The Art of Collaboration

Producing a website is an exciting time to engage in the art of collaboration and reaching consensus. Our focus in this post is on our client, the Sharon Arts Center , a non-profit organization, and their exceptional work in reaching their mission “to support and serve artists and craftspeople, to engage our community in the artistic process, and to foster the relationship between artists and the community through education, exhibitions, the promotion and sale of art and craft, as well as through special programs and events.”

Today’s opening of the exhibit, 2D or not 2D: Art Inspired By Poetry, is no exception. Not only does the Sharon Arts Center fulfill on fostering the relationship between artists and the community in exhibitions and the promotion and sale of art in this exhibit with their collaborative efforts, the exhibiting artists are also 2 different collaborative groups of local and regional artists.

The Left Bank artists include Evelien Bachrach Seeger and Kim and Scott Cunningham, all of Hancock, as well as Peterborough residents Sue Callihan, David Dodge, Soosen Dunholter, John Sirois and Daniel Thibeault.

Three Squared artists include Kitty Cloud, Lulu Fichter, Erick Ingraham, Colette Lucas, Erin Sweeney and Pashya White, all of Peterborough, as well as Leah Kristin Dahlgren of Temple, Marcia Herson of Bedford, Jordana Korsen of Harrisville, Jane El Simpson of Dublin and Thomas Meyers of Hancock.

If you live or are traveling through the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire from now through December 31, 2010, take time to visit this exhibit. You can also help the Sharon Arts Center by becoming a member and liking them on the Sharon Arts Center Facebook Brand page, created and managed by the Sharon Arts Center.

The Art of Collaboration in Website Design, Development and Marketing

Reaching consensus is something that is so important to our process; it is why I named my company Consensus Technology. After years of working in the corporate world where authority was mandated from above or you could kiss your job goodbye, I left that world. One key reason was that the customer’s interests were sacrificed. My goal was and is to create a living and working environment that embraces diversity of opinion among all members of the team, including the client, as a means to a greater outcome.

Starting a new project, whether it is a new website, re-designed website or social media campaign, first involves understanding the spirit, mission and vision of the organization and individuals involved. We begin with an interview process so that the design creation communicates that passion. As mentioned in an earlier post, your website has lest than 1/20th of a second to make an impression on visitors to your site.

In the case of the Sharon Arts Center, Teplow Cucurullo Communications was chosen to create the new Sharon Arts Center website. Mike Cucurrullo contracted with us to implement their design. In the process we suggested that it would make sense to develop a custom Word Press theme as a content management system at this stage as it would be more cost effective than adding content management later. The implementation included several custom features that allowed the staff at Sharon Arts Center to cost effectively update the content on a regular basis. We would like to thank Mike and the Sharon Arts Center for that opportunity to work collaboratively.

Over the years, in addition to creating our own designs, we have collaborated with and contracted other artists to create designs for our clients. This collaboration allows us to bring our skills in communicating the desired brand experience, our understanding of content structure and navigation, search engine optimization and a variety of content management systems for the most successful solution. It is a process we enjoy and from which our clients benefit.