Category: The Daily Promo

David McClister

Who printed it?
I went back to Overnight Prints for this current series of postcards, a vendor I used many times in previous years, mainly due to ease since I had their templates already set up on my computer. I like their price (they have special offers several times a year), but I wish they offered proofs. I used Smartpress earlier this year for a book of work, as well as another run of postcards. They do offer proofs (at a small price). Their overall pricing was competitive, and the quality of their work was strong, but it was not an easy process for my designer (more so on the book than on the cards).

Who designed it?
I typically do the editing, the initial layouts, and the copy to start with, then pass it on to a professional designer to fine-tune the layouts, type, and color (if necessary). I have always worked with Gina R Binkley/ Altar Ego Design for all of my design needs.

Tell me about the images?
I started this postcard series earlier this year, mixing in current/new work with archival work. Since they are postcards, I try and select images that are strong enough to stand alone; and that someone might want to send/share with a friend (or tack on their wall at work). Photos, like music, are meant to be shared, and I hope these postcards will be used/shared in some form/fashion.

How many did you make?
300 – 500; going mainly to previous clients in the music industry (label, pr, mgmt) and editorial.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Once a quarter.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I do absolutely; email blasts are a good way to keep your name in front of clients; but I love the possibilities of printed pieces – there are so many ways you can show your work with a printed piece, tailoring it to a specific personal project, crafting a series, etc. It’s another way to show how you see, how you feel and approach things, etc. I’ll use another music reference, in that promos to me are like releasing a new album of work (or with these postcards – a series of singles that will ultimately make up a collection). And like musicians, we as photographers are continually moving forward, honing our craft, exploring new themes and issues, changing/evolving – our promos and work should reflect this as well.

If you’re not pushing yourself into uncomfortable territory, then you’re stagnant. Shake it up.

Have you ever gotten a job directly from a printed promo?
I’m often wrong about expectations when I share my work (that’s why I try and have none). When I sent out the promo book earlier this year that I mentioned, I sent several to an ad agency that I had worked with on a commercial spot several years ago. I sent it simply because I liked the team at the agency a lot, and because I knew that they were fans of some of the musicians pictured in the book. Several weeks after they received it, I got a call from them to bid on another commercial spot – and won the job.

Natalja Kent

Who printed it?
I had chromogenic prints made at a local lab, my assistant Leah Rom hand sew the belly bands from an Italian imported ribbon, and write notes to each person I was sending the package to and added super fun ChromoDepth glasses for a color 3D effect. So it was really a blend of a few things I love: photos, textures, and op-art!

Who designed it?
I designed it with a love of real photographic paper and a touch of nostalgia for 3D viewing.

Tell me about the images?
These photographs are all new work inspired by the experimental photography I’ve been doing in the analog, color darkroom called Movement Artifact as well as a book I photographed last year of the Blaschka Glass Plants and Flowers. There is a fun little Wired Article about my artwork that tells a bit about the project. The Blashka Glass Plants taught me so much about light and form, I’m excited to be bringing these ideas to commercial product clients. For the package, I added one print from my art series, so people could get a sense of my color palate. With my commercial work, I’ve been teasing out how to play with light, color, and form in ways that reference this fine art project as well as a deep technical dive into glass photography and what I discovered. It’s been fun to beautifully draw out a product for a client with these tools. I adore visual problem solving for clients’ needs and by drawing on my rich knowledge of art, light, form and art history I am building a fun, pop-fantasy, still life world.

How many did you make?
I made 50 of this promo. I keep my physical outreach pretty low volume so as not to make a lot of garbage. By targeting people I really want to work with I’m doing my best to balance outreach and environmental awareness.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
About twice a year.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
What my promos do for me is put the work I feel is adding something strong to the visual dialog in a physical form and in front of people I think are working on great projects. It’s more of the idea “action begets action” and less “I want this outcome to happen right now”. My business practice includes a kind of self-awareness about what I’m putting into the world and what I’m asking for. Being generous is a part of that ideology. I make great work for very aligned clients. Having a fun promo that’s closer to sending them a little game then a plea for work is what I’m aiming for.

