Introduction
The role of the publicity manager is to take the publicity designers designs and translate them into actual physical objects. This can require printing on Athena or Copy Tech, ordering postcards, or acquiring t-shirts. This document will first examine the forms of publicity that should be used every semester, as well as some general notes about standards for publicity management.
Originally compiled by Hanna S. Kuznetsov in February 2009
Nota Bene: publicity changes with changing times. explore your options. be clever.
Ensemble Logo
Another note: The Ensemble has an official font. It is called “The Real Font.” This should ONLY be used for the words “The MIT Shakespeare Ensemble”. It should under no circumstances be used, ever, for any other text. This is called “branding”. It is our logo. You should own this font file, and you should use it when using our group name on any and all publicity. You should also make sure that the Publicity Designer has this file, and that he/she is aware of the branding rule.
Publicity Materials
Teasers
1. Black and white, sized 8.5 x 11, unless you have magical access to other printers.
2. Print using athena printers.
3. The main goal of the teasers is to grab people's attention, not to give people detailed information. They should definitely include group name, production name. They can include show dates, websites, and location.
4. These should posted around campus starting a week before put-in. They can continue going up throughout the production, even alongside the real posters.
Posters
1. These are color 11x17 prints. Make sure the file is a flattened image, saved as PDF, and at least 300dpi (pixels per inch).
2. To print them, email or otherwise talk to June Milligan at Copy Tech and tell her to set up our usual ad swap, whereby we get 200 free color posters in return for putting the copytech ad in our program. Also request tickets when setting up the ad swap. Email her 1-2 weeks before you actually print posters at copytech to give her warning.
3. Submit the file to be printed on the copytech online form. Be sure to choose "other" and write "11x17 color prints". Don't tell them they're "posters" because they think those are glossy plasticky things, not what we want.
4. Sometimes it is a good idea to get just one printed and look at it, decide you like it, then go for all 200.
5. Start putting these up around campus starting at put-in and continuing until the show closes. People need to help, but it's hard to get them to help. we decided at some point that people could get generic "hours" for postering, especially if they're low on some other form of "hours".
6. Everyone in the production can have 1 for themselves, but no more than that.
T-shirt
1. People pay for them themselves.
2. The earlier people get them, the earlier walking talking publicity bodies will start roaming around campus. Aim for them to arrive by at least the Friday before put-in.
3. Shirts should include the name of the show, "MIT Shakespeare Ensemble" and other relevant information as the publicity designer requests. Tradition holds that the shirt includes a quote from the show and some pretty drawing. Assume these will be printed in one color ink on one color shirt.
4. Good places to order from include NEDesign and QRST's. NEDesign is usually cheaper, but a little less reliable. QRST's has been known to give discounts if you may them in cash.