Nicholas Duers

Who printed it?
To print the promo, we utilized Blurb.com, using their premium lustre-finished paper and perfect binding style.

Who designed it?
The design intent was to create a minimal and immersive physical platform for the presentation of the work, and it was done by myself in collaboration with my Agent, Farimah Milani.

Who edited the images?
In terms of the edit, I worked closely with Farimah, to arrive at a sequence that worked for each of us. As a content creator, there is always the potential for choices to be influenced by sentimental attachment to the imagery. Having an outside perspective from an experienced Agent is tremendously useful! We were able to ensure an overall commercial appeal, and yet still be able to convey my personal aesthetic.

How many did you make?
250.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
We aim to send a physical promotion on a quarterly to bi-annual basis.

How long did this promo take?
The process from concept to execution required three months from start to finish: The back and forth discussions, creating new imagery to fill in any gaps, and the need to update my website before sending out led to the process taking longer than expected. This was our first major promo piece since collaborating, and I wanted to make sure it was executed as perfectly as possible.

Trevor Traynor

Who printed it?
Printed by magcloud. I have always favored the square format and magcloud offers a great 8” x 8” template.

Who designed it?
I designed the book and edited the images; I enjoy pairing photographs and forming them into diptychs.

How many did you make?
Each volume is signed/edition of 100. Approx 20 are sent out for promotion and the other 80 are sold.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Every January I mail out a limited book that showcases my travels, and explorations from the previous year, I’m currently up to Vol 4. The first 3 volumes are sold out and Vol. 4 has 18 more copies remaining. Shop.TrevorTraynor.com

I donate the proceeds split between 3 charities:

BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY.
BestFriends.org
“Save Them All”

PLANT A BILLION TREES.
PlantABillion.org
“protecting nature, preserving life”

SMILE TRAIN.
SmileTrain.org
“Help make 1 million smiles

Also I saw that you sent two promos, are you sending out two to everyone? 
I send out promos twice a year. The 2nd is usually a postcard, or foldout piece promoting my commercial and editorial work.
Vol I – Vol 3  are shot and edited using the iPhone and  Vol 4. is 97% iPhone. I had a few images I thought meshed really well to complete the collection so I included them.

How long have you been doing this project?
I started this project 8 years ago but never released the first four books. They were a collection of images created using an assortment of Film and Digital Cameras. The images were shots that I liked but never really had a home, or a series to be a part of; it started as a way to organize my favorite snapshots.

 

Justin Fantl

Daniel Dorsa

Who printed it?
The cassette tapes were made by MilkTape, I printed the J Cards myself, and the business card was printed by Mama Sauce.

Who designed it?
A long term friend of mine, Devin Jacocviello, designed the tape as well my business cards.

Who edited the images?
I edited the images myself.

How many did you make?
I made a limited run of the thirty.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is my first promo ever so I’ve only mailed out one a year!  I plan on sending out promos twice a year though.

How did this promo idea develop?
I decided to create this promo for a few different reasons. First off, I love music and have loved it since I was young. I would create mixtapes of the radio and share them with friends. Once CD’s and downloading became prevalent, I was making tons of mix CD’s for my friends in high school and would always be having new music bump in my car. Without really realizing it, it was my first form of creative expression.

Elizabeth Cecil

Who printed it?
Hemlock Printers

Who designed it? Who edited the images?
Melissa McGill (melissamcgillstudio.com)

Who designed it?
Claire Ellen Lindsey (claireellenlindsey.com)

How many did you make?
75

How many times a year do you send out promos?
2

What was your inspiration for this promo?
I’ve been working with Melissa McGill for the past few years on branding, editing, and creative direction. We have developed various promos to highlight my portrait, lifestyle and food photography as well as my personal work, with inspiration drawn directly from the work being considered. We focus on clearly communicating my core interests; color, light, nature and authenticity. It’s a collaboration that really flows! This recent promo booklet developed from appreciating the colors on my recent trips to St. Bart’s and Bali and wanting to tell a story using color to create a unifying thread through the book.