If there’s one thing I learned from surfing, which I’m obsessed with, it’s to get out into the water no matter how you feel or if the conditions are not perfect. There are almost always waves that teach you something about your form and approach — and it’s crazy fun. For example, last night after a long day in the studio I popped out to Malibu for a sunset surf. We had some fun little sets (waves) in the crimson fade, and then suddenly I realized it was totally dark and the moonlight was sparkling on the water. In the blackness, it was hard to read what the size of the waves was coming towards the three of us still surfing. I decided to paddle into one that looked small and uneventful. Then I found myself on a perfectly arching wave, tucked right into the pocket, then gaining speed along the face. Because it was so dark, all I could see was a thin line of silver moonlight on the deep black face of the wave, and we rolled together all the way to the shore. Who knew such a majestic wave was to be experienced in such darkness, more about the feeling of the movement then seeing it and controlling it. By showing up, and sticking with it I felt an incredible belonging to the ocean and the activity I adore. By bringing a sense of curiosity and play to all processes I undertake, I learn from each new experience — and I treat sending out packages to folks the same way. Let’s have a good time with these cool projects we get to make!

Amos Morgan

Who printed it?
DCG One https://www.dcgone.com/

Who designed it?
Chaun Osburn https://madebychaun.com/

Chaun and I have known each other for many years and he was on the design team that did the branding for my business. We’re both huge fans of music and appreciate vinyl records so for this project we came up with the idea to create a promo pieced based on that format. I’ve always been fascinated by the design/copy/imagery that record jackets and liner notes feature, and have spent hours pouring over those details while I’m listening to the music. Using that as inspiration, it was really important for the images and text to have a thematic arc similar to how the tracks are arranged on many albums. Chaun’s design creates such a wonderful home for the images and brings the feeling of an album’s liner notes to life.

Tell me about the images?
The images are from a mix of personal test shoots and commercial jobs.

How many did you make?
300

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Large promos (like this) every 1-2 years and small “postcard” promos 2-3 times a year.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
For me, printed promos are very effective. I’m pretty selective with who I send them to as I prefer a targeted marketing strategy vs. a large scale “blanket” approach. This allows me to tailor the promo to an audience I believe will appreciate the selected work. Then the printed piece at the very least allows for a conversation starter when following up and I often receive compliments that it was nice having something tangible to hold and look through.

Kennett Mohrman

Who printed it?
Right off the bat, I knew I wanted to print this on newsprint. We came across Newspaper Club – they specialize in newsprint in tabloid sizing. It was a great option for a small run as well. And, I was able to print one to start as proof and nit-pick color etc. I was so pleased with the results.

Who designed it?
Luckily, I’m married to a Creative Director – Lizzy Sonenfeld (@lizz_zzz_y). We’ve worked together for a long time, so the process is really collaborative and natural. I knew I wanted to marry colorful graphic images with strong player portraits and she did a great job of working it all in together.

Tell me about the images?
I went out to Minnesota with a buddy for this tournament, looking forward to capturing both action photos and portraits. It’s the largest pond hockey tournament in the US so I knew there would be a ton of character. We set up a scrappy portrait tent directly on the ice (it was below 0°F most of the weekend), and capturing the portraits as players were coming off the ice was the real highlight. The small details – frosted beards and eyelashes and subtle expressions – were so much fun to capture.

How many did you make?
We printed 200 newspapers, and made 150 hand-addressed packages with postcards.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Honestly, this is my first one, and I’m already planning the next. It’s been an awesome challenge to myself creatively, and really rewarding to get these into people hands to open up conversations.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I was skeptical going into this, but it’s been really effective. Doing a small batch and sharing with relevant people/agencies was the key for me. So much more effective than cold calls/email blasts. I’ve already landed a couple of jobs because of the work too so I’m very stoked with the results! It’s been great to see people hold tangible printed work in their hands and respond to it with honest critical feedback.

