Request for Proposals: Orange County Arts Commission/Orange County Arts Alliance Rebrand
This Request for Proposals is for a rebrand of the Orange County Arts Commission, a unit of Orange County government, and its nonprofit arm, the Orange County Arts Alliance into a new, combined brand, “Arts Orange.” We are seeking a firm, designer, or agency whose work aligns with the following values of the organization:
- Artists, creativity, and creative vitality
- Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
- Advocacy for the arts at local and state levels
Current website: www.artsorange.org
Budget for rebrand and refreshed website: $30,000 (does not include ongoing website maintenance fees)
Launch date for new brand: Fall, 2025
Organization Background
The Orange County Arts Commission (Arts Commission), located in Hillsborough, NC, is an agency of Orange County government. We work to develop the arts in Orange County, NC, which includes the towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough. The mission of the Arts Commission is to promote and strengthen the artistic and cultural development of Orange County, North Carolina.
Created on February 4, 1985, the Arts Commission is the non-partisan countywide arts agency that provides funding and support for a broad range of high-quality arts programs. As the Designated County Partner with the NC Arts Council, the Arts Commission awards state and county-funded arts grants, sponsors programs, serves as an arts information clearinghouse, and runs a community arts space, the Eno Arts Mill in Hillsborough.
In 2021, a new 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Orange County Arts Alliance (Arts Alliance), was created to increase resources for the Arts Commission and the arts community as a whole. The Arts Alliance serves as an operational partner for the Eno Arts Mill and fundraising partner.
Together, the Arts Commission and Arts Alliance offer the following signature programs for the local community:
- The Eno Arts Mill, a 10,000sf arts space located in the historic Eno River Mill in Hillsborough, offering 15 artist studios, a gallery offering exhibit access for local artists, and a classroom for classes and camps. The Mill offers monthly First Fridays at the Mill events, as well as other events in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Accessibility, diversity, and inclusion are the operating priorities of the Eno Arts Mill.
- Annual grants program for arts organizations, artists, and arts educators.
- Uproar Festival of Public Art, a countywide summer festival of art that prioritizes accessibility and community engagement
- Paint it Orange Plein Air Paint-out, a week-long painting competition featuring 90+ artists from the region, ending with a Wet Paint Sale fundraiser featuring 180+ works of art.
- Arts advocacy through community education and meetings with local policy makers.
- Promotion of the artists and arts agencies of Orange County through 6,000+ enews subscribers and a robust social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Objectives of the Project
The Arts Commission has had the same logo and visual identity for decades. We would like to create a new “Arts Orange” brand that represents the fresher, more modern and progressive creative community of Orange County. The brand would be used to redesign the current artsorange.org WordPress website.
Target Audience(s)
- Artists living or working in Orange County
- Cultural organizations serving Orange County residents
- Patrons of the Eno Arts Mill
- Orange County Board of Commissioners
- Orange County Arts Commission Advisory Board
- Orange County Arts Alliance Board of Directors
- Eno Arts Mill Studio Artists
- Regional arts organizations
- National arts service organizations
- The NC Arts Council
- Local arts advocates and supporters
- Public and private funders: foundations, corporations, government entities
- Current/previous grantees
- Arts education professionals
- Community organizations/partners
- Members of the media: arts, creative economy, policy and advArts Commisisony
Background and Challenges
While the Arts Commission has existed for nearly 40 years, its role in the community has become more visible only in recent years. Over the last eight years, the agency has shifted from a single staff granting agency housed in Orange County’s Office of Economic Development to a full-service arts council under the County Managers’ office. In 2024, the Arts Commission opened the Eno Arts Mill and now has 3.5 fulltime staff. In addition to serving as a grant maker, the Arts Commission is now a program provider, promoter, advocate, and arts space operator.
The creation of the Arts Alliance in 2021 proved to be a necessary partner to the Arts Commission for both the efficiency of operations with the Eno Arts Mill, as well as a critical fundraiser to help supplement the Arts Commissions’ relatively small budget. However, messaging of these two related but independent organizations is confusing for the public. A unified brand, “Arts Orange,” will represent both entities, and an improved website will offer more information about the two independent organizations.