Michael Scott Slosar

Who printed it?
This specific promotional piece I had printed at Aosaimage.com  They do tons of amazing creative printing techniques.  My direct contact there is Mike Hill.  He is such an awesome guy!

Who designed it?
The design came from a collaboration of myself and Mike Hill.  We have worked on a few other creative printing processes in the past on some larger prints on wood and metal and had discussed ideas like this in the past.

Who edited it?
The images were edited and selected by me.  This was a personal series i had shot beach camping in San Onofre Camp Pendleton south of San Clemente, CA

How many did you make?
My goal with these pieces was to share something that was close to me, with people whose creative impact I respect and value. So, I only printed this as a limited series of 50 pieces.  All of which are hand signed and numbered.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I have just begun to conceptualize more and more creative promotional series like this one for release in small personal runs.  In the past I have done more standard promos in bulk of 500-1,000 and sent out 3-5 times a year between LeBook shows and through direct mail.

How did this concept come about?
The concept behind this piece was to use materials that were natural to the environment of the images.  The burlap hand sewn sacks, the handmade and sanded drift wood box and the wood coasters.  I wanted something that people would want to have as decoration and consider a series of personal art released.  Im not trying to spam my promotional series out.  Moving forward, I want to continue creating promos that are intimate and close to my heart.  My goal with all my clients is to develop a working relationship on a more personal level.  My hopes are that this is felt and seen through this series.

Sage Brown

Who printed it?
I had the postcards printed at smartpress.com – they allowed me to do different versions in the same order which I think helped save on cost in the long run.

Who designed it?
My background is in design, so I designed it myself.

Who edited the images?
Mostly just me – I narrowed the edit down from a much larger selection of images from the past year and a half, and then got some input from friends and colleagues.

How many did you make?
I think it was about 100 sets.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This was my first, but this year I’d like to get in the regular habit of mailing work out. There’s something so nice about getting a nice postcard or printed piece in the mail.

Tell us how this promo evolved.
As a designer and photographer, spending a lot of time in front of the computer as part of my job is extremely difficult. I really need to get outside, move, and be active on a regular basis. At some point last year I was having a particularly hard time with it, and often found myself wishing I was anywhere but at my desk.  At the time I was working at an agency, going through some fairly major health issues, and was slowly losing my mind. So, I began to make a list of places I’d rather be.

The original list went something like this: early mornings, running, dirt roads, sunrises, mountains, streams, road trips, unknown trails, swimming holes, lakes, birds, hiking, cool water, flowers, the desert, climbing, hot springs, two wheels, sunsets, and so on…

The idea slowly morphed and changed, and after talking to a friend I realized it’s not the places I’d rather be that I was dreaming of, but the Places I Am. It’s the places that have inspired me, shaped me, and in some way become a part of me that I was day dreaming about.

Instead of just posting another photo from a past adventure to Instagram, I decided it was time to make something that might stick around a little longer. So I made a website and some postcards. It’s fairly simple, but I think the entire process was somewhat cathartic.

In the end, Places I Am ended up being a small series of photos taken in 2014 throughout Oregon and Washington. The accompanying website can be seen at www.placesiam.com.

Callie Lipkin Photography

Who printed it?
Modern Postcard printed the postcard

Who designed it?
Kerri Abrams was the designer.

Who edited the images?
My producer, Trevor Power, and myself.

How many did you make?
A little over 500.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Vault magazines about twice a year, postcards closer to every 6 weeks.

How did this project come about?
The #dadtime project actually started a couple of years ago more specifically as a hipster dads project, inspired partly by my surroundings and by my new role as a parent. The first image I made was the beach dad with the mermaid tail – it was an incredibly lo-fi production shot near my parent’s house in Minnesota, and is still one of my favorites within the more stylized genre of imagery from the series. From there we photographed a couple more pieces for the series and then I took a break from it. During that break, I shot an entire series on parenting in general with more of a documentary approach.