Chris Loupos

Who printed it?
My promo was printed at Casa Papel (casapapel.com) in Philadelphia. It was honestly not easy to realize this promo. I went through quite a few meetings with printers before I met with Casa Papel and even with them, it took quite a bit of back and forth before we got it perfected. Not really their fault, it’s just funny how hard it is to recreate something that was so common in the early 1900s. Other places had offered to print it on paper stock backing or other materials to get it “close” but I didn’t want to cut any corners. It was very important to me to have them be as authentic as we could make them to how they used to be. There were more steps in the process than you probably would imagine.

Who designed it?
I kind of had a cheat code here in my back pocket because my younger brother Michael (dribbble.com/mikeydoesit) is a talented graphic designer in Philadelphia so he and I had been talking about this for a while before we decided to try and actually do it. I bought probably 15 vintage cabinet cards at thrift stores as examples to work off of as well as some images of them from the web and he took them and made a TON of custom logos with my name and photo business on the front and back that would kind of be an homage to that style. I originally was going to do 5 or 10 different backs, but once we started really trying to print it, we realized that could never happen logistically. It was hard to choose the final design, there were a bunch of good options and I struggled a bit with the final decision but I’m really happy with how they turned out.

Tell me about the image and the card itself?
The image is of a model named Rebekah Marine (@rebekahmarine) who I’ve had an on-going working relationship with over the past few years. I just had an idea for a shoot with a sort of vintage feel to it and wanted to shoot with some peacock feathers and maybe a fascinator veil so I bought them both and we did a shoot together at a studio in Philadelphia. It wasn’t planned that this image was going to be a promo for me at all. I just liked the image. When my retoucher Nick (nicksilver.studio) sent it back to me and we talked about it I just thought this was an image that would make a perfect updated version of a cabinet card. It has that timeless feel to it. I could’ve gone black and white like they used to be, but my work is mostly based in color and I wanted to stay true to what I mostly do. And to add a little twist to make it my own as well.

How many did you make?
I printed around 75 of them with Rebekah on them and a couple individual ones for people that have been important to me in the photo business to give as personal gifts. They were NOT cheap to produce and I know people probably say this with promos, but I truly mean it when I say that I only sent these out to clients I really would want to work with and whose work I really really admire. I am not sure if most of the world, even the photo world, has any idea what a cabinet card is but my hope is that some of the real photography nerds like me will recognize it right away when they see it and those are the kind of people I want to work with the most.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I don’t usually send promos, honestly. It’s been a while. I’ve spoken to a lot of photo editors I’ve worked with over the years and most of them say its a mixed bag on how effective they are. I didn’t want to do postcard mailers. I wanted to create something different and something unique. Something that someone might pin on their wall, put on their desk or at the very least remember when they’re trying to hire new photographers. I have to credit my brother for going the extra mile with some suggestions for complementary elements that ultimately brought the whole project together and highlighted what was most important, which was the cards.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I’ve never directly gotten a job from one that I can recall, but I also have only sent out a couple. I’ve never sent out postcards. I find them to be impersonal and that’s not really me. In the past, I’ve created a zine with a mustache/beard photo series and accompanied it with custom made mustache wax in metal tins we custom branded and designed and now this cabinet card. I have an idea for the next one but we will see if I can actually follow through with it once the body of work is finished. It’s percolating though.

I’m endlessly fascinated with the world of photography. It’s one of the only jobs in the world where you want to work more than you do, if you love it like I do anyway. I think it’s becoming so hard to get anyone to stop and pay attention to you in the scrolling era, and with promos my goal is to make something unique that isn’t run of the mill and commonplace. I wanted people to be able to hold this in their hand, feel the letterpress, look at the gold etching on the edges and honestly just appreciate the work that went into making it. I think we succeeded and I’m happy people are appreciating them, I hope some prospective clients feel the same way.

