Page 167 - Visual Marketing
P. 167
In 1944 Cullen Rapp formed promotional pages. As more which represented 25 artists
an art studio in New York City, editorial artists joined the agency, in 1989, when the campaign
and he used a portrait of himself there seemed to be more interest began, now has more than 60
as the logo for his company. in transforming the logo into their artists under contract.
In 1974, when his son Gerald own individual style. “The cam- • The campaign represents a
joined him, he added his name paign was an ideal way to show strong brand that promotes the
to the company and illustrator off the creativity of our talent. It reputation of Gerald & Cullen
Gerry Gersten drew a new illus- was immediately a big hit with art Rapp and has attracted the
tration showing the profiles of directors, designers and illustra- high-caliber artists who have
the two owners. For many years tors,” says founder Jerry Rapp. joined the agency. Creating a
this was the logo for the agency. Rapp logo is a rite of passage
But a funny thing happened, This brand continues to be fresh among up-and-coming artists.
and it began gradually and in and innovative as new artists
an organic way. apply their own style and inter- Takeaway Tip
pretation to the themes. The
Why It Works painter Georges Seurat once Create a visual “theme” for how your associ-
said, “Originality depends only ates, or employees, present themselves as part
Illustrators are creative people on the character of the drawing of the firm. Let them be creative—but within a
who are not used to doing the and the vision peculiar to each defined framework. They will feel a part of the
same thing over and over again, artist.” The ever-changing logo business, while also reinforcing the firm’s sig-
and they don’t necessarily like becomes a new piece of art in nature brand identity. Having your team mem-
to see another illustrator’s draw- the hands of each artist. bers present themselves creatively can even
ing on their promotional page. enhance the firm’s brand, particularly if the
So, some of the artists began to Success Metrics firm is in certain creative fields where visual
draw their own modified versions creativity is highly valued.
of the portraits and created their • Art directors and designers love
own logos to appear on their the campaign, and the agency, PO WER TO THE PR I N T I TE M ! 146
