PROMO: The art of making a postcard, part 1.

Well, this week is all about sending out what may be the most cost effective promotion ever: the postcard. I’ll start out by talking about how to design one today, and then Thursday’s post will be all about getting it printed, where to go, and how to send them out.

First off, the postcard is a very simple yet effective way to get art directors to see your work printed. A postcard is small, tangible, and while you may not hear right away from an AD, that doesn’t mean that they didn’t keep it. I’ve had quite a few jobs pop up where art directors were just waiting for the right job to use me…So there’s that. You must be aware of the whole situation though– because they’re so easy to send, and cost effective, almost EVERYBODY sends them out. And unlike a portfolio where you have the ability to show a variety of styles or work, postcards have only so much space to share your artwork. So if I can impart anything to you, it’s that you must treat each mailing with care; think of each postcard as a first impression with your potential client. You want to give a clear view of your work, and you want to impress your art director.

- When I make postcards, I typically create new art for the purpose. Part of this is because I don’t often work to the right size of a postcard, but most of it is that it gives me an excuse to work on personal illustrations and really come up with an interesting image for the mailing. (In case you’re curious, I have the last three postcard images here, here, and here; you’ll notice that I’ve been sticking to a vertical layout lately, but obviously you can do a horizontal layout too)

-If you have a piece of strong published work, go for it. Technically, you can put more than one image on a postcard, to give art directors a variety of samples, though I haven’t. Why not? Well, my artwork tends to have a lot going on in the images, so if I were to shrink an image down and add a few more, I think it would just look visually complicated and would lose interest in my illustrations. But look at your illustrations- shrink them down, play with them. Do they look better larger? If they’re a bit less complicated than mine, you’re probably in the clear with using two or more. However, remember that if you’re working more than one image on a front, try and make them complement each other, and design the card so that each piece is showcased and not overpowered.

-Don’t go into it blindly. Do your research and find the company that you want to use, and pay attention to their templates and sizes. Postcards are funny because they’re not ‘quite’ standardized– some places do 4×6 cards, some do 4.25×6, and so on…. But not only that, you need to realize that the cards will have bleed space (extra runoff of the image that will be trimmed when printed), and this is also why I work a new image each time- it gives me the control to figure out what the trim space is, and keep all the vital information within the print area, so it looks just the way it needs to. Granted, I’m more paranoid about my artwork than some, but I want it to look just right.
- Ask your friends for critical comments, or other illustrators. When you think about it, this may be the first time an art director sees your work- so you might want to get the critiques of your compatriots to see what they feel when they see the image. If it looks interesting, they’ll tell you, but if it has problems that’ll help too. Of course, an art director is in a very different position- they are looking at your postcard versus a billion others a day, so they will probably spend much less time looking at it. But if you feel less than confident about designing a card, asking for help is a good idea.

-Don’t forget the back- there’s ample opportunity to show an art director your design sensibility without throwing a whole other image on there. Case in point: my most recent postcard’s back ties in pretty nicely with the front, but isn’t a whole separate illo. Depending on where you order from, you can often get a 4/4 color card (if you’re not in the know: 4/4 means the number of process colors on each side. If there are 4- that means full color. If you see 4/1, that means that the front is full color and the back is black) for not much more than a 4/1. My first postcard was pretty typical; horizontal layout, an alright image, black back, computer fonts with my contact info on it….and it was okay, and just that. Now that I look at it, I don’t hate it, but it’s, as a good friend would term it, ‘pedestrian.’ The color helps, but the more I make these things the more I notice what works better.

- There are rules! They’re all over the place, but the first thing I found was this link on Modern Postcard’s site about regulations. Namely: the post office needs the bottom 5/8″ of the back of a card for barcodes. It can’t be any darker than 7% grayscale. Kind of a pain, I know. Also suspect, although I am dubious of this because I know I’ve sent them out before, are cards with rounded corners. Supposedly the US Postal Service does not cotton to this, but I’ve sent two batches of cards out with rounded corners, so I’m not sure how true this is, but it’s something to think about.

-What should you put on the back of your card? All your pertinent contact info. Name, website, print address, email address, phone number… unless you’re wary about the last one, in which case you can omit it. Still, some art directors prefer the phone, so it might be best to keep it on there. You might also want to put the information about the image on the front- I stopped doing this after postcard one, but some people like to do it.

