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.
