Designing For Artists

Laura Howell: I am the creative director for an art gallery called Lévy Gorvy. I make sales tools to help the gallery promote the artists we represent. We share their artwork in exhibitions in our galleries, which are in New York City, Hong Kong, London, Palm Beach, and Paris. We also promote art at art fairs, which are like conventions with many galleries. 

LH: Anything that helps people relate to the art and see what makes it special. When we have an exhibition, we make tote bags, umbrellas, invitations, mugs, and books.  

LH: It’s extremely collaborative. I work most closely with our researcher. She gives me the content—text and images—so I can lay it all out. I toss it back to her, she reviews it, and tosses it back to me. We do this volley back and forth. Sometimes we collaborate with artist foundations, like the Andy Warhol Foundation, or directly with the artists. We worked very closely with contemporary artist Mickalene Thomas on all aspects of her recent multi-city exhibition. 

LH: I usually come up with a bunch of ideas. These are shaped by how much time we have, how much we want to spend, and what’s the right concept. I am always concerned about quality because we want to make sure that what we produce matches the level of the art. 

LH: When I was a kid, I would eat my cereal wondering who designed the box. I studied graphic design in college. Then I worked in graphic design for several organizations, including the New York Public Library and a high-end real estate company. You can apply graphic design skills to any industry. It was easy for me to do those jobs, but my heart wasn’t there. I really missed the art. Then I landed at Lévy Gorvy and I just love it. Even though it’s very stressful and it’s a lot of work, it makes my heart beat faster. 

LH: A lot of graphic designers get frustrated because you work very hard on a design and then your clients want to change it. My job is to solve problems visually. I need to listen and respond. And if my client says she doesn’t like red, I need to respect that. It’s a collaboration. 

LH: It’s very special to work closely with art of this caliber. It’s a responsibility to represent it appropriately. This is what someone chose to create. This is their voice. Whenever I design anything, it’s my job to frame that, to give it a context. I never want to create a design that screams too loud. The art must always shine the brightest.