Michael Kunde

Who printed it?
It was printed by Modern Postcard https://www.modernpostcard.com

Who designed it?
The Promo was designed by my dear friend who’s been designing for me for about a decade now. His name is Nicolas D’Amico he is based in SLC, UT.
https://www.designbydiamond.com He also made my logo and design identity for my website.

Tell me about the images?
The images were shot this time last year for a client of mine Nutrien Ag Solutions. The creative agency was Osborn-Barr https://osbornbarr.com
Creative Directors: Zach Arnold and Dan Brindley. Agency Producer: Tammy Cheatham. We shot these images over a series of 3 days in a very rural area of Kansas near the city of Garden City. On this shoot I had help from my go-to assistant Alex Igidbashian @alexigidbashian and my very talented drone operator Rudy Lehfeldt-Ehlinger @rudy.le

Rudy and Alex are key people in the creation of my AG work. Rudy flys an Alta 8 Free-fly drone up in the air with my Canon 5Dmk4 so I can capture the iconic agriculture aerials of combines working harvest. I love putting up full-frame or medium format cameras into the air so I can grab the best possible files for these aerials. This gives me the best latitude with the files to push these images in whatever direction needed to give them the look and feel I’m going for. Alex basically reads my mind and somehow always knows which lens I’m going to want next.

How many did you make?
I printed 500 of these promos.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I have initiated a new business strategy this year and will now be sending out promos quarterly. Before this year I only sent them out when I felt like I had the time or bandwidth to do so. I worked with my Designer Nic and he created a years worth of Promos for me. I printed them all at the same time so they are here and ready to go each quarter.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I am a firm believer that printed promos are an effective marketing tool. The way I see it is, yes many of these promos will likely end up in the recycling bin. But many don’t. I have talked with many creatives at agencies throughout the country and consistently I hear that they appreciate a well designed and thought out promo. Many file them away, many creatives have them pinned onto giant walls in their office and reference when they need to find a photographer to match the agencies creative. I like to try put myself out there as much as possible. How can you be hired for a job if you’re not constantly on the radar of agencies around the country and the world.

Greg Mionske

Who Printed It?
Print on Paper (printonpaper.com)

Who designed it?
I did.

Tell me about the images?
These photos were all made as part of a personal project this past spring at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in River Oaks, Texas. I was pretty determined to shoot here as I knew I wanted to shoot on red clay for color and textural reasons. I initially made a few editorial pitches focused on the event, all of which failed to gain enough traction. Fortunately, one of those editors was still willing to help me secure credentials to pursue the project on my own.

I spent every day at the tournament chasing light and photographing anything that caught the light nicely. Aside from the tennis, I was rather intrigued by the spectators as many of them seemed to be more worried about seeing and being seen or gossiping court-side than the event itself. Overall my goal was to come away with a set of images that made the viewer experience the beauty and uniqueness of this particular event.

How many did you make?
I had 100 printed.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I don’t have a schedule set in stone at this time however it is certainly something I would like to do quarterly.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I’m not sure. Obviously some people like to see printed photos while others don’t care, but I do think prints have the potential to be effective in a world where most email inboxes are overflowing with junk mail. Having said that, a friend from a particular Boston-based footwear company sent me an Instagram video of him opening my mailer, thumbing through a page or two and then walking it over to the recycling bin. I’d call that pretty decent engagement in the digital age ; )

Aviva Klein

Who printed it?
MOO.com

I did run into a couple of obstacles with this mailer. Moo offers a ‘finish’ option; which turns out to be really beautiful and velvety. However, my background color was black and so it took a bit of trial and error to find the right pen that would be visible and also write smoothly on the surface. I made a mistake with the last mailer and got these paint pens which didn’t work well. This time, I used metallic Sharpies.

The other obstacle I ran into is that MOO.com requires all files to be uploaded in CMYK. For some images, it’s not a huge deal to color correct on my own. However, for this one, I couldn’t get the colors to look true to the original- the blues practically disappeared in CMYK. So, I had to hire a Retoucher to do the job.

Who designed it?
I did.

Tell me about the images?
The images of Cardi B that I used for this promo were taken at this year’s Summer Jam in NJ for HOT97/Emmis Comm.

