Massachusetts College of Art and Design ● Design Services Contractor/Consultant RFP # 13-06 Attachment # 1 - Specifications and Descriptions of Services
Relevant Background
Founded in 1873, MassArt is the only free-standing public college of art and design in the United States.
The College excels in the education of professional artists, designers, and art educators and is an integral contributor to the cultural and intellectual life and creative economy of the Greater Boston region, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and beyond.
Located in Boston’s hub of arts and culture along the Avenue of the Arts, MassArt enrolls over 2,000 students and offers a comprehensive range of baccalaureate and graduate degrees in 22 disciplines, as well as continuing education and youth programs.
The College believes that part of its mission as a public institution is to be a resource to the greater community. To this end, MassArt offers an array of public programs, including innovative gallery exhibitions, lectures, and events; professional development opportunities for educators, artists, designers, and the general public; community arts partnerships and civic engagement initiatives; and youth art classes that reach thousands of greater Boston residents each year.
MassArt attracts a diverse full- and part-time student body of 2,426 (1,769 undergraduates, 184 graduate students, and the remainder in certificate or continuing education programs). The College has 15 academic departments. Three departments -- liberal arts, history of art, and studio foundation -- serve all students, and thirteen offer B.F.A. degrees: 2D (including painting and printmaking), 3D (including ceramics, fibers, glass, metals, and sculpture), animation, architectural design, art education, fashion design, film/video, graphic design, history of art, illustration, industrial design, photography, and studio for interrelated media. At the graduate level, the College offers an MFA in six areas of
concentration, a Master of Architecture, a Master of Arts in Teaching, and two low-residency MFA programs, one taught in Provincetown, MA in partnership with the Fine Arts Work Center, and one in Boston, MA. Other certificate programs include fashion design, furniture design, graphic design, industrial design, and a post baccalaureate teacher preparation program.
MassArt’s undergraduate enrollment has grown by 50 percent -- from 1,200 to around 1,800 – in the last decade. As a state university, about 70 percent of students come from Massachusetts, 27% from the broader US, and 3% international students. Nineteen percent of the student body is U.S. students of color. Students choose MassArt for its academic excellence, resources and facilities, dynamic urban campus, affordable tuition, and close connections with a renowned and distinguished faculty. The student-faculty ratio is 9:1.
Students are supported by 257 full- and part-time faculty members who are practicing artists, designers, scholars, and educators. MassArt’s faculty, its extensive studios, the wealth of resources in its arts library, and the breadth of its curriculum are widely considered to be among the best in the nation.
Sustaining high graduation rates (69 percent), MassArt has been recognized by The Washington Post as a superior value nationwide among the top public colleges. MassArt’s curatorial programs have been honored by the International Association of Art Critics, and the Center for Art and Community Partnerships has been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation and represented on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Notable alumni of the College include conceptual multimedia artist William Wegman, time-based artist Christian Marclay, Oscar-winning set designer Nancy Haigh, MIT Media Lab co-founder Muriel Cooper, painter Albert Munsell (the inventor of the Munsell Color System), interior designer Kelly Werstler, and designer Brian Collins.
The College is currently involved in a major physical transformation of its campus. A striking new 21- story residence tower opened this fall, guaranteeing housing on campus to all freshmen and
sophomores, and the renovated campus center and dining commons opened in 2010. These facilities are shared with university partners. Plans are underway to renovate the Bakalar & Paine Galleries, two esteemed professional galleries focused on exhibition and education in contemporary art, which are free and open to the public. A new Center for Design and Media will break ground this year and when complete will offer exciting new possibilities for collaboration across disciplines and for new
programmatic and curricular innovations.
Project Goals
Massachusetts College of Art and Design seeks to engage approximately three design firms on a consultant basis as a result of this request for proposal. Upon awarding this bid, MassArt will call upon these firms to carry out specific design projects. The college is looking to partner with design firms for long-term, episodic working relationship for project-specific commissions.
Please note, there is no guarantee of volume to awarded bidders. However, it is anticipated that the college will utilize these firms for projects ranging from print publication design, poster/flyer/invitation design, signage and wayfinding, web and online design, and information design. MassArt is looking to have long-term working relations with firms who have expertise, thought leadership, and demonstrated execution in the aforementioned specializations, or some combination thereof.
For each engagement, it will be required that awarded firms present a statement of work/quotation with associated costs; at the directive from the college. Acceptance of each quotation will be in the form of the issuance of a MassArt purchase order.
In this RFP the college is not requesting that firms respond to specific design projects, nor can the college confirm which materials will need to be designed in the upcoming year. For your information, however, outlined below are examples of some of the college’s key “designed” materials for your information.
Annual Report: A report that comes out in November of each year. The piece has historically been geared towards donors. Traditionally, the piece has had 2 parts: A) Front matter about the
college/successes of the past year and B) a donor list that takes up the second half of the piece.
Undergraduate Viewbook: The main marketing piece for prospective undergraduate students. This piece conveys the unique qualities of the school and profiles faculty, students, alumni and the curricular and extracurricular offerings of MassArt.
Graduate Viewbook: The main marketing piece for prospective graduate students. This piece showcases each graduate program while conveying the unique qualities of the school and the particular programs that make up the graduate school.