What inspired you to start this series?
Part of this project is truly inspired by my own husband and his role as primary caregiver for our two young sons.  When I finally shot him for the series, I decided to take him to the grocery store, where he ends up several times a week doing all our shopping with the boys. The cover of the dad time promo and one of the inside spreads resulted from that shoot along with a handful of outtakes that I love. My youngest son cried the entire time for me to pick him up and the two of them threw goldfish on the floor – all of which could not have been more true to life.

Another image in the magazine features a dad with his baby sleeping on the couch together, with his older daughter waking him up. This was inspired by an iPhone image I shot of my husband in his pajamas looking exhausted with the kids sitting on top of him. Most of the more documentary moments I capture have also happened to me. One of the more recent images, for example, is of a dad juggling two toddlers at his desk – something I often do with my 2- and 4-year-olds when I’m in my home office if they are missing me during the day. As much as the project is inspiration from dads themselves, I consider many of the scenes to be self-portraiture with the dads playing me.

Are you planning to expand this body of work?
I started focusing primarily on the #dadtime project again this spring and have photographed probably a dozen or so different dads since then, with a lot more planned for 2016.

Tara Donne

Who printed it?
This booklet was printed by J.S. McCarthy Printers.

Who designed it?
My studio manager and I designed it but we also got some key feedback from my studio mate Warren Corbitt of Primary & Co.

Who edited the images?
I edited the images with the help of my studio manager.

How many did you make?
We printed 750 and I sent out about 675, keeping the rest for leave-behinds.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Two print promos per year seems to be my sweet spot lately. I always want to make sure there’s enough super fresh work to share and creating that work obviously takes time. So does the editing and design process too!

Did you shoot images specifically for this promo?
This promo featured a lot of work that was shot specifically for it and none of it had been seen before. We started the layout with FPO images, some brand new and some that were much older, to begin to create a sense of place, style, palette, and season. Some of the newer images that made the final edit were ones that I shot while on vacation in Iceland this summer and a couple came from editorial assignments. The majority of the images were captured on two different test shoots that I produced with this piece specifically in mind.

Ryan Young

Who printed it?
I had this promo printed by a family-owned business in Anaheim called, Quality Graphic Services. They work on projects ranging from books to posters. Between emailing and a face-to-face meeting, they were amazing to work with.

Who designed it?
The design was done by Shannon Ritchie. We worked on it for about 2 months. My aim was to make something that could be folded and kept as a collection of images, or hung on a wall. I selected 2 images that worked as posters, then built around those 2 with images that worked together

Who edited the images?
I made the final edit, but had a lot of help from Shannon and my agent, Maren Levinson. As much of a struggle as it was, I really enjoyed the process. The final stages of editing consisted of removing photos as opposed to adding more. Once the images had enough room to breathe, it all fell into place and made sense.

How many did you make?
I made 1000 and have sent out about 600 so far. With offset printing, the price difference between 500 and 1000 wasn’t much so I decided to go with more.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Every year has been different. It really depends on what kind of work I want to share and what I can afford. I try to send them at least twice a year.

If there is some sort of interesting backstory?
I scrapped 3 other promo designs before committing to this one. I went back and forth between designing a promo focused on a specific body of work and a collection of my favorite images. I ended up going with a combination of personal and commissioned work made in 2015. 

Fab Fernandez

Who printed it?
The printing was done by a company in London called the Newspaper Club. They also loved it so much that they are also doing a write up on their blog soon about this promo.

They were really easy and helpful during the whole process.

Who designed it?
The creative direction was done by the great Christina Dittmar at The Good Brigade.

The design and layout was done by the most talented Edward Taylor at Soft Gold.

Who edited the images?
The image edit was also done by Christina Dittmar at The Good Brigade.

How many did you make?
We had 50 printed and I’ve sent out about 40 so far.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I try and get out about 6 printed promos per year. I love doing them. The whole process is as rewarding as shooting.

