The ARTSUBS Identity: Visualizing Coming Together and Building Relations
This coming Saturday (26/10), ARTSUBS will officially open their doors to the public at Pos Bloc Surabaya. Initiated by the exhibition’s Chief Director and owner of Jagad Gallery, Rambat, ARTSUBS positions itself as an inclusive art fair that upholds development of the arts. The ARTSUBS team includes some familiar names including acclaimed curators Asmudjo J. Irianto, also serving as Art Director, and Nirwan Dirwanto, as well as Andi Rahmat, Director and Principal Designer at design studio NUSAÉ, as Visual Director. It was Andi and his team at NUSAÉ who were entrusted with creating the visual identity of the inaugural edition of this art fair.
Andi had first gotten involved with ARTSUBS when Rambat had been forming a team to actualize his vision of this Surabaya-based art fair. As Andi recalls, he and his team had been recommended to Rambat by a number of people. The rest was history after Rambat’s visit to NUSAÉ headquarters in Bandung. While he expressed that he would like NUSAÉ to be involved, Rambat also stressed that he wanted Andi to be involved with ARTSUBS as part of the internal team to ensure that the event would be prepared properly in capable hands.
“In the initial brief, he wanted the visuals to represent Surabaya, first and foremost. Because the locational context is important. Secondly, how do we ensure the identity is strong?” Andi explained. He went on to elaborate that the ARTSUBS team knew that they would be a newcomer in the realm of Indonesian art fairs, Art Jakarta and ARTJOG as two of the most highly anticipated annual art fairs in the country. “So, visually, how do we communicate to the public that, yes, this is another art fair event, but we’re serving something different?” Andi proposed. Logistically, ARTSUBS resembles ARTJOG, in that they have invited artists to get involved, rather than Art Jakarta, which invites galleries. However, ARTSUBS also prides itself on being a more inclusive space. Andi explained that ARTSUBS exhibitors can be divided into three categories; new artists on the scene, established artists, and master artists. “Another part of our agenda is that we also want to show how in the city of Surabaya, which is better known as a commercial city, a trading city with its history as a port city, culturally, art has now become something important and popular again,” Andi explained.
The visual identity developed by Andi and the NUSAÉ team is a reflection of how ARTSUBS has positioned inclusivity as one of its core values. The overall concept highlights the art fair as a meeting point of several parties in the Indonesian creative ecosystem—an expression of the notion that this ecosystem goes beyond the profession of an artist or creative and emphasizes the interrelation between the arts and other intersecting professions and disciplines. The NUSAÉ had two points of priority to keep in mind in their design process: how can they develop a distinct visual identity for the overall art fair and how can they communicate the theme of the event, “Ways of Dreaming”?
“Visually, we focused on expressing this gathering of different groups or individuals at ARTSUBS. We are gathering people from all walks of life and professions through the arts to build relations, have discussions, and create dialogue. Because, truly, this event aims to highlight how the arts can leave a positive impact and raise the quality of everyday life specifically in Indonesia. So, it’s a place to meet and build relations through art,” Andi explained. This was the core idea behind the identity’s use of the group of dots as a primary visual element. Representing these groups or fields coming together at ARTSUBS to raise the impact of the arts on society.
The versatility of the dots element is particularly effective in its use as a typographical element in all the event’s communications—as seen throughout ARTSUBS’s social media. The dots also play a part in communicating the “Ways of Dreaming” theme through the rasterized dots in the illustrations of several professions. “We didn’t want to be completely detached in the day-to-day reality of life in Indonesia, and specifically in Surabaya, in the way we translate ‘Ways of Dreaming’. In reality, these are the people who practice the different ways to dream. Because the theme is related to dreams, we didn’t want the visuals to be too literal or explicit. Because dreams sit between the real and the unreal..between the clear and unclear” Andi explained.
By using the dots, Andi aims to leave a distinct impression that closely associates the dots with ARTSUBS, especially this would be the inaugural edition of the fair. “I want them to think,’Oh, the one with the dots, ARTSUBS right?’” Andi remarked. Asserting this distinction is crucial in overcoming one of the main challenges in designing this visual identity—establishing ARTSUBS as an event of its own right next to existing and well-established players like Art Jakarta and ARTJOG.”How do we create something simple that still represents Surabaya?” Andi posed. This is where the use of the red comes into play. “If I ask people there, 'What is Surabaya in one keyword?’ They would say, ‘Wani!’” Andi chuckled. Wani, javanese for brave or daring, is why Andi found that the use of such a bold red was crucial in representing the city, and as such, Andi has explained that this color scheme will be maintained in future editions of the event.
The visual identity of ARTSUBS designed by NUSAÉ has the heavy responsibility of putting the event on the map as the visual vehicle representing the art fair in its first edition. The ambitious event with an even more ambitious visual identity represents several broad ideas while still remaining grounded in the communities of their host city.
