Jennifer Roberts

Who designed it?
The promo was designed by Studio Wyse http://www.studiowyse.com/ in Toronto. The Creative Director, Vanessa Wyse and the Art Director, Nicola Hamilton are incredibly talented and it was wonderful to work with them on this. Since I am such a big fan of their work, I felt pretty open to whatever concept they came up with.
I probably drove Nicola the art director (and also my sister-in-law) a little crazy going back and forth on the paper stocks. Her instinct was to go with a textured paper while mine was to do something a little smoother. We both wanted an uncoated finish so the mowhawk cougar was a happy compromise. The finished piece is a six-panel, accordion folded booklet that easily tears into single postcards, so you can pin your favourite image.

Who printed it?
They were printed in Toronto at Flash Reproductions.

Tell me about the images?
The objective of the promo was to highlight my portraiture and lifestyle work. I pulled a wide edit of photos and then Studio Wyse selected images from both my edit and from my website. I really trusted Studio Wyse’s direction and some of the photos they chose weren’t in my edit but when I saw them in the layout, they totally worked. I would have never thought of using the cheer squad photo but then when I saw their design, I loved it. When I saw my photos in their beautiful layout I felt like a better photographer.

How many did you make?
We did a run of 200 promos. I figured that way they could be divided up between the multiple markets I was targeting.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is the first time I’ve ever made a proper print promo. I’m very happy with it and it’s been well received so I think realistically I’d aim to have a new made once a year.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I think for me printed promos are a fantastic marketing tool. The timing was right because I’ve recently started dividing my time between Los Angeles and Toronto. In Toronto, my background is in newspaper photography and I’ve been trying to advance into more portraiture and lifestyle work. In Los Angeles, I’m new so it seemed like a good way to introduce myself. So far I’ve mostly sent them to new clients and they’ve been a great way to introduce people to my work. They’ve been great to hand out at meetings and a good way to reach clients that aren’t in the same city.

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