Nathan Seabrook

Who printed it?
4 x 6.com

Who designed it?
I did. The back is an image of the backdrop from the front image. So if the sweep had some subtle gradient it would be the same. The design formed once I had the images. I just kept it simple really.

Who edited the images?
On the shoot day stylist Chuck Luter and I knew the ones that worked, so that was the initial edit. After that i whittled it down myself.

How many did you make?
About 250 sets. There are different ones also. I printed 7 of the series so some people have different sets. Maybe you can play swapsies one day . Ha!

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Two or three times a year.

How did the idea come about?
The initial idea came from seeing a maintenance man painting a ledge in a park. He walked past me with paint covering his roller, his hand and going up his wrist. He had just dunked everything in a massive bucket of paint, he didn’t care! Awesome.

JD White

Who printed it?
Moo.com

Who designed it?
My good friend Craig Wheat did my logo a while back but I designed the cards myself.

Who edited the images?
I edited these 5 down from my current 20 image printed portfolio.

How many did you make?
I made a short run of 20 cards for each image as this was my first go at a promo. Some people received all 5 cards, some got 3 and then I also sent out a few singles. There was 33 total recipients of the promo.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I’m really not sure yet. This was my first run and it was very small so I’m curious to see what happens if I send out 400. I’d like to do at least 4 promos a year but doing 12 small runs sounds fun too!

What have you learned from sending out promos?
As I mentioned before, this was my first run at any sort of promo. I had sent out a few emails prior to these postcards but this was my first attempt at getting my name out there without taking much of a financial hit. The month before sending these out I decided to go freelance. So you can say this was my attempt at getting me out of the “ohh crap” moment and getting my hustle on. Shortly after sending these out, I got booked for a couple jobs with local agencies. None of them had received the promos yet. I do feel that getting the cards out there had something to do with getting these jobs. I have learned a lot from this first mailer, for example how they can reach a bigger audience just by sending one to Rob. Also, sending good photos and vibes out into the universe can never hurt.

Andrew Kornylak

Who printed it?
Universal Printing in Durham, NC

Who designed it? Who edited the images?
Peter Dennen of Pedro+Jackie guided the edit and design of this piece.

How many did you make?
150

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I try to stick to e-promos once a month through Yodelist and a twice-yearly print promo.

How did this project come about?
The “Southern Climbers” portraits came from a personal series I shot during the 2014 season of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series. It’s the largest outdoor climbing competition in the country and spans three events over three months every autumn in the Southeast US. I’ve been competing in and shooting at these competitions since 1996, and it’s kind of a crossroads of the Southern climbing scene with big name international climbers who migrate through every year. I painted a series of backdrops that I could lug around the cliffs with a bunch of lights and a pile of film and digital cameras. I made portraits of hundreds of climbers, spectators, vendors, and a biker gang who showed up for the fellowship and free beer. Climber and photographer Erik Danielson was instrumental in making this big setup work and making the light sing every time.

Peter Dennen of Pedro+Jackie edited the project down to something that would fit in a 12-page booklet. We went with a very simple design. I proofed it using an inkjet printer myself and Universal Printing in Durham did a superb job matching these proofs to the final 4-color booklet.

Tuan Lee

Who printed it?
I printed with Jennifer O’Neill at Marina Graphics. Very experienced and supportive throughout the entire process.

Who designed it?
David Hsia, a design director here in LA and happens to my buddy.

Who edited the images?
David and I did the final edit together, but I did consider some input from some consultants.

How many did you make?
I printed 500.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I do one substantial promo like this piece once a year. Then I’ll send out single sheet promos as support and as new work gets created.

Tell us about the pacing of the promo.
Well, there is an easter egg built into the design of this promo. If you notice, its not blinded. Yes, it flips like a traditional book, but its also a series of double sided posters! And they keep their relationships together either way, sports or traditional fashion. (Although, there are two spreads that are exceptions.) That way my audience can select what they want. And we wanted to show how much thought and planning went into this. The hope is that it’s associated with how much thought and process I put into my work.