The current Arts Commission website (www.artsorange.org) was built on a WordPress platform over eight years ago. While the functionality and familiarity of the WordPress platform is an efficient option for our small team, we are open to other platform suggestions if it will better serve and represent our organizations. We are currently using several external “work around” platforms to sell tickets and accept donations and would like to integrate these features into our website.
Project Scope
We are seeking a firm, designer, or agency with experience in rebranding organizations; experience rebranding nonprofit and/or arts and creative organizations is preferred. The selected agency or designer will ideally be located in the Triangle area of NC. The selected firm/designer will work closely with the leadership of the Arts Commission and Arts Alliance to provide a new logo and redesigned website. The selected firm/designer will be given appropriate access to staff, board members, and other stakeholders during the course of the project. The rebranding effort will include the creation of a new “Arts Orange” logo, reinforced with a tagline.
At the conclusion of the project, the selected firm/designer will provide the Commission and Alliance with a finalized logo and tagline, an executable brand package including detailed treatment of marketing materials (with graphic elements, fonts and color palettes), and a standards manual that will provide guidance to staff in seamlessly executing the new brand.
The rebrand will also include the design and development of a new website. Most site content from the current website will need to be migrated over to a new, user-friendly, sleek and modern template that integrates photos, visual content, and text. The current OCAC WordPress site contains just over 200 pages of content, most of which will need to be carried over to the new website, and 2,000 posts, only some of which will need to be carried over. Priorities for the new site design include migrating to a modern template that supports visual storytelling, ensuring that the website is accessible, streamlined, and innovative, updating the homepage to be more dynamic and to better highlight key activities and information. The new site must be compatible with all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge) and responsive to mobile and desktop devices. The new site must follow all ADA accessibility guidelines, reaching WCAG-AA ADA compliance. Additionally, we would like to have the capability to sell tickets and inventory through our Point of Sale system (Clover), if possible.
Selection Process
Selection of a final partner for the project will be determined by an internal selection committee that will evaluate which applicant is best qualified to complete the project based on the information requested in the RFP. The selection committee reserves the right to determine the number of finalists, but it is expected that up to three firms or designers will be selected for further consideration. While local designers/firms are encouraged to apply, applications will be considered from any location within the United States.
Schedule for Selection Process
- Issuance of RFP: March 1, 2025
- Responses Due: April 1, 2025
- Finalists Notified by Email: April 15, 2025
- Finalist Interviews: Late April/early May, 2025
- Award of Contract: June, 2025
- Anticipated Commencement of Project: June, 2025
- Anticipated Completion of Project: September, 2025
Submittal Requirements
Proposals must be submitted through the online application portal and include the following information:
- Firm/designer profile, length of time in business, and a description of the you/the firm’s core competencies.
- Description of the you/your firm’s design philosophy and methodology.
- A description of your development process including project stages, testing, and proposed schedule.
- Portfolio of similar work completed for previous clients including a comprehensive package illustrating rebranding through tagline development and design elements and colors carried through a variety of promotional pieces.
- Description of your/the firm’s availability to begin the project in accordance with the schedule. Provide a proposed timeline for implementation and delivery.
- List of service fees for the completion of the elements as requested, with the total estimated cost to complete the project, and hourly fees (with number of hours estimated) or flat rates to complete the following:
- Logo development including integrated imagery and complimentary design elements/font/color schemes and a standards manual for carrying out the brand across the organization in a seamless and consistent manner
- Tagline
- Website redesign
- Biographies for key individual(s) assigned to the project. For firms, please note that if your firm is selected as a finalist, you will be asked to bring to the interview only those key individuals who will be working on the account.
- Three references including the type of work done for each and the date of completion. Please include company name, address, phone number and contact name.
- A summary explaining why you or your firm is most qualified.