How many did you make?
250

How many times a year do you send out promos?
3-4 times a year. I try to get one out a quarter.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
To be honest, I’m not sure. I haven’t had anyone reach out to me directly after receiving any of my promos. I enjoy the process of designing them, finding the right stamps and envelopes, receiving them, packing them, and taking them to the post office. I put a lot of thought and care into the process. I did hear from a colleague of mine that he saw this promo at his agent’s office, so that was pretty cool. My philosophy is that you never know who’s going to see it and what that might inspire. It’s a rather minor expense that could lead to a major opportunity.

Dimitri Djuric

Who printed it?
Ex Why Zed in the UK. I’ve used them a few times in the past. I like them.

Who designed it?
I did.

Tell me about the images?
This is a series I’ve been working on for a while. It’s a visual study of the motifs of of construction. The title, Esthetique Chantier, is French for Building site aesthetics.

I’m interested in the temporary/permanent nature of building sites: They change all the time so it calls for documentation. Even though they are generally perceived as short term, they are also a permanent feature of large cities, always and everywhere around us. Both my father and sister are architects so there is a family interest.

I started taking pictures of buildings and construction sites from the street. I wanted to get access to some sites but this took a while. I contacted developers and building firms. The architects I knew didn’t have anything interesting in the building phase at the time. My sister put me in touch with some people and I got to photograph a couple of great projects. These discussions for access meant I was showing the work to a lot of various people, it was good networking.

How many did you make?
150. I use it as a promo piece and send it to prospects but it’s also a photo book in it’s own right and is sold in a few bookshops in London and Paris.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Twice on average. I don’t do big campaigns. Generally personalised postcards. I have been doing a book or zine every year/18 month. Each has been used as promo as well as sold in a few bookshops.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I think so. It’s definitely more memorable than emails or galleries on websites. I think people look at printed work in a different way than on screens.

Alexa Mazzarello

Who printed it?
I printed with PIKTO based in Toronto, Canada.

Who designed it?
My rep and photo consultant Monashee did the image selection, layout and pagination – https://monashee.org/

Tell me about the images?
The book was created around the concept of “summer”. Given the time of year and that one of my ideal clients is swimwear, we wanted to showcase this through imagery and capture the dreamy feeling of summer. The packaging was chosen to echo this feeling with a reflective and shiny blue bubble mailer to elicit the feeling of diving into a pool, having it open onto the cover of the woman in a pool.

How many did you make?
I made 30 and sent them to a very targeted and specific sector of my list. It was meant to be special and tailored to them.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is the second promo I’ve sent out this year. I’m planning on sending one more this year, making it three total.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I do. I think it’s important to show printed work to really showcase a theme or body of work. It’s also important to me to create an experience for the person receiving it. I think it helps guide them in how I want them to experience my work – that’s my favourite part.

Jessica Pages

Who printed it?
I got the promos printed at One Touch Point in Austin. https://1touchpoint.com/

Who designed it?
My friend Avalon McKenzie designed it. https://avalonmckenzie.com/ This is the third promo we’ve worked on together. I love her aesthetic and style. I pretty much send her a ton of images that I’d to include and she narrows them down and puts them in an order that flows. For this one, I knew I wanted some kind of text to go along with the images, to make it feel a little more like a notebook or journal. She added the color blocking and the hand-lettered text that captured the look that I was going for.

Tell me about the images?
Choosing the photos is always so hard for me. I start by thinking about who I’m going to send these to, what might be appropriate for them and what I want to showcase at the time. These particular images are a mix of my commercial and editorial work. I wanted to show a range with portraits and lifestyle photos while having them compliment each other.

How many did you make?
I made 100. I’ve sent out about half and have the other half to give away at meetings. I don’t really have a broad list, I make an effort to tailor to people that this work might be relevant to and clients/friends that I’m trying to keep in touch with.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
My goal is at least twice a year, but sometimes I don’t get there.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I do think they are effective. They are a great way to keep in touch with clients you’ve already worked with. I end up hearing back from a lot of former clients I hadn’t worked within a while. I also really enjoy getting to collaborate on design and having a tangible project at the end that encapsulates the work I’ve done in the last few months.

