about the event

The Annual Frist Gala is an important event for The Frist Art Museum itself. It is one time a year where benefactors and supporters can gather to recognize and celebrate all that the museum is able to accomplish.  Each year the event gives an early look at an exhibition, and the theme of the evening surrounds that of the exhibition. A cocktail hour is served, followed by a sit down dinner, and reception.

about the design

The design for the event was centered around the exhibitions, “American Art Deco - Designing for the People” and “A Landmark Repurposed”. Both exhibitions were centered around the Art Deco period in which the physical building itself draws its own character from. What was once the Nashville post office built in 1924, was turned into the Frist Art Museum in 2001.

When tasked with establishing the ambience of the event and maintaining the thematics of the exhibition, it seemed only fitting to create a tabloid style newspaper, paying homage to the buildings humble post office origins, to house both the event and gallery guides. The newspaper is styled after a classic 1930’s style. Le Mumure designed by Jérémy Landes, was chosen to be used as the heading font to combine the condensed bold style of the time period, with a modern touch to evoke the class of the event. The body copy, Prensa, is a typeface who’s title translates to “press” in Spanish. This face was designed for editorial use and mass print production.

The Invitation itself pays homage to a few items that are included within the exhibition “American Art Deco - Designing for the People”, giving people a silhouetted taste of what is to grace their presence at the event.

The RSVP card and menu both contain stamped marks that are replicas of the metal designs that line the hallways of the Frist’s building. The dinner menu and Drink menu are held together with an embossed money clip which also contains the metal stamp - this is intended to be a take home gift for the attendees of the event.