When putting together the businesses for the Guerneville Bank Club, I saw an opportunity to create a unique pop-up space for contemporary art: the Look Up Gallery. A year's worth of shows were curated by Betty Nguyen, a curator, publisher and editor for several contemporary art magazines. I designed the space and all related marketing materials including the website and collateral, as well as managed all social channels.
As the former back office for the former Centennial Savings and Loan, the room was paneled back in the '70s. During the renovation of the building the room was "peeled back" to reveal very interesting colors as well as an old poster behind a piece of sheetrock which influenced the name of the gallery. A trip to the Judd Foundation influenced the reflection of the Doug Fir flooring material on the ceiling as well as the furniture and light fixtures. The furniture was custom made by a local woodworking shop- the same intent of Judd when he helped transform Marfa, Texas.
Before I designed and built the website, I spoke with folks at museums, curators and artists as well as looked at other gallery websites to understand best practices and functionalities. The collateral was kept extremely simple as well with design elements influenced by the "Look Up" poster that was discovered during the renovation. Full Circle Press did the letterpress printing. "Look Up" takes on a new meaning today as we can sometimes be more focused on our devices than the things around us.
Visit lookupgallery.comEach show for the gallery was conceptual to time or place during the year. Although each show was different, a consistent yet unique typographic treatment was applied to each show. Typography was unique for each show yet there was a consistent design system.
See the exhibitsThe back office was not part of the original design of the building. It was an addition added in 1962. To create emphasis on this, it was painted a darker 75% shade of Benjamin Moore's Kendall Charcoal. In homage to the security bars over the rear window, an inexpensive piece of opaque white acrylic was attached using stainless steel posts. This also provided visual security as well as UV protection for artwork. The mint green and red colors were influenced by colors exposed when the room was cleaned before the renovation started. Walls were framed out with plywood and sheetrock in preparation for its future use as a gallery.