-How often should you send cards? Well, I try to send three or four out a year; kind of seasonally. You could send out ones for holidays, but I’m not super-into that (though I am tempted to make a Dia de los Muertos card this year); but it’s good to get new clients and remind old ones that you’re still around.

-And most of all, don’t get discouraged. Sometimes you’ll get a bunch of bites, sometimes only one… So far, I have steadily increased in new clients the more I send them out; my first card netted me one job and one rejection postcard, which led to me making a humorous rebuttal to the whole affair. But just keep at it and you’ll get work. As my illustration prof, the ever fantastic C.L Deibler, mentioned to us back in school, illustration is not entirely about talent. There are some mediocre illustrators out there and some excellent ones, but the mediocre ones can still get work if they’re persistent. Persistence will get you work, so just keep at it.

On Thursday I’ll go into some of the companies I’ve used, what I hear’s good, etc. Till then!

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PS: As an unrelated yet shameless plug, Beasts!, the stupendous book curated by Jacob Covey at Fantagraphics is available for purchase on their site now. Tons of awesome talent contributed monsters to the book, and I did as well. I believe Amazon should have it in another week or so? Check it out when you can, you won’t be disappointed.

PROMO: Art directors redux

First off, I must thank EVERYONE for the super enthusiastic response I’ve gotten. With just one day’s blogging, I’ve gotten great support; I’ve been on WordPress’ list of 100 most popular blogs, been linked up to the other great illustration resource sites, and gotten a slew of really positive and helpful comments. So thanks must go out to the fine people at Drawn!, Illustration Mundo, and The Little Chimp Society for linking me up and giving me some support in this early stage of the game, but I’m really grateful to everyone who’s reading! It makes me feel good to know that this is actually an idea that might help people out and help me learn about some things in the process.

Not to belabor the point though. I planned to start a new topic today, but after the last post I got some really insightful ideas and remembered a few other things I can mention that might also help your search for clients. So, without further ado, a sequel!

1. Check your peers. Hopefully this will not be unkosher to mention, but illustrators can greatly benefit from illustrators, just with common knowledge. If you’re like me you know a slew of hypertalented and successful artists, or at least know of them. Most illustrators make mention of their client list for art directors, either in their bio or a resume. But that list can be used for illustrators as well! If I feel like I could see my work being fit into a somewhat similar category as theirs, I’ll seek out their client list if they’ve got one posted. While sometimes it takes a bit of searching, I utilize altpick.com in this way, because I notice a lot of illustrators post their client list in their profile. After I seek out the clients, I start googling and find the websites and art directors as before. I’ve found a lot of potential clients I never heard of this way; especially some of the smaller industry magazines. If you have friends who are illustrators, they might like to share sources as well; if I work with an AD I think could really like a friend’s style, I’ll mention to the illustrator that source, and vice versa. I suppose in some way that’s giving other people an edge, but despite this being a business I know it can have payoffs in the long run.

2. Don’t underestimate Adbase. In my last post, I mentioned I don’t use it because I don’t have the money to lay that down right now. But as people commented, they’re actually useful and great if you want to save time and get clients all in one swoop. If you don’t have the time to deal with managing your mailing list, it’s a good service. At this stage in the game though, I actually enjoy seeking out new clients and it helps me let my brain take a break from drawing, so I am fine with the more DIY methods!

3. From Stan Shaw: “Ask for referrals from Art Directors. If you contact one, you can ask for the name of a few others. This has a few hidden benefits as it starts a network of who you know and who you know that you know that knows you. Plus, you may find that certain AD’s are sort of illustrator hubs and turn out to be great resources.” This is really key and something I definitely never considered, but art directors don’t hide in the dark; they have professional clubs just like illustrators do, and so there’s a good chance your art director can help suggest someone else who might like your work. I’d bet this would work better on an AD you start cultivating a good working relationship with; and this is also why it’s important to do your best work and stay on top of the game– besides giving you names, that AD might recommend you to others. Stan also has a great post on his blog entitled The Rules of Art Direction; I highly advise you to read it and get some perspective on how your art director works.

