Balazs Borocz’s Visual Universe
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Report: Pilvax’s Visual Identity and Communication for Artists
- Author: Tess Nurman, Regional Editor – France. Version en français
Show me your website, and I’ll tell you who you are.
Like eyes are windows to the soul, a good website represents an intriguing glimpse into a person’s identity and enables direct communication with the public.
Self-portrait n.21 ‘a moment of exploration’ © Balazs Borocz
For artists, having a professional website is an absolute must in order to build a strong online presence, reach a wider audience, and provide the most up-to-date information. And creating the most efficient tools for artists is what Pilvax Studio is all about.
Its founder, Hungarian photographer Balazs Borocz, has always been inspired by the arts since his childhood. He expresses, “Later I started to examine the connection between the arts and the business world, and I found that artists usually do not have proper communication tools (e.g.: website, name cards, printed materials, press kits, photographs). When they do, these elements don’t really represent them, and they often look ‘homemade.’ Our goal is thus to create high-quality communication materials which represent people or projects faithfully, carry their values, and make a professional impression in order to help develop the careers of our clients.”
Similar to corporate identity for brands, visual identity for artists is more than just a simple website. It means building a coherent visual style and finding the artist’s true personality.
Balazs Borocz shares, “We first ask the client about their preferences, what they like, such as their favorite painters, movies, colors, smells, photographs, brands, and music. Thinking globally is also greatly encouraged.
Communication materials are then created in harmony with each other by carrying the same visual elements, color and font. They create one unit, an identity. This way of communication has so much more marketing power.”
In addition to the look and feel of websites, printed materials, press kits and photographs, Pilvax Studio develops user-friendly applications for artists to instantly update their agenda, news and music.“With Pilvax Agenda, Pilvax News and Pilvax Radio, our clients can easily refresh their website anytime through a secured admin area. It is safe, very simple and only an internet connection is needed. With these tools it is still possible to have beautiful flash websites.”
Monthly newsletter services are also proposed in order to inform audiences around the world about artist events and projects, and Pilvax has provided services for young and talented artists with international careers such as French-Brazilian pianist Juliana Steinbach, Japanese violinist Ayako Tanaka, Israeli clarinetist Tibi Cziger, and French cellists Béatrice Reibel and Guillaume Martigné. A frequent traveler himself, Balazs Borocz lives and works in both Paris and Budapest.
French-Brazilian pianist Juliana Steinbach“Paris was a center for arts at the beginning of the 20th century. I find the place still fascinating, where many new things are born, and it also plays an important role in the European music scene,” Balazs declares.
“Being in Paris makes you feel that you are in a place where things are happening, and living in France has taught me to give importance to little details, where you can see food as an art and shop windows as artistic collages. This gives happy, enjoyable moments in daily life, and the idea of fine details has always been a governing force in my work.”
Self-portrait n.20 ‘Visualizing ideas from Western and Central Europe’
© Balazs Borocz
Hungary also has a rich history in culture, especially with photographers such as Capa, Brassai, and Kertész, composer Bartok and artists Vasarely and Moholy-Nagy.
“The contemporary teachers in Hungary are great too. In illustration and design, young graphic artists and students especially are experimenting with new ideas, and there are less conventional design ‘rules.’ In France, for example, there is something which is typically French and can also be found in Switzerland, such as certain colors and typography.” Balazs continues, “For Pilvax, my goal is to create a fusion of ideas and visual universe between Central and Western Europe. I’m spending lots of time in France now, so I see the differences between the two regions more and more, and I pick the valuable things from both places.”
Balazs Borocz’s role models include musicians Sokolov, Bashkirov, Schiff and Perényi, writer Victor Hugo, and composers such as Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart, who all represent for him an impressive level of humanity and symbolize the effort of building something good.
“I think that the arts are more important now than ever before,” he says. “Thanks to the internet, the interaction between the public and the artist is much faster. However, the role of the arts has changed. It previously showed a ‘good example’ to society, and people could identify themselves with the heroes of books (who had important moral values), helping to solve their own problems on a highly ethical level. Today, the arts are not really transmitting this ‘good message,’ because there is a lot of low-quality artwork which can also reach everyone due to the mass communication. I think in the future it is very important to pay attention cultural education, so that people can better decipher which artworks are valuable and which ones are garbage.”
Given that the arts are more accessible today, what can be improved to capture the attention of audiences?
Balazs Borocz answers without hesitation,
“Well, of course the first thing that comes to my mind is that people should pay more attention to the communication. But seriously, the way of informing people is the most important. The problem is that people have many things to do, events to attend, and they need to select from all these. That’s why the way of promoting is crucial, because if you don’t know the product, you can usually decide according to the packaging. The promotion has to be in harmony with the event and it must reach the target audience. So even if people don’t know a certain performance, they should feel that it is something which is similar to their own values or lifestyle. Creating proper advertisement is a job, which of course has costs, but returns are much more than the invested money.”
Useful weblinks
Pilvax’s clients’ websites
