Working with artists and other creative people to interpret a peatland
(See the Involving Young People pages on this website for examples of creative projects involving young people, both on and away from peatlands)
Hints and tips
The third LEADER+ peatland project workshop took place in County Offaly, Ireland in September 2005. Through discussions at the Co. Offaly meeting, the workshop reporter, the late Fiona Price, compiled the following set of hints and tips for people who wish to work with artists, photographers, designers and craftspeople to interpret peatlands.
Effective working
The arts provide a creative mechanism to engage communities with their peatland heritage. To be effective you need to:
- Develop your brief
- Choose the right creative people
- Support them in delivering your project
- Evaluate your project
Developing your brief
- Be specific about your communication objectives
- Describe your target audience and why your message is important to them
- Define one single, focused message you want to communicate
- Be clear about the result you want to achieve - the desired audience response
- Provide a budget - this vital bit of information ensures that the artist delivers the right product for the project
Select Your Creative Team
- Interview artists, sculptors, designers or photographers as appropriate to your project
Review their portfolios
- Choose someone that is a good listener - it's not all about what they want to do, it's about getting someone to deliver your vision
- Remember a good project demands a good relationship between the client and the supplier
Support the Effort
- Agree on the project objective
- Give your artists access to all decision makers and agree who makes the decisions
- Remember you're unlikely to get a quick turnaround, high production values and a low budget all in one project. Decide what's most important to you.
Evaluate the Work
- Sometimes the product won't meet your personal taste, but does it meet the objectives. Remember who the audience is.
- Ensure that the artwork supports the message
- Be a good collaborator
What to Avoid
- Design by committee
- Catalogue approach - a little bit of this, a little bit of that
- Trying to say too much
- Soft selling your message to appease
- Playing with colours - remember the artist is a professional
What to focus on
- A single message for your audience
- Communicate with conviction
- Clarity
Illustration ideas:
Click on pictures for larger image.