‘Welcome to my world: The Art of Sam Taare’ was produced for graphic artist Martin Page, in conjunction with Gus Fisher Gallery. It was printed with Soar’s iGen digital press on Supreme Whiteback single-sided art board. The cover featured red metallic foiling. This catalogue won Gold at this year’s Pride in Print awards.
If you’re involved in an arts-related business or organisation, you’ll know that organising print and digital promotional material is a big task that eats time as well as money. But now there’s an easier way.
Soar Arts is transforming print wrangling in the arts sector. It’s an advisory, design and print management service for galleries, arts events, theatres, performance groups and every other kind of enterprise operating in the arts sphere.
Specialised printing expertise for the creative sector
Stuart Shepherd is the main man behind the service. Before starting up Soar Arts, which is a subsidiary of Soar Print, he was a book publisher and distributor of arts publications in New Zealand and overseas. His expertise with arts-related promotions and publications is proving invaluable to Soar Arts’ clients.
Recently Stuart has been working with two major art events – the New Zealand Outsider Art Fair and Open Studios Waitakere. Both events rely on gaining awareness within the arts-loving public, as well as providing event-goers with instant information about what to see and where.
Renee Tanner of Open Studios Waitakere says that Soar Arts has made a real difference to this year’s event.
“Stuart understood what I was hoping to achieve with the event and was able to apply his knowledge of print to help us with key decisions. I didn’t have to learn all about print promotion and production, because he was there to advise me. One of our publicity pieces is a pocket-sized brochure, and it’s working really well. I’m seeing it everywhere and our brand looks great. Now that I’ve discovered Soar Arts, I wouldn’t go elsewhere for print services.”
.jpg)
Making art look good in print
For the New Zealand Outsider Art Fair marketing collateral, which included a flipbook that works on mobile phones, Stuart worked closely with Erwin van Asbeck, managing director of Toi Ora Live Art Trust.
“Working with Soar Arts has certainly made the task of promoting our art fair easier and less stressful. With a 10-day programme across 35 venues, getting the promotional material together was a major task. Working with Stuart helped us to get it right across a whole range of material – catalogue, posters, postcards and tee shirts. A real benefit was being able to give our patrons a digital version of the catalogue, which they can read easily on their phone.”
As an adjunct to promotional material for the art fair, Soar Arts printed a catalogue featuring the work of the late Sam Taare, an East Coast artist. Designed by acclaimed graphic artist Martin Page and printed on Soar’s iGen digital press, this publication is titled ‘Welcome to my world: the art of Sam Taare’. Taare’s family travelled from East Cape to perform and sing at the opening of the art fair.
Every kind of printing for arts-related endeavours
The Soar Arts service covers newsletters and mailers, publishing services (including production of mobile-friendly flipbooks), posters, postcards and brochures. And because Soar Arts is linked to Soar Print, there’s easy access to graphic design services, warehouse storage, logistics and mail-house services. Pricing is pleasingly sharp, so that promotional budgets go further.
For more information about Soar Arts, email Stuart Shepherd stuarts@soarprint.co.nz
Find out more about Soar Arts, a print service for the creative sector.
