Spotlight on Ray Agency, Illustrator Mike Butler & “The Art of Going Out"

At Business & Arts NL, we’re proud to collaborate with artists and like-minded community partners to help make the province an even more vibrant, inspiring and colourful place, whether it’s through the recently launched Quidi Vidi Art Search, giving travellers a sense of arrival through local art at St. John’s International Airport (learn more here and here), or bringing people together through our public piano program, to name a few examples.

Coming up with creative ways to celebrate and bring more attention to our amazing arts community is always a fun challenge. This past fall, we were thrilled to partner with Ray Creative Agency and illustrator Mike Butler to create “The Art of Going Out” campaign to encourage audiences to get back out and engage with the arts post-pandemic by attending live performances, festivals and other experiences.

Through the campaign, we partnered with 10 local arts organizations to shine a light on the vital role the arts (whether it’s music, theatre, dance, literature or visual arts) plays in our lives, via whimsical illustrations and cheeky instructional videos. While increasing audience numbers was one of the main goals, the campaign also served to remind how the arts can help us connect with each other, while creating lasting memories.

The eye-catching campaign was a resounding success, with both Ray Agency and Mike Butler nabbing an Applied Arts Award for Illustration from Applied Arts Magazine, which celebrates innovative creativity in visual communications.

Launched in 2013 by Jenny Smith (who was recently named one of Atlantic Business Magazine’s 25 Most Powerful Women in Business), Ray Agency is the only women-led and creatively led advertising agency in Atlantic Canada. As creativity is at the core of what they do, Kate Greenwood, Ray Agency's Strategy and Communications Manager, says this campaign was the perfect fit.

“When we were thinking about creative concepts and bringing this to the creative team, we wanted to think of an artful way of showing the arts and kind of playing on it. So we wanted something that felt from this place, that had a sense of place, but not something that felt cliché. So I think Mike's artwork was a really nice balance,” she says.

An illustration showing a man with a moustache, wearing a red suit, white gloves, and a red top hat. He is juggling five balls in the air. Behind him several trees and clouds can be seen. Above is text that reads "It's not a night out. It's a night you'll never forget." Above that is the Business & Arts NL logo with text that reads "The Art Of Going out." Along the bottom is a web address: THEARTOFGOINGOUT.CA

“The whole process was a wonderful collaboration...it was a really nice experience. I know the arts have been challenged, particularly with COVID and competing with the option of sitting on your couch and watching Netflix. So ‘The Art of Going Out' tried to focus on that, and reminding people of the beauty of getting out of your house and going to an in-person event and just experiencing the arts. There's a huge wealth of arts in Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s something we're very fortunate to have. So being able to get out and enjoy that - this campaign was really reminding people of that, and how to do that.”

To learn more, we caught up with illustrator Mike Butler to chat about his process and connection to the work in the campaign.

Business & Arts NL: Congratulations on the Applied Arts Award! What does this recognition mean for you as a graphic designer/illustrator/artist?

Mike Butler: This campaign was something of a labour of love, so it's very gratifying for it to be recognized by peers in the industry. I had a lot of fun illustrating these (which I don't get an opportunity to do very often), so I hope that translates to the final product.

An illustration of a smiling man with a beard playing a banjo sitting atop Cabot Tower. Above him is text that reads "The best part of your day could be your night." Above that is the Business & Arts NL logo with text that reads "The Art Of Going out." Along the bottom is a web address: THEARTOFGOINGOUT.CA

Business & Arts NL: I understand you’re from Newfoundland, but started some of your illustrations for “The Art of Going Out" campaign while you were living in Toronto, during COVID lockdowns. How did that experience factor into how you approached this project and your inspiration for the illustrations? Did homesickness play a factor?

Mike Butler: Yeah, that was an especially rough time. Toronto was experiencing endless lockdowns and vaccines had yet to be rolled out. I would see photos on social media from back home that felt like they were from an alternate reality. So, they were definitely born out of a sense of nostalgia and homesickness. Also, my time away gave me the distance to appreciate what is unique about Newfoundland. I wanted to focus on the musical culture - which I feel can be under represented visually - it felt like fertile ground.

Business & Arts NL: Did the concept for these illustrations come fairly quickly or clearly to you? Were there many other ideas you were tossing around?

Mike Butler: It started with a triptych of images focusing on live music. Those initial three were self-directed and I wasn't especially precious about them (I can frequently be a lousy client, but this wasn't one of those occasions). The additional three were created to flesh out the concept and hit on other aspects of performance - theatre, dance and circus. I think I provided a few rough pencil options for each territory, and once chosen they came together very quickly.

A cartoon Hamlet, wearing a blue and red outfit with puffy sleeves, and a blue hat with a red feather, is standing on a rock holding a skull with a seagull perched on top. In the background, several icebergs float in the ocean and a few seagulls fly overhead. Above the illustration is text that reads "Broadening Your Horizons. Presented in Three Acts." Above that is the Business & Arts NL logo with text that reads "The Art of Going Out." Along the bottom is a web address: THEARTOFGOINGOUT.CA

Business & Arts NL: What was your process like creating these illustrations? Is there one you’re particularly fond of?

Mike Butler: I started with rough comps in Photoshop, then threw to Illustrator where I blocked out the main shapes and decided the colour palettes. Illustrator gives you a lot of control but always feels a little too perfect, so I sent it back to Photoshop to do the detail work and add some texture and imperfections.

The Cabot Tower execution became the key art for the campaign, but my favourite is the theatre illustration. The Shakespearean dress is a quick cue that it's a live performance and I am charmed by the dopey seagull. Also: big puffy sleeves are fun to draw.

To see more of Mike Butler’s work, visit cubbyhole.studio or follow him on Instagram @cubbyhole.studio (you can also check out his comic @perfectsundaycomic).To check out more of Mike's artwork from "The Art of Going Out" campaign, click here.

To learn more about Ray Creative Agency, visit rayagency.ca or follow them on Instagram @rayagency.