4. Sugar of the Lint Museum suggested a really cool resource I hadn’t heard of til now: mastheads.org. They collect mastheads from all sorts of magazines (the count is 325+, which is more than my mailing list entirely right now) and for a small fee you can access them. But the part I like best? If you submit a masthead they don’t have, they give you a month’s free access! Since I typically update my mailing list every few months, this works perfect for me. From what I can see of the couple of sample mastheads, this is really useful for all people seeking to get work with a magazine- illustrators, writers, editors, photographers, etc. They also have a nice set of tips for submitting to magazines; although it’s written for writers the lessons are still pretty key. And if you feel like being a little more luddite, they have a book with all the listings in there (but given how art directors seem to change often enough, I think I’ll stick to the screen version).

5. Ask your friends with degrees. My first big paying job was from Brown University; but I didn’t go to Brown. Their alumni magazine hired me for a quite fun assignment, which leads me to this point: college alumni magazines can be well paying and have some really fun art direction. I have more trouble seeking out art directors online for these magazines, but you probably know quite a few people who went to college. If they did, chances are they get a magazine (I know my alma mater sends me a slew of ‘em) to tell them what’s going on and all. Not all use illustration, but quite a few do at least for one feature) and if your pals are willing to hand over an issue or two instead of tossing them in the trash you’ll be much better off.

That’s about all for now, but check in on Thursday; the topic will be about putting together portfolios (if you have any tips you’d like to share, as always please drop me a line!). Stay awesome.

PROMO: Art directors’ contact information

The most common question I get is: do I need a mailing list? How do you know who to send promo material to?

There’s a variety of things you can do; you can drop some money down on a mailing list; there are places like Adbase that give you a bunch of addresses. I hear they’re helpful, but at this point I am on a tight budget so I haven’t gotten to test it out for myself more than a test trial. My methods are more guerrilla, but they’re free and effective– I do mailings of about 200-300 different art directors, record companies, and ad agencies, and that number’s always growing.

Option 1: Scour!
If you can find a library with an art/design section (colleges are good for this) or an art supply store that doesn’t frown on you reading their material, try and pick up the most recent edition of Print magazine’s regional design annual. Inside is a treasure trove of graphic art from magazines, design firms, and newspapers (among other things), listed by region, with art directors and client names. They don’t do all the work for you though; you’ve got to plug in the clients or art directors into google or phone around to get the addresses, but this is a great opportunity to find a lot in one place. It’s especially good for finding ad agencies and design firms, which I’ve found pretty tricky to find otherwise.

Option 2: Loiter!

Your local giganto-bookstore, while perhaps a blight against mom and pop bookshops, are actually pretty helpful for illustrators. Why? Their magazine sections are very handy, and you most likely will not get bothered about sitting and not buying an issue. (Seriously, I’ve spent two or three hours in their section without spending a dime, and the most I ever got a was someone asking if I needed help.) All you need is a notebook and some paper (or some digital method I suppose); sit down with some magazines, flip through and see if anything looks like it’d go for your style of work. If so, find the masthead (in the front usually) and find the address and art director. Easy!

But what if you’re stuck in front of a computer all day? You can still find names!

Option 3: Google!

The internet is especially handy for getting addresses for local and foreign publications. Start at your city’s local culture weekly site– most of these have mastheads online, usually under the ‘about us’ or ‘contact us’ pages, though sometimes they have a masthead link. After you find one, look on the bottom of the site– often these papers are linked together– the Village Voice owns many other papers, for example. Same with daily papers, just look for their websites and try and find the mastheads. You can also look for magazines you know off the top of your head, though I won’t guarantee they post their mastheads online.

Option 4: Etc!

Any time I see a paper or magazine, I instinctively pick it up now. If you’re at a friend’s house, check out their coffee table. If you’re at a hair salon, check their reading/waiting area. And if you’re flying, check the inflight magazines. Many of them use some really great illustration!

That’s a pretty decent start, but you get the idea. There are tons of places to go, and you don’t need to throw down a lot of money to start sending promotional materials out. I suspect when you can afford it, those services can be pretty useful, but don’t think you can’t start promoting yourself because you can’t afford to yet! Just don’t forget to keep your list up to date– call art directors, check magazines.. otherwise you’ll be getting a few return to sender mailers!