Noyo History

Background

A year and a half into the Human Centered Communications Design Masters Program at Chicago's Institute of Design, Ayo Scott decided to take some time off to hone his artistic and design skills. He spent this time focusing on a project that became the TSUNAMI. A show of 17 paintings mostly dedicated to those affected by the Tsunami of 2004. This show is a realization of many truths that surrounded that disaster and more to come. The show was displayed on August 7th 2005; less than one month before hurricane Katrina struck his hometown.

Like many of New Orleans’ elder statesmen, Ayo’s father, world-renowned artist John Scott’s, health began to deteriorate in the following months after the storm. In November 2009, he was diagnosed pulmonary fibrosis (scar tissue build-up in the lungs) and was in need of a transplant. Reminiscing about his Pre-Katrina hometown and feeling unable to help so many family and life-long friends, he originally created the NOYO logo was as a tattoo, literally on his heart. After correcting his priorities, Ayo moved to Houston to spend the final year and a half of his father’s life with his family.

Start-Up

NOYO began w/ three resources:

1. A solid logo concept (Rooted Fleur de lis) & brand - The name and brand of NOYO says very specifically to Ayo, "me and my home” in a way that everyone can relate. A rooted fleur-de-lis, the most popular iconographic image in New Orleans history for the past 292 years, says history, family, and culture to all.

2. A unique business concept & mission statement – Marketing meaningful art through clothing, ie wearable art. Much like the principles of graffiti (painting on trains and buses so that the artist's work might 'tour' the city) NOYO uses mobile canvases, clothing, to expand its viewership to all who see the line traveling the streets of the city. NOYO's focus on wearable art allows the consumer to find a certain connection with the brand that is expressive.

3. An elite in-house designer, Ayo, has the portfolio & reputation as an up-and-coming artist providing the credibility and validity to the brand while adding “the artist’s story, a purpose, and “face” to the clothing line.

With no start-up capital & 2 years without a tangible sign of existence, Ayo hand-made a screen of the NOYO logo & bought 20 blank shirts. In Spring 2008, he offered an “IPO” to friends and family in the form of $50 one-of-a-kind, hand-printed NOYO shirts to build anything resembling start-up capital. Friends & family, inspired by Ayo’s initiative and the products quality given the aforementioned resources, invested $7,000 in subsequent months. Thus, NOYO was born.

In the past two years, NOYO has grown to 30 products, ranging from multiple t-shirts cuts, sweatshirts, hats, dresses, a growing youth line, and accessories. NOYO clothes are available in five clothing stores in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas (see Retail Locations on pg. X). In addition, NOYO fashion, along with Ayo Scott art, gained a lot of exposure at many of New Orleans world-renown festivals, including Voodoo Music Experience, Essence Music Festival, Gentilly Fest, and Treme Gumbo Festival.

Bio - NOYO Artist, Ayo Scott

From as early as he can remember, Ayo found himself immersed in the art community of his city. He grew to love the studio time he spent working on "God-Knows-What" with his father, artist John T. Scott (40 year professor of art and recipient of the McArthur Genius Fellowship.) He never felt pressured to be an artist, but his family always provided him with opportunity, guidance and support for his endeavors from bronze casting to papermaking. Early on, Ayo had an appreciation of the human form and decided to study Biology at Xavier University of Louisiana. However, he soon realized that he was applying that appreciation in the wrong field. He made Art, with a focus in graphics, his major and kept Biology as a minor, earning his Bachelor of Arts in 2003.

NOYO’s mission of creating wearable art on mobile canvases, clothing, perfectly utilizes Ayo’s talents as a designer and his Fine Arts training, while his already impressive art and design portfolio give credibility to a start-up clothing line. With already six art shows on his resume (at Texas Southern University, Xavier University of New Orleans, McKenna African-American Museum of Art, and Red Star Galerie, and two private showings) and a graphic design portfolio consisting of 100+ active logos, branding projects with University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Touro Hospital, and Xavier University Art Dept, NOYO fashion brings Ayo’s values, experiences, and expressions to the masses.

What NOYO Means

“NOYO” literally combines “New Orleans” (NO) and Ayo Scott (YO). NOYO creates a style of fashion directly influenced by Artist Ayo Scott and his hometown New Orleans. The name and brand of NOYO says very specifically to Ayo, "me and my home” in a way that everyone can relate. The most popular iconographic image in New Orleans history for the past 292 years, the fleur de lis, combined a tree whose roots representing home, says it all. Born in 1980 New Orleans and the son of world-renown artist and McAuthur Genius Fellow, John Scott, Ayo’s influences as an artist, a designer, and a person stem from three factors: 1) His environment, i.e. his experiences derived from growing up in the most culturally unique city in the world, New Orleans, 2) His era – An 80’s baby, his generation has witnessed race relations range from Rodney King to OJ to President Obama, the fall of Communism, and the devastation of Katrina literally hitting home, 3) His family – Raised by artist John Scott, mother Anna Ria, and four older sisters, Ayo’s able to apply classic fine arts training, family values, and the many tangible & intangible lessons passed down from his father about both art and life.

