Event Wristbands at Art Events | The Art of Assortment

7/18/2010

Event Wristbands at Art Events

The best art events are whirlwinds of color and greyscale, cacophony and music, insiders and outsiders. There’s the wine and cheese set, hosting events in galleries with clean lines and clean floors. There’s the bohemian aesthetic of an art event that takes place in a crumbling factory or foreboding alley. Students are seeking a little culture and wealthy benefactors searching for their next big investment. There are curators, critics, artists, dealers, and appreciators of art from the general public. How are you, the event promoter, to discern among them at a glance?  Consider the event wristband, a mere slip of Tyvek that provides broad exposure and keeps your event efficient and organized. If you could tag everyone who walked through the door according to type, wouldn’t that help all these disparate elements communicate more effectively?

An array of colorful event wristbands, provided at the door of a large art event, along with a key to help attendees understand what each color means, is a smart way to organize your guests.

Purpose in Design: It’s an art event: start with your design decisions and let form follow function. What purpose do you hope your wristbands accomplish? Consider points of access for your varied guests. Critics may require different access than casual guests, and the wristband can act as a kind of press pass. Art dealers may need a wristband that provides instant access to auctions and private showings by artists and auction houses. Different color wristbands can denote different functions, and you can further delineate with the addition of an image or logo that might denote a certain portion of the event. For added prestige, you could add a title for the wearer: “Critic,” “Dealer,” “Artist.” Color-coding the bands to instantly show points of access gives you a leg up in organizing. In addition, this can automatically turn an Event Wristband into a status symbol. If artists wear red wristbands that say “Artist,” dealers, curators, and critics instantly know who they need to talk to about accessing shows or an artist’s work. Even a mere “Art Lover” will enjoy having her status identified with pride.

Who’s Who: Niche crowds like those interested in the arts possess a natural hierarchy. Using custom, quality wristbands can highlight and incentivize these inherent hierarchies. First of all, wristbands provide natural exposure to your event, particularly if it takes place over several days or is a long event where participants may leave and reenter the venue. That bright red “Artist” wristband attracts attention and instigates questions about what’s going on in that gallery across the street. Second, these various levels of wristbands create a “who’s who” for visitors. Artists and dealers can find one another with ease, and no one will inadvertently insult a critic or a journalist. (On the other hand, this system can make it easier to deliberately insult a critic or a journalist.) Annuals, Biennials, Triennials: Large art events such as annuals, biennials, and triennials are attended by many people from various diverse backgrounds in the industry. People from all over the world with diverse industry backgrounds also attend these events. Consider incorporating the wearer’s language into the wristband design for added organization and prestige. For example, the Whitney Biennial in New York City will have many Americans in attendance, many of whom will be bilingual. The color-coded system may prove really helpful. A wristband that alerts others that one speaks Spanish and Italian will be a welcome sight to international visitors. The status of the polyglot, proudly donning 12 different colored wristbands, cannot be overlooked in this scenario. Her popularity among the international crowd will be assured.

Using quality custom event wristbands is a masterstroke in creating memorable, organized success, especially if your event will be large, diverse, and cater to a niche crowd where networking is necessary.