Tom Hussey

Who printed it?
I printed the images in house on a really nice feeling Red River paper.

Who designed it?
The concept for the promo series came from my Producer, Patty Hudson and I.  The envelope design is by Craig Carl and the copy is by Diane Carl.

Who edited the images?
I did.

How many did you make?
 Each “Mini Promo” is limited to an edition printing of 450.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
We send things out twelve times a year of various types and various quantities.

Why did you choose to do a mini print? I enjoyed how something so small could have such a large impact.
As the size of the standard cubical shrinks in the ad agency world, we thought it would be good to send a Mini promo.  I thought if we sent a really nicely printed, and yet smaller size piece of art, it would offer the creatives an opportunity to have a Mini gallery of my work.  That’s what it’s all about . . . keeping my brand in front of creatives and giving them something special and beautiful to look at.

Meredith Jenks

Who printed it?
NOVA in Brooklyn. It’s nice because I can actually go to the press check. I’ve been printing my promos there for the last three years. Michael Artale is my contact, he is super patient and easy to work with.

Who designed it?
My studio mate Kristian Henson. He designed my promo last year too. I like working with him because I don’t feel shy telling him if something isn’t quite working and he takes my input and makes it even better.

Who edited the images?
Kristian and I worked on the edit together. I wanted to showcase some of my quieter work. People know me for poppy energetic photos so I wanted to show a bit of the other side in this piece.

How many did you make?
2000

How many times a year do you send out promos?
1 big piece a year and sometimes, additionally, I’ll send a postcard. My agency apostrophe makes a couple promo pieces a year as well.

Have you seen direct feedback from your promos?
Last year I did a poster and got direct feedback in that I was rewarded an ad job because the art buyer received my promo and had it on her wall. That client hired me 3 times over the course of last year so the cost of that promo was paid for many times over. It is scary to spend that much money on something not knowing whether anyone is going to look at it at all, but I definitely believe in the saying “you have to spend money to make money”.

Kevin Arnold

Who printed it?
It was printed by Hemlock Printers in Vancouver.

Who designed it?
Peter Ladd, who’s is a partner in Pendo Creative in Vancouver. I also worked with them on creating my new identity and website last year as well as the little photo man.

Who edited the images?
The promo grew out of me wanting to use the inside image. Peter and I did an initial edit on the additional images, and then I looped in my wife, Brooke. She is my go-to editor for portfolios and promos. Not only does she have a great eye for editing, but she also understands who I am and what I’m about as a photographer (sometimes better than I do myself).  She is amazing at being very honest with me if an image just doesn’t cut it. I can’t say I’m always as amazing at taking that advice, but between us the edits usually balance out perfectly.

How many did you make?
We sent out 500 to a select list of people that I really want to work with. I might do a second run of another 500 because it was so well received.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
It’s not always consistent, but I try to get something out twice a year.

How did this promo develop?
This was a fun promo because the concept for the promo grew out of an image I wanted to use rather than the other way round. More typically, one would create a promo and then select the images for it. I shot the inside photo of my friend Shea sitting in a redwood, when we were working together in California last year. I’ve always really liked it personally, but it wasn’t until much later that I decided to include it in my portfolio. As soon as I did it started to really resonate with people. My rep, Cynthia Held, was on the road showing my book in New York and Chicago, and she called me up right after that trip to tell me how much people were responding to that particular image. I knew I wanted to put it out there more and also knew I wanted it to be bigger than a typical postcard image. Something people might hold onto for a bit. The other images used in the promo were shot while I was doing a series of personal work in Tofino, British Columbia, so it’s a very personal promo overall. In the past, I’ve usually shown more client work on my promos because they are going out to potential clients.  I love this new promo because it turns that idea on it’s head. I’m interested right now in showing work that truly reflects who I am, what I love to shoot, and where I’m headed. I want my potential clients to see that work up front because I want them to be inspired by it and then collaborate with me to create something in the same vein for the clients.