Brad Gregory

Who printed it?
Mixam

Who designed it?
I designed it myself.

Tell me about the images?
It’s mostly work shot in the last 6 months although there are a couple of photos a bit older that I used because they fit well in the edit. In my work, there are some different ways I like to play with light, water, form, movement, and other elements. So the idea was to have a collection of images that reflects that and an overall way of perception.

How many did you make?
200

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I have sent some out here and there but have not been super consistent. But I really enjoy it so I would ideally like to send something out every few months.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Shortly after I sent this out, I was hired by one of the largest ad agencies to do a shoot in Los Angeles for one of the top 3 tech companies. Another time, I sent just a postcard that led to several large projects over the course of 2 years with what was for a time a great recurring client. But at the same time, it’s not a given that anyone particular thing is going to get a specific result.

Trevor Paulhus

Who printed it?
I had it printed at Newspaper Club (www.newspaperclub.com)

Who designed it?
My friend Robert Milam designed it for me. He runs a great design studio called ModestWorks here in Dallas. I gave him an initial wide edit of images and then together the 2 of us narrowed it down to the final selects. Once the final images were selected, he just did his thing. We were on the same page about visual aesthetic for the piece (and in general), so getting to the final design didn’t take long at all. He presented me with 3 different options, all of which I loved. We made some small tweaks to the one I liked the most… and that was it.

Tell me about the images?
The images are from a photo essay shadowing the David W. Carter High School (Dallas, TX) 2018/2019 basketball season. The photo essay was part of a much larger/in-depth personal project that is still taking shape with the Carter Cowboys. So in a way, this first installment is a bit of a “teaser” for what is to come. I am super excited to share more of it in the coming months.

How many did you make?
Because this was meant to be just a bit of a “teaser”, we did a pretty limited run. Just 200. 100 of those going to the team and the school, 30 to Robert Milam (ModestWorks) and 70 left for me to distribute. I am just now starting to send them out to a pretty select group. I may or may not consider having more printed once I see how things go with the 60’ish I have left to send.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
In the past I have struggled with being consistent about this. But I have been much better as of recently. I try to do about 4 printed pieces/year now. 2 smaller pieces with a larger mailing list (usually a postcard or something along those lines) and 2 more involved pieces.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Absolutely! Outside of Instagram, a good website and face to face meetings, I believe that a well done printed marketing piece is the most valuable way to speak your creative voice to those you want to hear it. Things like source books, which can often take a big chunk of marketing budgets, sometimes end up having me feel like my work just gets lost in the shuffle of pages. I think a good printed piece with a tailored mailing list is such a better investment in ME.

Jessica Sample

Who printed it?
It was printed by Modern Postcard.

Who designed it?
Claire Typaldos

Tell me about the images?
It was conceived as a travel and hospitality promo featuring my travel, interiors, portrait, and food work. I’d like to do a similar one that is focused on lifestyle, fashion, and portraits.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is the first non-postcard promo I did. Usually, I just give out postcards in meetings or mail them occasionally.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I’m not really sure if it is effective or not honestly. I did get an email about a hospitality shoot from an ad agency recently and they may have reached out from that promo but I didn’t ask. I just think that a really great printed piece can cut through the noise of emails to catch people’s attention but it all depends on the person.

Alexandra Valenti

Who Printed it?
I had it printed at Capital Printing in Austin, Texas. They were extremely helpful and thorough during the proofing process. We probably printed 5 or 6 versions before we were happy with it. They were very patient with me to make sure we got the color just right.

