The human experience connects and is universal, much like the language of art. Art transcends words, removes barriers and welcomes all who are willing to engage. New Bedford Art Museum will host the exhibit, THIS IS NOT WHO I AM; The Art and Design of David Arruda, Jr., now locally known as “TINWIA” from September 12 - December 1, 2024. For eighty days, over one hundred art pieces of an extraordinary human experience and purpose will be shared in the tradition of the city of New Bedford.
New Bedford, known in the 19th Century as "the city that lit the world", was the active seaport and home to the worldwide whaling industry whose products were used to light the lamps and later lighthouses globally. Whaleships were at sea for multiple years at a time and when they returned to home port, goods gathered overseas and stories of people, customs and cultures were shared with others.
THIS IS NOT WHO I AM; The Art and Design of David Arruda, Jr., (TINWIA)
The TINWIA exhibit is a striking and thoughtful combination of commercial high-tech advertising, jazz concert posters, music CD package designs, a wide range of photography and unique t-shirt designs for the deep dive experience into the work of David Arruda, Jr. This unique opportunity allows the viewer to see what this artist has found, captured and created though his photography and artwork pieces.
The myriad of items provide an experience of an evolving thinker, designer, photographer and artist. The title of the exhibit was born from David’s antipathy to being in the spotlight. “I do not believe (my work) warranted any more recognition than anybody else who does whatever it is THEY do,” Mr. Arruda said in his artist statement that is included in this article in its entirety.
Story of an artist building a brand that launched a career
Mr. Arruda has held the position of graphic designer for Whaling City Sound and Fiber Optic Center, Inc. for 25 years. Fiber Optic Center, Inc. (FOC) has continued the New Bedford tradition of lighting the world, selling products that are based on fiber optics or other light-centric technologies such as lasers and optical coatings. The full-page, full color advertisements that will be displayed were designed by Mr. Arruda and appeared in fiber optic print trade magazines in the 2000s. This was a time when comparable ads were generally templated, consisting of a photo of a product, often a box, along with technical specifications. Mr. Arruda’s work impacted the industry’s style of advertising with the introduction of a combination of use of humor, direct communication to the audience (in a style that was not common at that time) and a strategic building of a new brand.
As the graphic designer, Mr. Arruda was asked to create a new brand to strengthen product recognition in the marketplace. With a larger objective for the new brand to align with the foundation for the whole business, the ads fostered an emotional connection with customers and projected the strength, health and vitality of the company. Strategy was as critical as the visual appeal.
In the mid-1990s, FOC partnered with a new high-quality manufacturer for a product line that was a critical consumable item used widely in the bourgeoning fiber optic market: lapping film, also called fiber polishing film. At the time, it was not a product that any other company promoted with visual advertising; it was treated more like a sandpaper and a janitorial or backroom supply. Used for polishing connectors that contain glass optical fibers and require a precise and repeatable polished finish, the product had an important story to be shared about the unique grit’s extremely small and uniform particles.
The major competitor for this product in this market was and still is a multi-billion-dollar company known globally as a household name for polishing products and sandpaper. Because brand strength is critical for small businesses to be able to compete with the larger competitors, the journey was started for honest, clear communication and a creation of customer awareness, trust and loyalty.
First, the name ÅngströmLap® was created. The angstrom is a unit of measurement equal to one ten-billionth of a meter and is used to measure the diameter of atoms, among other items. The word and unit are named for Anders Jonas Angstrom (1814-1874), a Swedish physicist and one of the early inventors of spectroscopy, a way of using light to examine the composition and purity of materials, along with other precise measurements. The surface uniformity of the FOC film was measured on a scanning electron microscope (SEM) down to the angstrom level. Dave found a version of the angstrom symbol, an A with a circle above it (Å), in a font called Max Circus, and that became the flag for ÅngströmLap and related brands. The angstrom symbol, Å, in the Max Circus font, has become synonymous with a product that is widely used by leading fiber optic companies in the Americas and in Eastern and Western Europe.
One important criteria in brand strength development is a commitment. The commitment strategy was full-page, full-color advertisements every issue of printed trade magazines. For this industry at that time, the two most successful trade publications were Lightwave and Fiber Optic Product News. With Mr. Arruda as a full-time graphic designer on staff, FOC was able to avoid the process and cost of an advertising agency for each new ad and allowed for design and change of the ads often if not every issue. The ads stressed the quality of the products in language that mattered directly to the people who used or bought the products.
In addition to a brand identity encompassing the mission, values, communication and personality, it must be concise, articulating both what the brand stands for and how it differs from competitors. The succession of full-page advertisements over years delivered the compelling FOC brand story.
It was the story that the individual ads told, when strung together, that evoked emotions and a connection with the customers that differentiate the Ångström brand from everyone else.
A significant factor in the FOC story, independent of the Ångström branding, was very real Telecommunications Bubble and economic crash in 2001, just after the bursting of the infamous dot-com bubble. The telecommunications industry, after significant growth during the 1990s with investments in laying fiber optic cable and building wireless networks, experienced a crash that had an impact on the global economy, leading to widespread job losses and the collapse of many companies. In spite of declining b2b telecom spending, FOC continued investing in Mr. Arruda’s mission to strengthen the Ångström brand. The FOC Ångström brand gained the loyalty of customers by successfully communicating the quality and values it is built upon and how it aligns with similar businesses. The continuation of full-page, full color ads in the trade publications illustrated the company’s commitment and business strength while providing a positive ripple effect on the industry.