Brand

From Day One, NOYO’s brand strength is the single most valuable resource and the ultimate source of long-term financial stability. The brand strength as wearable art allows NOYO to capitalize on the positive aspects of both the art and clothing Industries without being inhibited by their cons. Take pricing for example; the value of art as a reproduction is worth a fraction (in many cases 5-10%) of the original, hence the piece’s potential exposure may be sacrificed to maximize profitability. Conversely, the clothing industry as whole has a very defined price structure based on cost of material, type of embellishments, in addition to mark-up.

NOYO Community

By creating wearable art, NOYO is able to capitalize on the very dedicated, appreciative, long-term followings the Art Community provides (as opposed to the trendier, more generational followings associated with the clothing industry), while avoiding the elitist, unapproachable, exclusivity of it. An art buyer is generally well-informed of an artists’ background and the “story” behind a piece in addition to its visual piece as opposed to a clothing buyer that is visually (and often temporarily) attracted to product they purchase. The Clothing Industry has, however, always provided an inclusive, accessible market in that anyone can take part by simply purchasing an infinitely more affordable product (ie. Nike, Jordan Brand, Gatorade, etc.). The goal of the NOYO brand is to instill the Art Community’s values of the appreciative, dedicated, well-informed art buyer into the clothing customer via clothing boutiques in New Orleans and nearby areas, while expanding a previously inclusive “Art Community” to anyone who supports NOYO. Simultaneously, the concept of wearable art on mobile canvases allows NOYO to gain more exposure than Art Industry allows while providing a more expressive, and meaningful view of a product line by approaching clothing design from a Fine Arts perspective. The NOYO logo (Fleur-di-lis with Roots) draws support from the historically trendy clothing buyer attracted to the visual appeal, the art lover who supports classically trained artists from Grade-A pedigree, and all who appreciate the history, culture, and experiences of New Orleans forming the NOYO Community. More loyal than a “customer base(usually made up of people who simply go to clothing stores in New Orleans),” this new, completely unique and very diverse community brings together the open-minded portions of the Art Community (older) and the Fashion Community (younger), while crossing racial and economic lines. In short, the NOYO target market is formed by the three types of buyers listed above. The demographics of this community is inexplicable and most comparable to the JazzFest’s target market – a JazzFest goers may attend for the world-renown musicians, cuisine, or simply the party. Regardless of the reason, all JazzFest attendees leave with the sense of participating in a cultural phenomenon.

Building on the ideology of “bringing the arts to the masses,” especially to those who simply flock to clothing boutiques in New Orleans,- and hopefully creating a cultural phenomenon, NOYO introduced local events in the New Orleans community to promote the arts and show a more artistic form of entertainment to the developing NOYO Community. NOYO Presents Pass It On is a weekly Open Mic celebrates artistic expression in New Orleans by providing a soapbox, literally, for all to give their two cents, literally. The concept and meaning of “Pass It On” comes from the lessons of John Scott, who instead of saying “you’re welcome” after doing a favor for someone would say “Pass It On” encouraging he or she to pass the goodwill on to the next person. This spirit of goodwill and philanthropy resonates throughout the NOYO brand to the extent that anyone attending NOYO events or wearing NOYO fashion, hence in the NOYO Community, is associated with the same ideals of goodwill and philanthropy.

NOYO Family

Ayo Scott

Ayo is NOYO !!!

Marc Lundberg

Marc currently serves as the CFO of NOYO. He attended nationally acclaimed Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans where he and Ayo became friends. He received Bachelors of Science in Finance from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2002 and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of New Orleans (UNO). Well-grounded in Accounting, Marc worked as an Accounting Assistant for the Metro-SPAWAR Project, collaboration between UNO and the Naval Academy researching new management strategies, during his Maters tenure. Immediately after Graduate School, he consulted the non-profit group STAIR (Start the Adventure in Reading) through the upgrades of their regional accounting systems. In the Summer of 2002, he took the position as Business Manager of the University of New Orleans Athletic Department, a position that he has held for the past 6 years. In the Summer of 2008, Ayo charged Marc with the responsibility of “helping his friend’s dream become a reality.”

Stella Delacroix

Stella currently serves as Director of NOYO Events. She schedules and manages 50+ events annually, ranging from festivals, tradeshows, fashion shows, and photo shoots to NOYO events (weekly Open Mic Pass It On, Extended Intermission, SPLASH, etc).

She attended Louisiana State University with Marc where she received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2003.  Stella has worked in varying capacities within SEBS of Louisiana over the past 6 years including benefit analysis, customer service representative, and enrollment specialist. She carries over an attention to detail and no-nonsense approach to all external NOYO activities, while adding a very friendly, photogenic face to NOYO.