The Wonderland Commemorative Book for The Washington Ballet is set to launch this week. It’s a fundraiser produced for the ballet by Design Army and Cade Martin Photography.
According to Pum Lefebure, Design Army’s creative director, they have received great feedback, and Graphic Design USA is running an article in November issue. They are talking to several other media outlets, but those stories will be about the financial needs this project will help cover in 2010.
This book sale will raise about $125,000 for The Washington Ballet - small in what they need, but sure to help keep some programs going.
You can purchase the book at: http://www.washingtonballet.org/wonderland
By way of background, Lefebure provided us with the following report on the project:
Design Army has been the agency of record for The Washington Ballet (TWB) since 2003. The TWB was one of our very first clients and we have worked with them through the good times and the current tough economic times. Design Army is a firm believer in creative before cash; we seek nothing less than excellence for our clients regardless of budgets. At the end of the day, if our clients succeed then so shall we. It is this simple work ethic that has helped make the TWB one of the premier dance companies on the East Coast, as well as, elevate our design to an artistic level that Washington has never seen.
In 2010, The Washington Ballet will celebrate the 10th anniversary of artistic director Septime Webre's debut at the company. Septime's vision has helped shape the TWB and we have worked with him and his team to capture them graphically on numerous outreach projects and fundraisers over the past six years. Despite the long relationship, the work has never gotten stale over time; in fact, we have experienced quite the opposite and the commemorative book Wonderland is the culmination of our creative partnership.
Almost two years ago we approached the TWB to start planning for the 10-year anniversary; we wanted to let the TWB know that Design Army is more than a vendor - we were also a supporter. We proposed to design, develop, produce, and market a fundraiser for the TWB if they could help coordinate and cover a portion the costs. At first their idea was to do something basic and easy. Design Army wanted more. We had seen the TWB miss opportunities over the years to capitalize on their talents and resources. We knew the bar could be set higher.
Design Army proposed a larger scale coffee table book that would capture top dollars for their current supporters, as well as generate a large-scale media buzz. That's because what we proposed had never been done before in the city - not by a ballet company, not by a notable photographer, not by a fashion magazine, and definitely not by any design agency. This would be a first. After many discussions with the TWB and outlining a few concepts of what we should design and produce, we finally got them on board to go all in. Wonderland started to take shape; but we were going to need some help to make it happen.
We soon recruited Cade Martin Photography to join the team, and together we set out in the Spring of 2008 to start scouting photo locations throughout Washington, D.C. It was a multi-month process that took us in to the early part of 2008, and at this point all we had to work with was the ten favorite performances from the past ten years. Armed with this information we set our sights on creating a concept that could highlight the dancers - all 40+ of them - and tie 10 very different performances in to a single cohesive story; we chose Alice in Wonderland.
In the spring of 2009, we had determined the story line but did not share it with the dancers. We wanted them to perform their routines, characters, and artistic dances true to the original scores, but they would not be on a stage. For about six weeks in early fall Design Army and Cade Martin Photography took the cast of dancers, truck rentals, costumes, light crews, and caterers all over the nation's capital. The locations surprised many as they were not typical clichés of the city; rather they were some of the most artistic and unknown places we could find. We had to create magic in a city full of connotations. The 25+ images we captured at seven locations are like nothing any of us have ever seen, and after the first day we knew that the Wonderland book would be something special.
The TWB, Design Army and Cade Martin Photography see this as a new elevation for creativity in Washington, D.C, and are certain that it will prove to be a great fundraiser - and brand-raiser - for the ballet in the year to come.
Pum Lefebure concluded: "We do not see obstacles when we design; we see opportunities. Opportunities to make DC more creative."