“As a marketing consultant for the telecommunications industry, I worked directly with Mr. Arruda and FOC as well as most of the industry during my work at Lightwave, “ said Kathleen Skelton, Marketing Director, FOC. “I was consistently impressed with Dave Arruda’s artistic concepts and our conversations about the ‘why’ as I call it. In my line of work, I needed to understand each company’s objectives and not only what they were doing but WHY in order to provide the highest quality consultation. The strategic depth that Fiber Optic Center, Inc. had for all advertising plans, the ability to really understand WHY and the dedication to branding strength during vulnerable times in the industry was most impressive. As many companies were closing or fearful enough to be putting advertising and communication on hold, Fiber Optic Center built a strong brand with continuous evolution and innovation. For over ten years, Dave’s vision and execution to stay ahead of the curve were the example of success and inspiration to an industry desperately needing a leader. When I was ready to transition from marketing media consultant for an industry to a marketing director role dedicated to one company, I had several options and offers. Considering the knowledge I had accumulated, I choose Fiber Optic Center, Inc. as my next career because of my admiration for the values and vision of the company and the difference working with David Arruda for a decade had made in my career growth.”
In addition to the evolution of these unique advertisements and their story of impact on both an industry and overall ad style, the other items in this exhibit have had similar influences. The Music CD package designs and Jazz concert posters for artists with the Whaling City Sound label capture both the individual artists’ style and talent visually.
Included on the walls of the exhibit are an eclectic array of Photography and T-shirt designs, each speaking to the audience and for themselves. Taken together, the exhibition surveys the output of a thinker and designer, and a photographer who shared his eye with a varied audience, sometimes practical, offbeat or quirky, and sometimes just himself as heard in this artist statement by Dave Arruda, Jr.:
“When Neal Weiss first approached me with the idea of arranging an exhibit of my work at the New Bedford Art Museum, I immediately balked at the idea, and when asked why, I stated "...because this is not who I am..." The ever persistent Neal, of course, didn't give up on the idea, nor did stubborn ME (just ask those who know me) on my position. Through a period of back and forth on the subject along with repeated uttering of the phrase "this is not who I am," this all morphed into the comical (to us) acronym "TINWIA," which was used by us from that point forward in discussions of this project, and evidently has now become the de facto title of this exhibit.
My reservations on being part of this — what I call "unnecessary exposure," are deep-rooted in my private and reclusive makeup. I do not believe that just because I chose a career in the creation of visual content, both as a longtime photojournalist and later as a graphic designer, that it warranted any more recognition than anybody else who does whatever it is THEY do for a living — whether it's a medical professional, a baker, a parking clerk or a carpenter, and so on. It's simply what I did for work; no more, no less and certainly not MUSEUM worthy...
But ultimately, who was I to say no to Neal? He has made a career of unselfishly exposing a multitude of artists (both recording and visual) who in many instances did not have much exposure. That said, ground rules between Neal and myself were created; I would willingly supply various materials for the exhibit, and Neal would curate the materials without obstruction from me. The artwork will be supplied and displayed, but I will not be there to wax on about the so-called 'artistic significance' of what I do.
My ambivalence aside, I do want to thank Neal immensely for nearly 25 years of believing in me, as I transitioned from a long career in news photography to my "second career" in graphic design at Neal's company, Fiber Optic Center. This was very important to me for a couple of reasons: first, it was fresh new ground I had not yet traversed, and second, it diverted my artistic focus in new, more expansive directions which I could not explore during my news photog days. This new ground acted as a conduit towards not becoming "burnt out," which is commonplace amongst those who make a career of doing the same job for decades. Fortunately, I have been largely spared that burnout due to my work with Neal at FOC, once I made the decision to segue there from my many years in news photography.
So, while “this is not who I am,” I’d rather think of TINWIA as an acronym for “this is Neal Weiss in action.”
ABOUT Neal Weiss
Neal Weiss, curator of THIS IS NOT WHO I AM; The Art and Design of David Arruda, Jr., (TINWIA) Exhibit, is the founder of Fiber Optic Center, an international high-tech sales, distribution, service, marketing, and consulting company, based in the historic district of downtown New Bedford. He is also the president of Whaling City Sound, a jazz CD label. Neal is currently on the board of the Women’s Fund SouthCoast, and served terms as board member and chairman of the New Bedford Art Museum and the New Bedford Education Foundation. Other interests have included 45 years coaching wrestling for boys and girls ages 4 to 14. He has a degree in Philosophy with a minor in Linguistics from Brandeis University (’69).
About David Arruda, Jr.
For the past 25 years, David has created Visual Marketing materials, such as logos, advertisements, trade-show and web graphics, as well as product and advertising photography for Fiber Optic Center (FOC), based in the historic district of downtown New Bedford. He also works closely with Neal Weiss, founder of FOC, designing CD packages, concert posters and creating other photos and graphics relative to Neal’s other business, jazz CD label Whaling City Sound.
Self-taught as both a photographer, and now as a graphic designer, David started his career in 1986 as a photojournalist doing freelance work for The Standard Times and the Providence Journal. In 1988, he was hired as a staff photographer for the Fall River Herald News, where he worked for 10-years. In 1998, he left the Herald News for a staff photographer position at The Standard Times in his hometown of New Bedford, where he worked for the next two and a half years, before being offered a position as a graphic designer for Neal Weiss at Fiber Optic Center, where he has worked for nearly 25 years.
ABOUT New Bedford Art Museum
New Bedford Art Museum is at the heart of New Bedford’s Seaport Cultural District. Located in the historic downtown, New Bedford Art Museum offers engaging exhibitions and outstanding educational programs for members and visitors of all ages. A great schedule of programs such as lectures, artist talks, and inspired performances adds depth and context to your experience of the art.