MassArt Performance Report: This is a booklet that provides data on selected performance measures and is geared towards the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. The first section of the report presents a narrative summary of notable achievements on qualitative measures, along with a few highlights of quantitative indicators. Trend data and peer benchmarks for quantitative indicators are found in the back section.
MassArt Jobs and Careers Report: This is a pamphlet that outlines quantitative and qualitative information about graduates’ jobs and careers.
MassArt Convocation and Commencement Programs: These programs are for the events that mark the beginning of the school year and the year end graduation ceremony.
To view PDF copies of some of the college’s current design materials, please visit:
http://inside.massart.edu/Administration/Administration_and_Finance/Administrative_Services/Solicita tions.html
For design commissions, MassArt traditionally provides all written copy and will hire a writer for the various publications, as needed. The design partner will work with the writer for necessary
headlines/subheads, etc. MassArt has a photo library that will be available to the design team. MassArt will hire the photographer (if it is mutually decided new photography is needed) and the design partner will assist with the art direction. Charts and graphs included in the various publications – such as the annual report, performance report, and careers report – will be designed by the design team.
For design commissions, MassArt will be responsible for procuring a printer. The design partner will be expected to work with the printer to ensure print quality and color accuracy. The design partner will receive the proofs from the printer for initial edits and then send them to MassArt for approval. MassArt is open to suggestions regarding print vendors but is also required to procure services according to bidding requirements.
MassArt is not setting a specific budget for design work. When submitting your firm’s hourly rate described below, bidders should be cognizant of the fact the college is a public institution of art and design. Therefore, it is important for us to demonstrate excellence in design in our pieces yet do so in a cost effective manner. Please reference below for the criteria MassArt will use to assess each design firm. Cost is one factor, but the selection will also take into consideration a design partner’s ability to deliver on the other criteria.
Project Timeline
Bid Issued January 7, 2013
Deadline to submit written questions January 16, 2013 Contract addendum issued answering questions January 22, 2013
Bid Deadline January 30, 2013 at 3:00 pm
In-Person Finalist Interviews February 7-15, 2013
Anticipated Bid Award February 15, 2013
Contracts will begin upon contract documents execution and end on June 30, 2014. MassArt reserves the option to extend the contract for up to three additional six-month periods with the same terms and conditions. Any changes must be agreed upon in writing.
The college, or awarded company, may terminate this Agreement with or without cause upon thirty (30) days written notice to the consultant/firm. If this Agreement is terminated the College shall have no further obligations other than payment for services already rendered and for expenses previously incurred.
Proposal Deadline
Bid proposals are due by 3:00 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013. Please send five copies, each with an original signature to:
Jim McDaid, Director of Administrative Services Massachusetts College of Art and Design 621 Huntington Avenue, Room 401 Boston, MA 02115
The cost of producing proposals shall be borne by the candidates.
Any questions regarding the bid must be submitted in writing to marketing@massart.edu by January 16, 2013. An RFP addendum will be issued by end of day, Tuesday, January 22, 2013 containing written responses to every question received. The college will not be able to address additional questions received after January 16, 2013.
After a review of proposals, selected firms will be asked to campus for an in-person interview with college representatives. During the interview, principal must be accompanied by person who would be managing the MassArt account and designer(s) working on MassArt Materials. The Interviews will take place on February 7-15, 2013. There will be no travel stipends or reimbursements for in person finalist interviews/presentations.
Submission Guidelines and Selection Criteria:
Selection of Vendors for this working relationship with project specific contracts will be based on responses to the following:
1. Vendors are requested to submit work and examples that demonstrate their proposed set of skills, expertise and experience and show a range of services. MassArt is looking for design and aesthetic quality, communication function and efficacy as shown through visual examples provided.
To this end, please submit visual examples that represent work in as many of the following areas as possible: (NOTE: WE ARE ALLOWING EITHER HARD COPY VISUAL EXAMPLES OR EXAMPLES ON A FLASH DRIVE. PLEASE PROVIDE 5 COPIES OF THE HARD COPIES AND/OR FLASH DRIVES.) MassArt will require that one set of submittals remain with the college on a permanent basis for the procurement file.
- General Graphic Design
- Print Publication Design (single page publications to catalog and book design) - Advertising spots, posters, flyers
- Signage and wayfinding systems - Web and Online Design
- Information Design - Information Architecture
2. Explain the reasons why this designer/design firm is the right fit for partnering with MassArt in a long-
3. Identify the positions and levels (aka. Partner, associate etc.) of studio staff assigned to the MassArt account and an hourly rate sheet for each position/level. Note: The awarded bidder must consult with MassArt regarding any replacements to the original account team outlined in the RFP document and the in-person interviews. Any team member replacement(s) must be mutually agreed upon.
4. A full client list along with names and contact information for three references whom we can contact
5. Please provide your studio mission statement or description of your working principles. Make sure to describe your role as a collaborative, strategic design partner.
6. Please indicate your practices regarding collaboration and outsourcing with other organizations, identifying which areas you regularly would work with other organizations.
7. If there is any potential conflict of interest for individual bidders with the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, it must be declared in the bid response.
