AFCY shows its innovative spirit by partnering with Aaron Leighton to create its first illustrated mission statement

TORONTO, ON. (September 5, 2012):

“A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. By extension, an illustration can enhance or even replace a thousand words. Arts for Children and Youth (AFCY) is so pleased to partner with Toronto illustrator Aaron Leighton to create the organization’s first visual mission statement.

“We have been talking about this for such a long time” says Julie Frost, AFCY’s artistic and executive director. “We hope representing our work in visual form will help better communicate what we do and how we do it. This is pioneering step for AFCY – to my knowledge there is no other Toronto arts organization that has translated their work into pictures. We are an organization driven by creativity; it makes perfect sense to me that we represent what we do artfully!”

“It all began when AFCY met with Aaron to see how we could partner. What resulted was that we both saw art making as a way to give back to communities in Toronto. It was that magical mix of good timing and meeting the right illustrator. His professional practice hinges on collaboration and building community through the arts, so we are really fortunate to have him on board for this project,” says Frost.

“We updated our logo and website in 2008. Creating a new visual mission statement is the organization’s push to a more unified look to all of our marketing materials and a means to showcase our high capacity to work creatively and collaboratively,” says Frost.

Leighton’s whimsical style fits the organization’s current look and brand identity. He developed a digital illustration so that we can adapt it to all the marketing and communications materials we produce, such as our brochures and newsletters and on our website and even perhaps on our social media pages.

“We had so much in common with what Aaron was doing for artists. Our goals aligned so well. At AFCY, our motto is to Cultivate Creativity, Engage Community. And what Aaron is doing with the artist collective, the Nook, is very similar, ” said Frost.

The new logo and website look reflects AFCY’s professional personality, and appeals to the organization’s audience.

This change coincides with AFCY’s exciting new 2012-13 programming.”

-posted with permission from Julie Frost, Executive & Artistic Director, AFCY

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