Verve


Erwin Tan, Red Periscope


Verve is a one-day arts festival organised by year 2 Arts Business Management students of Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The theme of Verve 2013 was the Art of Play.

Art Direction:
Abigail Chui

Design and Brand Conceptualisation:
Kristalbel Chua, Xing Xing, Nadia Amalina, Vivian Cheow, Philana Rose Santhanaraj, Brendan Ong, Jenson Tan, Clara Lee, Esther Chew

 Spacial design and content:
Natasha May Pang, Chermaine Cheng, Natalie Sim, Tan Yi Ping, Mark Lim, Clara Lee, Inna Haziqah, Emily Tay, Collin Tan, Narapadson Koh, Nigel Lopez, Rachel Cheo, Adam Ameng, Teh JingLin, Lim Shan Shan, Hui Xin, Renee Foo, Soon KaiLin, Connie Soon, Esther Chew





The following is an article requested by a lecturer, written by myself.


Planning Verve is, by far, the most challenging event that I have ever planned. From conceptualising the theme and coming up with the goals of the festival to contacting artists, raising funds and actually executing the plan was a pretty surreal experience.

 My position in the festival organisational chart is the Outreach and Marketing Manager. That meant that everything that went out to the public was probably mostly done by the publicity team which I headed. It was challenging. However, I am really glad to say that I was blessed with the opportunity to work with a group of very dedicated and talented individuals who did whatever was asked of them and more.

 The purpose of this reflection is to share my experience so I thought I would give a brief list of things that the team was responsible for:

  1. Look and feel of the festival (includes the colour scheme and the design theme)
  2. Increase awareness levels of schools, students, teachers and young adults (basically, the general public) about the festival
  3. Design all collateral (online digital collateral and physical collaterals)
  4. Manage Facebook, our website, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo accounts
  5. Print all physical collateral
  6. Oh Verve Drive (a fundraiser event for the festival)
I learnt that that patience, perseverance and empathy were crucial in a leader. Advice and ideas should always be considered but at the end of the day, to trust the decision made by the people above us. It may not be the easiest thing to accept, it might even seem stupid, but leaders usually have the best intentions at heart. When things work out differently than expected, dealing with it is much more effective than trying to put the blame somewhere or on someone.

 Modules that were extremely useful for us when planning the festival include Publication and Design Production (PUBDES), Resource Development, International Visual Arts and Talent Management. The tips and tricks in PUBDES helped when we were trying to execute the idealised collateral in our minds and the fundraising exercises were extremely useful when we were fundraising for the festival. The things learnt in International Visual Arts and Talent Management were paramount when we were selecting, approaching and managing our artists.

Looking at the list of things we had to accomplish, marketing and outreach was a heavy load for an unexperienced team of 9. Yet, I think we pulled through.

 Throughout the journey, getting everything on the list done was not the most difficult thing to do. The biggest challenge was managing a team of 8 and getting them to contribute equally while appeasing the public, our superiors, festival sponsors, and our peers. This often meant extremely late nights, addressing lists of complaints and sharing truckloads of encouragement and gratitude. That said, we did not complete everything we wanted to and everyone contributed a different amount of time and effort. Ultimately, when all of us stepped back at the end of the festival to look at the things we have accomplished and the smiles on people’s faces, there was this sense of satisfaction and pride that no one could take away. Those days where we were running on a rapidly depleting sleep bank and those feelings of helpless frustration from the long journey were all well worth it.

Erwin Tan, Red Periscope