Hello, my name is

Aron Gagliardo

Project: Summer Art Studio Client: American Academy of Art Work: Art direction, digital/social (Instagram), web & print design The best way to reach your market? Get them involved via user-generated content. I asked students participating in the Summer Art Studio (an art workshop open to all high school students in Chicago area) to share their experiences with a branded hashtag. These images were then used to create individual panels for Instagram posts. Each panel was shared daily until the message is spelled out. The images were also used for a event website, banner, poster and printed square stickers. Success: Because of student participation, and a focus on speaking to them, and not at them, increased enrollment was achieved.

Project: The Future of Art Magazine / Newsletter Redesign Client: American Academy of Art Work: Art Direction, Design & Editing Newsletter. It sounds old, boring and outdated, doesn't it? Often they are poorly designed, clip art & stock photos jammed to the edges, fighting-for-your-attention overloads. But they don't have to be. Call me crazy, but I think for a newsletter to have more impact, it should have, less news. The average attention span today is about one second. We need to grab those few seconds we get with color, images and yes, even some copy. The goal of this redesign was to appeal to prospective artists & students. The previous newsletters had a very corporate look and feel. Another goal was to inspire more women to choose art as a career. Great cover photographs (like this one of Tracee Badway by Adam Biba) say everything without adding a word. Happy, content, creative, successful, and passionate… Success: Female enrollment over time went from the minority (30%) to the majority (Over 60%).

Project: Alex & Lynette Ross Exhibition Client: American Academy of Art Work: Art Direction, Graphic Design, Print & Digital Design My goal for this poster was to make both Alex and his mother equal. No easy task considering Alex paints the worlds most iconic superheroes in incredible realistic style. His mother on the other hand was a fashion illustrator in the late 40's - 50's. By showing only part of each respective "character" we can see both their work equally without one overpowering one another. Success: The image stood out for both its bright yellow background and its minimal use of art to achieve balance between the two. Alex even gave his Mother a framed copy of the poster.

A logo design for a new business Prime Property Acquisitions Group, Inc. My client had a specific idea for what they wanted. Together we were able to see what worked and what didn’t. Even with a strong client vision, I enjoy providing my personal take. By offering some different options, you open the door for new thoughts and at the very least, get more experience, and ideas that can inspire future projects.

Project: Web Design Client: Indicom Electric Work: Web Design & Identity Design My client, Indicom Electric, wanted a revamp of their website, which really wasn’t showing how impressive their work is. Streamlining all the pages into a concise layout was the first step. Next, they needed some images, at the time they had only 2 on the entire site. One of the most important things I wanted to highlight for them was their very impressive client base of many huge national companies such as Target, Menards, Com Ed, Nestle, Meijer and many more. Lastly, giving everything a cohesive overall design based on the company colors. Often this crucial step is missing in many business sites, the importance of design cannot be overstated. 86 percent of survey respondents said design-driven companies outperform other businesses. 76 percent of consumers say the most important factor in a website's design is 'the website makes it easy for me to find what I want. 77 percent of companies are investing in design to differentiate their brands. Success: The results for the Indicom website are night and day. I am happy to have had the opportunity to give their company an impressive online presence to match their extraordinary resume.

Project: Music Packaging & Logo Design Client: The Joel Pace Organ Trio / Hammond B Records Work: Art Direction, Logo Design, Package Design, Brand Design, Print Design I wanted to make the Joel Pace Organ Trio look cool, contemporary and retro all in one. Many of the initial images I was given were photoshopped by another artist and made the R&B/Soul musicians look like a religious group. I liked this one black and white group image best because it's much more natural, even a bit akward, but that only adds to its appeal. For the band name/logotype I decided to create it from scratch, again thinking retro/contemporary. Success: A new direction and brand identity was achieved that stood out from anything the group had done before. This resulted in greater visibility and loyal new fans.