{"id":167,"date":"2020-04-23T03:25:06","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T03:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mdocs.skidmore.edu\/SPAC_stories\/?page_id=167"},"modified":"2020-05-07T21:55:21","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T21:55:21","slug":"spac-by-design","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mdocs.skidmore.edu\/SPAC_stories\/spac-by-design\/","title":{"rendered":"SPAC by Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Elizabeth Picken<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the beginning, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) has been a foremost cultural institution for the capital region. Drawing support from luminaries such as the Rockefeller brothers, the founding members of this organization established a past legacy and present obligation to produce quality content in a beautiful environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Center plans an annual eight-week summer festival of symphony, opera, and dance at the Spa’s 1500-acre wooded park south of Saratoga Springs in an amphitheater with a maximum capacity of 5200 seats under cover and accommodations for 7000 people on surrounding lawns. <\/p>1966 SPAC Performing Arts Brochure<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Before a performance can be put on, promotional materials need to be created and sent out to capture the attention of consumers, while encouraging potential audience members to attend a performance at SPAC. Starting with the inaugural season and extending up to the present, the marketing components of the management of SPAC have involved creativity and innovation. However, certain aspects of the visuals have evolved with the introduction of new technology and techniques. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cover of a brochure from 1966, SPAC Archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pathos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting with the promotion of their inaugural season, SPAC has used captivating designs in their brochures, programs, and other miscellaneous print matter. Utilizing negative space and stylized images along with minimal text, the fundraising brochure from 1966 demonstrates the limits of printing technology at the time. The use of multiple colors as a major component of printed materials did not occur until the early 1980s with USA Today as an early adopter of the trend. [1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPAC continued to use primarily black and white images with one or two colors as an accent in printed materials until the 1980s. In 1982, a brochure for SPAC\u2019s discount series used yellow as a background color for text and black and white images, while the cover featured a color image. Brochures from the 1985 performance season show the impact of color photographs with images of performers and the venue as well as a variety of background colors for the text and a multi-hued cover design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n