Title: "(Re)engage"
Creator: Matthew Reichman
Co-Producers: Michael Fusske & Katherine Ferwerda
Music composed by: John Montgomery
Sound Design: Stephen A. Tibbo C.A.S.

www.aigaRedesignAwards.com

Title: "(Re)ignite"
Creator: Matthew Reichman
Co-Producers: Michael Fusske & Katherine Ferwerda
Director of Photographer: Ken Glassing
Music composed by: John Montgomery
Sound Design: Stephen A. Tibbo C.A.S.

www.aigaRedesignAwards.com

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art ("LACMA") hired me to develop new marketing campaigns, run the graphics department, and create a new brand. The challenge was – LACMA was perceived as old-world and esoteric. What I needed to do was create a new brand and marketing language that expressed the museum as vibrant and relevant to contemporary life in Los Angeles. And to reach out to a younger (18-30) demographic.

My process started by examining the institution's original mission statement, where I discovered it was founded with the goal of "serving the public" (neither the art nor the curators). This became the inspiration for the new logo, new mark, and new tag line. It was a radical cultural shift for the institution, but by growing organically from the museum's origins, it was able to gain support internally.

As I was given purview over everything in the museum, from wayfinding to publications to interactive, it was possible to build a coherent strategy to engage the public on many levels – accessible, dynamic, inviting. I reenvisioned the museum's two magazines, created brand merchandise, developed campaigns for all exhibitions including "Diane Arbus Revelations," designed event campaigns such as the Target-sponsored "Free After Five" program, and the museum's 40th anniversary. Then I rebuilt LACMA's site from scratch (the majority of the current site still retains the work I did).

I went on to develop the "SUMMER" campaign (followed by "HOLIDAY) with a light, irreverent tone featuring a 20-something couple having a blast exploring first the city and then the museum on a Vespa.The goal was to reach out to a younger, hipper audience by highlighting the museum as a lifestyle destination. The campaign was ground-breaking for promoting the museum itself as well as for introducing the museum's first commercial. The relationship with Vespa allowed us to follow-up by auctioning off a Shepard Fairey decorated scooter during LACMA's new "Up All Night" parties.

Torrid, Inc. (a national junior sportswear subsidiary of Hot Topic) hired my boutique agency to refocus the brand and increase foot traffic in the stores in lieu of a planned expansion. At the time, the company's main value was in its loyal and very grateful core customer base evidenced by a huge number of thank you letters from teenage girls and their mothers.

My goal was to lend the plus-size junior sportswear company an aspirational voice authentic to teenage girls. To achieve this, we created a story of a girl comfortable with her body, with good friends (of all colors), boys, and whose attractiveness emanated from her self-confidence and 'tude. I hired acclaimed photojournalist, Colin Finlay, to give the right amount of spontaneity and reality to the images, and I discovered Jordin Sparks well before her participation in American Idol. Then, I redesigned the logo with more edge and changed the company color to electric pink, giving a nod to the company's original tattoo mark and adding an implicit thrill of rebelliousness.

For the launch of Torrid's new denim program, "denim a go-go", I created an edgy yet innocently sensual tale of two BFF visiting L.A. I had already introduced video spots to Torrid's still shoots, which I tailored for their YouTube and Facebook pages. The main denim direct mail piece unfolded into a poster collage of the girls' adventures and decorated the dressing rooms.