges, discovery
Dislikes
staying in, faith, crafts, the mainstream, stagnating
How to reach this segment?
offer events and activities on weekends and evenings. Target them with riskier, less well-known activities. Promote the sociable element.

Affirmation Segment
Young adults for whom the arts is one of many leisure choices. They are adventurous when it comes to their arts and cultural consumption, viewing it is a means of developing themselves as individuals.
Attitude and Priorities
Family needs, personal development, quality time with others, wholesome leisure activities, enjoyable experiences
Likes 
Museums, galleries, science centres, musicals, street arts, adventure parks
Dislikes
Traditional art forms, folk, jazz and opera, restrictions, formality
How to reach this segment?
Let them know early about forthcoming events - let them feel like they're in the know. Promote benefit as being both entertaining and educational. Offer loyalty schemes, discount cards and clubs.

Client Talk - Natalie

From listening to the clients talk about the festival and the direction they want to go we pulled the three main issues facing The New Zealand Festival right now:

- They want to try to integrate art into everyday life and show that it is important, not decoration and integral to peoples lives
- Improving the audiences journey throughout the entire process of the festival (hearing about the festival, buying tickets, attending a show and post show reflection)
- Also trying to find ways to get more under 30's interested in attending the festival

I took the following notes during the talk:

- Announcement in October - festival in February 2016
- 3 weeks of arts events
- Show art is integral to life
- Not product focused - user focused
- About joy + entertainment
- Looking at the way human experience can impact or be shown through live performance
- Festivals 30 year anniversary next year
- Wellington is supposed to be arts and culture capital but is currently lacking
- Do things at a large scale with maximum impact
- Connection with audience
- Experience economy - breaking down the fourth wall, blurring the boundary between audience and performer
- Digital and live performance mix
- Promenade performance - where the audience is given headphones and instructed to download a soundtrack on their phone and can listen while walking round the festival or attending different events
- Doing rather than watching - audience switch. Macro Trend
- They need a new way of filtering, helping audiences to pick what events to attend for their maximum enjoyment - website app??
- Where to park, stay in Wellington - creating a sense of occasion
- Sharing experiences about the festival in an approachable way - abstract, anonymous
- How to engage the next generation
- Engage/promote within universities, targeting students who would WANT to attend the festival as opposed to the majority of students, wasted advertising
- How to break down the barrier of money without dropping ticket prices - range of prices to choose from


So from here there was a lot of different things we could focus on since the client was very broad on what they were looking for. As a group we decided to focus on bringing art into everyday life and showing Wellington City and the New Zealand Festival goers that art is integral to life. We thought this idea would have room for a lot of creative expression and was something we could all bring our majors or taste in art into. From here we have decided to go away and all come up with ideas on how art makes life better and how we can show people art is integral to everyday life.

Natalie

Intial Client Meeting

I went to visit the client in town and was interested in unpacking the brief as well as our group's questions including branding strategy and how the relationship between NZ festival and the public is maintained during the off season. 

Luckily NZ festival has recently restructured its branding and are confident in that area. The two way dialogue in the festival's off season could, however, be looked at where necessary.

What was most pertinent about this meeting was the challenge Meg set for us to create a culture that believes in the value of art in life. The format that this takes has deliberately been left vague, where we will unpack and analyse this to see what will work best in our group of four, or as a collective.

Notes from the meeting

Research: NZF Website Analysis

HOME PAGE(S): interactive section to scroll through different types of entertainment - image gallery. Quotes from the media about the event. Lets you select shows based on type. "Spectacular, Theatre, Dance, Music, Visual Art and Film". Also has a chronological timeline to allow search by date.

SHOWS AND EVENTS: Can filter event based on "free, family, talks, on the road, collections or all." Short video showing images from the events - theatre, visual arts and dance. Also gives a brief bio about the shows  and lets viewers know the price of the events. For an event that is perceived to be expensive and "high end" there are a huge range of free events for many age groups. Much like a shopping cart you can add events to your "shortlist" which can act as an itinerary for the festival.

FESTIVAL INFO:  Ticket and booking information, online and other ways to book. List of all the venues involved in the NZF. Details about visiting Wellington - deals on around the city, eating and drinking, accommodation, transport and other events running at the same time.

FESTIVAL TV: Takes you to the youtube channel for NZF, currently only six videos on the channel - could be a possible area for expansion.

BLOG: When clicking on the blog tab you are directed to an independent page showcasing the NZF blog. It appears to get updated and maintained monthly, with a chronological timeline of posts that can be accessed by month.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: I enjoy the NZF layout and colour scheme in their branding. I find there website easy to navigate, professional and I could easily find the information I was looking for. What I believe could be missing  from their current site is an element of excitement or anticipation for the upcoming festival. Also all of the information on the site relates to last years festival which was held during February 2014. By July 2015 you would think there would be some build up for the next years festival. 

Natalie

Potential Questions For Client Meeting

- specifically explain what you desire
- why have you asked these questions you have asked (for younger generation appeal)
- why did you want to be involved with this paper?
- what is the appeal within a perfomance community on a large scale?

Regarding week 7 presentation
- what aesthetic do you want us to take? (colours, photos, illustrations)
-do you want us to remain sloe to your already established aesthetic, in regards to what you want?

29/7

Strategic Positioning Proposal

- should get to the heart of the problems that need to be solved

- collaboration of what was said and heard

- design leadership document

THE PROPOSAL

1. Background

     - definitions, context, opportunities

     - your point of difference

     - understanding of objective 

     - what can you extract from initial research?

     - definitions (literally)

2. Issues - from the prelim project assessment

     - from client and you

     - what do you understand are the main obstacles in tour clients problem/opportunity?

3. Response - approach or strategy

     - what is your strategy? (and does it address the issue?)

     - who is your target audience

4. Thought Leadership: your take on the project

     - what specific issues will we target and why?

     - what will our approach be to articulating and advancing our clients issues?

5. Scope - deliverables, descriptions of each

     - products, systems, services

BUDGET     FLOW CHART     TEAM MEMBERS (bio's, strong and well-rounded, relevant                                                                                      experience: projects, capabilities.)

Meet with client - 

     - decide what it is exactly that they need

     - begin to research/develop ideas relating to this in order to begin project development            for week 7

Team Photo

For next week

- Client research - provide context to future project

- write/outline roles on blog

- speaker series - decide who is going to what

-defining what we're achieving with the client/what we're going to do

- looking for ways to expand/look for bigger ideas

- start research project timeline

- meet with client 

In Class Questions

What does collaboration mean to our team?
- recognising each individual persons' skills or ideas and using them to mutually benefit the group
- respecting everyones opinion and contributions
coming to conclusions as a group not one individual

What are out expectations around grades?
- we all want to push ourselves and work hard to get the best grade possible from this assignment

What leaning do you want to get out the paper?
- good skills interacting with the client and the public in a professional and mature manner

What values do you bring to the project and how do these inform your practice?
- social, cultural, young/new fresh eyes to bring to the client

How do we harness differences in out leaning and working styles?
- Compromise. Communicate about your different working styles - allocate and delegate different jobs to suit peoples strengths.

Week 2 In Class Work

New Zealand Festival Team 1

Allocation of Roles

Leader - Helena - liason for our group, will interact with the client 

Recorder - Natalie

Facilitator/Creators - Laura and Tayla

We have decided that although we have technically assigned each of these roles to someone, there are no definite set roles in terms of only specifically only catering to that one role, we want to work as a team and help each other out as much as possible, therefore these roles will all definitely overlap throughout the process.