The Background
The UK has one of the greatest art collections in the World comprising over 200,000 oil paintings covering 600 years of art history. However, with over 80% of the paintings in storage or behind close doors, the public were unable to appreciate and enjoy the vast majority of this national heritage.
An audacious idea by the BBC’s Learning sought to open up the entire national collection by creating online access and bringing to life stories behind the paintings and where they can be visited.
However, creating an easy to search archive with such a vast collection of paintings was no easy task. The BBC wanted to combine the opportunity to create national awareness and excitement around the collection and the publics collaboration with creating popular search terms
for each painting.
The Strategy
Our strategy was to ‘make the medium the message’ – we used the art itself as the very vehicle that would transcend the aesthetic and take people into the mystery and magic of the art itself.
We deliberately presented accessible ‘hero’ images that would provoke reaction; images full of intrigue, mystery, discovery and surprise to uncover stories and encourage interaction and engagement with the Your Paintings brand.
The Solution
We developed an integrated brand language across all marketing platforms by using an iconic baroque picture frame as our centrepiece. From there, we were able to frame our stories (literally and figuratively) in an intriguing accessible way.
We inspired interaction and made artworks easier to find by encouraging visitors to tag paintings using words with which it was readily associated - for instance, the tags ‘dogs’, ‘cats’ and ‘matchstick men’ are more immediate and instinctive than the lesser-known ‘Fever Van’ by Lowry. This also created an immersive and intriguing device for our advertising.
The Results
In addition to the awards below, there has been overwhelmingly positive feedback from the BBC. Launch activity produced very strong traffic on social networks – particularly Twitter. The simple (but enduring) power of narrative has become a successful bridgehead to reacquaint a nation with its art.
Awards
Drum Design Awards Commendation
Roses Design Awards Silver
Fresh Design Awards Gold