Work
Nonprofit
Project
Role
Zen Bullies
Responsible for all aspects of branding
A public art experiment. The zen bullies are
a federation of gifted fine-art painters. The
group is made up of current—or freshly
minted—students from one of several bay
area B.F.A., or M.F.A. painting programs.
The group was formed in 2005 by myself
and another painter. The projects roots go
back to a 1994.
The surface goal of the
group is to take the artist out of his or her
comfort zone—typically his or her studio
space—to make valid artwork in less-thanideal
public settings. This ranges from
guerilla operations on street corners to
rooftops in Los Angeles, to sharing centerstage
at nightclubs. The standard of ‘the
white cube’ is thereby rejected, and the Result
is compelling. It challenges both artist
and audience on various levels.
The brand extends to the work-wear
that is worn by the artists—the idea being
that the artists should be less a focus than
the actual work being produced. The clothing
based logos are both screenprinted
and embroidered. The ‘script’ type treatment
works well For both processes. It
harkens to tribalism of the California carclub
motifs, and gives subtle deference to
the fine art pedigree of the venture. Every
aspect of the groups presentation and messaging
is considered—visual assets must
be concordant. As the brand matures and
evolves, more iterations inevitably emerge.
Thus the branding focus will remain panoptic,
its attributes fluid and anamorphic.
All Rights Reserved © Ford Minton 2012