Who Designed it?
At first, I thought I would design it myself. I have a (limited) graphic design background but I felt I was too close my own work to be able to have a compelling perspective. I decided I wanted to have fresh eyes on it. So I hired a designer, Jennifer James Wright. (jenniferjameswright.com) I met her when I was asked to photograph her in Austin last year. She’s worked for Weiden + Kennedy, and designed for Kinfolk and Broccoli Magazine. Not only is she just a lovely person to be around, she is just so talented. I didn’t think she would have time to design the promo for me, but she said yes immediately.
We had several meetings about the book before the design process started. We poured over paper options, fonts, zines, etc. She was very thoughtful and considered about how it would feel in your hands. Her attention to detail is exactly why I wanted her to design it.

I wanted to let her run with it but I did give her a few jumping-off points. The main one being I wanted the type treatments to be as important as the images themselves. I wanted it to feel like a story you’d see in the 90s Fabian Baron era of Bazaar magazine. And I wanted her to flex her aesthetic and talents. Really I feel like this promo is as much about my work as it is about Jennifer’s. A true collaboration which makes my heart sing.

Tell me about the images?
Narrowing down the images was probably the hardest part. I wanted it to feel cohesive, so I had to decide, do I show lifestyle? Do I show portraiture? Do I show fashion? Can they all live in the same book? Ultimately, the answer was no. So I leaned towards portraiture and fashion. This seemed to make the most sense given how we wanted to use the type treatments. I knew I wanted to show commissioned work but truthfully I prefer most of my personal projects over my commissioned work for the obvious reasons that you have no limitations and can feel free to play and experiment. So it’s a good mix of both.

How many did you make?
I had 100 books made. And I sent them out to very specific clients that I want to work with.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
With an agent, I probably have sent out promos every few months. But they were more paired down versions like according style promos. Which aren’t that exciting to me. So I thought about what if I were someone who gets promos regularly and what would fun to receive? What would stop them from throwing it in the trash? That’s when I decided to I wanted to start making more thoughtful versions. One that shows my love of design as much as my love of photography. And maybe, even one they would leave on their coffee table. It was so much fun to make this with Jennifer, that she and I talked about doing these 2x a year and each version will be based on a theme.

Do you think Printed Promos are effective for marketing your work?
Without a doubt. I think social media is very important too but your work can get lost in the scroll. People are perusing so fast, who knows if they are seeing your work. But with a printed book, I think it shows a level of care and commitment to your work. And nothing can really replace the tactile feeling of holding a printed book. Which is 100 times more satisfying than looking at your phone.

Leslie Grow

Who printed it?
Mixam – Catalog/Magazine/Booklet, 7×10, 28 sides, Stapled, 100lb paper Uncoated. Print and paper quality are big factors to me, so before I started this process I ordered their free sample pack. I’ve collected several different packs from other printers, and for the price point that I was going for and the option for smaller quantities, I felt like this was a perfect fit. Their customer service is awesome too. I had 2 books that were flawed and they were quick to respond with options for refund or reprinting. I opted for reprinting, it was dispatched immediately and delivered within a week.

Who designed it?
I worked closely with Creative Consultant Mara Serdans. She went through all the images on my website and I also sent her a large selection from my archive. I wanted the promo to be a snippet of what I shoot, so we decided to showcase 15-25 images from food and still life. Once we finalized the images and flow, I worked with a good friend of mine who is an amazing graphic designer & photographer, Jennifer Chong of JChongStudio, to design the layout.

Tell me about the images?
I’ve been wanting to do a more in-depth promo for a long time and to follow up with the promo I sent earlier this year. The idea behind it is to have a mini portfolio that doesn’t cost a lot to print or send and travels easily if I’m on the road. I use them as leave-behinds at meetings or send to clients that I really want to shoot for if we’ve already established a relationship. The images themselves are from all sorts of shoots ranging from personal test shoots to client work.

