Thomas Strand
Who printed and designed it?
Done by Brian Donahue of bedesign in Minneapolis. I worked with Brian for many years when he was an art director at Minnesota Monthly. I knew his amazing sense of magazine design would translate well. I gave Brian an archive of images and he ran with it.
Tell me about the images?
Images are a mix from my volunteer work for the rescue Secondhand Hounds, some Purina projects and a couple of test shots.
Several years ago I found myself an empty nester. I had one son who joined the Marines and another that left to study abroad. I said goodbye to my 16-year-old Golden Retriever just prior to that. I had extra time on my hands and decided to volunteer for the rescue. Volunteering has been amazing. It fueled a new direction in my work and granted me the chance to be involved in two things I love; animals and photography. Volunteering has nurtured me creatively, given me a sense of purpose outside myself and help create a new avenue of business.
How many did you make?
I printed 1500 but send out 800.
How many times a year do you send out promos?
I plan on 2 of these types of promo per year. Previously I sent out postcards.
Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I am a believer in printed promos. If I was an AD I would want to receive printed pieces. I find email blasts incredibly disappointing. I am so sick of looking at Google analytics, clicks and opens. The promo landed on a couple of the AD’s desks at Checkmark Communications (Purina) the day they received sign-off on a great project. I did bid the job but sadly all shoots have been tabled due to the virus.
I printed this promo late last fall and spent many hours folding and packaging the promos. I decided it was not a good idea to send out over the holidays and then got mired in refining my mailing list again and updating my website with new images before sending out the promo. The consequence was that it landed on peoples laps shortly before the virus took hold. I am hoping it is not completely lost in all of this.
