When you’ve spent hours or days creating stellar visual content for marketing or expression purposes, it can be really disheartening to see the finished product damaged by the weather. Things like advertisements for bands or companies, art designed for public consumption, and any art you intend on leaving outdoors needs to be produced with a little extra strategizing if they’re going to survive the elements. The following will explore a few of these strategies so that you can keep your carefully-constructed visual content safe from the elements.

Step One: Understand The Possibilities

Of course, the elements can vary drastically based on where you’re planning to leave your art. An installment piece at Burning Man is going to have to remain intact in incredibly dry heat, whereas an outdoor advertisement to be posted in Montreal in the winter is going to have to withstand snow and cold. Look up the common weather and humidity in the location you’re planning on posting your art in the season you plan on leaving it out.

It’s also important to contemplate the nature of the art you’re working with. If there are digital components, the art and the cords and hookup materials are going to need to be protected. Plastic pieces tend to fare well in most humidity levels, but paper and wood can swell and contort in certain climates. Metals vary widely in how they respond to weather. Take some time to research your preferred materials and how long you can reasonably expect them to last in the climate you’re posting them.

Further, keep in mind how people are going to interact with your content. Is this something that they’ll simply look at? Or is it designed to be touched or climbed upon? If people are going to be physically interacting with your art (and if it’s left alone and is really cool, people will touch it), you need to prepare for that. Think about the oil on people’s fingers and the mud on their shoes as part of the elements as well.

Step Two: Create With Your Location In Mind

If you can, try to keep in mind where you’re going to be placing your visual content while you create so that you can eliminate initial problems during the creation process. This might mean choosing different materials or figuring out the stages involved in making waterproof stickers. More than likely, there are options available that can help your art last and look pristine wherever you’re posting it.

Step Three: Protective Layers Or Cases

If you can’t make the visual content itself weatherproof, it’s time to figure out what protections you can find and apply. In some cases, this might involve laminating a paper product. In other cases, it might involve finding a frame or enclosure that allows people to see what’s inside it. It’s a good idea to explore these options before you finish crafting your piece so that you can be sure you’re keeping in mind any size limitations or thickness restrictions you need to work with your chosen method of protection.

Step Four: Talk To Other Artists

Whatever problem you’re encountering, you can be sure that other artists have come in contact with it in the past. Ask around your local arts community for advice or ideas on how to keep the art safe given the circumstances. Someone might surprise you with something completely ingenious that you would never have thought of on your own, involving the repurposing of a tool from a mechanic’s garage and a children’s pencil case.

Step Five: Reevaluate And Learn

If you’re an artist, you already know you’re involved in a lifelong process of constant evolution. This challenge is part of that process. Revisit your visual content over time to see how it’s faring and deal with any issues that arise. This can help fuel your future projects with longevity. Even if it feels at first as if the elements are limiting your creativity, keep playing with your work. Many artists find that constraints are what produce their best work.

In conclusion, outdoor art can be a beautiful thing, but it can also quickly waste away from coming in contact with the elements. Things like rain, humidity, and wind can damage art and leave behind a lacklustre (or completely incomprehensible) product. Because of that, extra precautions need to be taken to weatherproof art you intend on leaving outside. These precautions will need to keep in mind the location you’re leaving the visual content and the content’s materials. You can craft your piece with weatherproofing in mind or seek out protective layers or containers that will keep finished products safe.