How many did you make?
I did 30 for the first printing – I wanted to see how my images looked on paper before doing a big order. I’ll be ordering more for sure! People have really enjoyed it so far.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Not as much as I should! And to be honest, this one and the postcard I sent earlier this year was the result of being really slow with work. I needed to try something different with my marketing. I haven’t seen a direct correlation of getting connections or work from my promos, but work has definitely picked up! Eventually, I’d like to be sending at least 2-4 postcards and 1 larger promo per year to be getting my work consistently in front of people. Along with that, I’m working in email promos about every 3 months.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I hope so! I mean it’s kind of a shot in the dark hoping that the promo actually gets delivered & opened, wondering if they even like it or if it just gets tossed. This is my first year sending printed promos, so I’m still figuring out who should be on my list. If anything, it’s made me take a close look at my work and to really think about who I want to be shooting for.

Nick Murway

Who printed it?
MagCloud. I like that you can order just one copy for a few bucks to get a feel for it and see how everything looks before ordering the rest. I’m sure other places out there do this, too, but I’ve always been happy with them. I’m thinking of using Newspaper Club for Q2, keeping the design similar but having a different sort of format/paper for each one.

Who designed it?
So my pals over at GRIP did a little brand overhaul for me about a year and a half ago. That’s where the logo, color choices, typefaces, and icons come from. I did the edit/layout/design of the piece itself.

Tell me about the images?
They’re from a couple of favorite client projects from Q1, as well as some personal projects. I mostly work in the food/beverage world, so there are some from a library of images made for a new restaurant, a project for a smaller fast-casual restaurant chain’s rebrand here in Chicago, which was a collaboration with an agency, and some fun food-related personal projects.

How many did you make?
I did 50 for this first round. I’d like to do more for the next round. I sent them to some previous/current clients, some friends, some agencies and industry people I thought might like them and sent out a little blast on Instagram for anyone who wanted a copy, just for fun. I have a handful left if anyone wants one!

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Building off of the quarterly report idea, I’m going to shoot for four this year. It’s been kind of wonderful breaking the year down into four parts, kind of checking in on what client work I’ve shot, what personal projects I’ve worked on and asking questions like, who have I connected with, have I traveled much, what would I like to include in that next “report” etc. in three month chunks. For me, it’s made thinking about the whole year seem a little more manageable.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I hope so! Like everything, be it a printed piece, an email, an Instagram post, you send stuff out into the world and hope people like it, but you mostly never know, even if they do. I have had a handful of people reach out, as they are hyped on receiving something in the mail. I really do think there is something kind of wonderful about holding something tangible. In the past, I’ve frequently made little zines from trips just for myself and am now applying it to my work. You have something that sits on the shelf that you can grab and flip through, rather than just a bunch of digital photos buried in the archive.

Fredrik Clement

Who printed it?
After moving to Klitmøller, a small village on the northwestern coast of Denmark, I wanted to try working with a local printer. He had to dust off his old machines to make me happy, because as so many other printers he persisted in trying to convince me to do it digitally. But nothing beats the smell of real ink on paper.

Who designed it?
I collaborated with graphic designer Troels Schwarz of Superschwarz (www.superschwarz.dk), who is also a friend. We came up with a simple, almost minimal design and used the same weight of paper for the cover and pages. Folding the cover makes it thicker which makes the design work well. The visible stitching and loose stitching thread completes it. It’s basically just one kind of paper, a thread, and ink. The paper is uncoated, warm toned which I think sits especially well with the black and white images.

Tell me about the images?
They’re a mix of old and new, commercial and personal work. Curating the images was important to me. Some of the images are from personal projects in Indiana more than ten years ago, some are from cycling event Paris-Roubaix 2013 and some from recent commercial work for Adidas. The promo also has images from European refugee camps; a pro bono project collaboration with UEFA Foundation for Children. My photographic approach is documentary and I wanted to make this evident in the promo by showing a wide selection of my work, in a narrow style.

How many did you make?
350 pieces.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Not too often. To be honest, I do it when I feel like it. Less than yearly.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Yes. This time around, my agent (www.unit.nl) sent out around 50 pieces and so far I’ve sent out around 150 pieces, half for existing clients with a personal, written note, and half to art buyers, direct clients and agencies I would like to work with in the future. This is ongoing, I send out the promos regularly when I’ve identified new potential clients or people that I would like to reach out to.