self-promo
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- identity
done with my contract here in Florida - need to find a job. I want to put together something special to send out to a select few shops, but am a bit low in the "inspiration" dept. Any good examples of self-promo you could post would be REALLY appreciated. I saw there were some agency self-promo threads, but I'm really looking to see how other INDIVIDUAL designers have tackled this problem?
- baseline_shift0
- damn thats awesomeinstrmntl
- yeah - his work is very cool! love this piece!identity
- great stuff.akrokdesign
- Fantastic... Every time I want to do a brochure/psoter I show the boss this one. He loves it, but he's yet to give me the greenlight - daft bastard!Amicus
- man that's sweet. I wonder how much he spent...OSFA
- cha-chingBaskerviIle
- Sorry, just realised you posted this and have done the same below.fodcj
- Scotch_Roman0
On my website, look under Portfolio > Self-initiated. I wrote/designed/illustrated this book called Macro:Micro several years ago. There are many things I'd do differently with it now, but the fact is that it got very strong results: seven interviews in ten days and three job offers.
- nice promo book! what did something like that cost to have printed? or did you do that yourself too?identity
- there's that linking problem i had mentionedversion3
- That was a nice piece. :)CGN
- tell you what v3, how about you pay me to put in swf addressing?skt
- no thanks, but i will hand you a tissue ;)version3
- *hands skt a tissueversion3
- ah bloody hell v3. It's just fine for a Flash portfolio. When I've got $10k in my pocket to update the site, I'll ask skt to furnish your damn links.Scotch_Roman
- furnish your damn links.Scotch_Roman
- no ill will here, just re-commenting this situation
http://www.qbn.com/t…version3 - why you two act like i talk down to either of you will always baffle meversion3
- I don't get the sense that you're talking down, it's just that you seem to get stuck on a subject.Scotch_Roman
- I find that frustrating, to be frank.Scotch_Roman
- its not talking down, you just don't know when to leave something, like you always have to be more right than everybody else.kelpie
- else. Not my business, but I've noticed it on this many times and the attitude behind has even pissed me offkelpie
- that is one slick website. love it!polly_pocket
- well, kelpie, scotch, you're both probably right, but it motivated me
http://pxl2.in.pxl2.…version3
- OSFA0
I always liked that one...
- Scotch_Roman0
identity, to answer your questions...
I printed 100 booklets (I think it's 24 pp.), plain ol' saddle stitched, on Mohawk Superfine 80# cover / 80# text. For the low quantity I went with a digital printer who has HP Indigo presses. Indigo presses are hands-down the best short-run digital presses around. They use liquid ink, which yields the best results especially on uncoated, because the ink sinks into the sheet rather than sitting on top, which is what happens with dry ink printers like Xeroxes.
I think it cost me around $2,000. Not cheap, but it paid off.
Email me if you want a PDF.
- they're great!OSFA
- who did you send them too to get that much attention?Machuse
- ^^Machuse
- Everyone from Sagmeister to Fitch to Design Army... a lot of people. Mostly design studios.Scotch_Roman
- I also did a run of stationery, and sent letters out with the books. My letterhead was printed gray and fluo orange.Scotch_Roman
- I found a fluorescent marker that matched the orange color and used it to sign my name on letters.Scotch_Roman
- Looking back, the effect was a bit pretentious. I was going through a mild obsession with fluorescence.Scotch_Roman
- did any of the big ones replied? What was the feedback you got from the studios that contacted you?OSFA
- Great input, SR!_salisae_
- still have my copy. too bad it ain't signed!jaylarson
- monospaced0
I did something similar to Scotch_Roman here, but only had twenty printed. Small format, simple, digital printing. Closer to a book than a strict portfolio, but still specific. It does a lot of the work for you if you prepare it correctly and I highly recommend it.
- Mine wasn't a folio either. It was a conceptual essay that I sent out with a poster and a letter.Scotch_Roman
- The poster functioned as a mini-portfolio. Too bad it was crap.Scotch_Roman
- sublocked0
oh wait i read this as "self porno" my bad :(
- Stugoo0
promote something you love.
http://stugoo.co.uk/maketea/- the jury is still famously out on your method there Stu, if you remember correctly ;)kelpie
- noticed a typo, 2. Sort the mugs, paragraph 2, should be "top" of the teabagchris_himself
- However I was still able to make great tea...chris_himself
- sirs this but one method! i am in progress of creating a more interactive experience!Stugoo
- p.s thanks for the typo spotStugoo
- Scotch_Roman0
OSFA asks: "did any of the big ones reply? What was the feedback you got from the studios that contacted you?"
Yes, I think I sent out about 40 books to design firms. Most of them replied. About a week after I did the first mailing, I got a nice email from Stefan Sagmeister. He said he wasn't hiring at the time, but that he enjoyed my promo and would keep it handy for the future.
Two years later, he emailed me again because he was looking for someone to hire on a one-year contract basis, just until his next year off without clients. He said I was one of a handful of people being considered. He ended up hiring a former intern of his who was already in NYC, but I was honored to even be considered.
I got great feedback from Fitch in Seattle (interviewed there, but no job offer); Factor Design in SF (same story); Design Army in DC (interviewed there, and according to them barely lost the job to someone else who was local); Catalone Design in Bethesda (they offered me a job but I chose Kuhlmann Leavitt here in STL instead); nice compliments but no interview from Attik NYC; a number of other firms got in touch to say they liked the piece and weren't hiring but would keep the book handy.
About two years ago a director at a SF agency contacted me out of the blue for a project, said he'd gotten my name from someone @ Attik. I turned it down b/c I had a full-time job then... man I really wish I hadn't said no. It could've been huge. Can't even remember the guy's name now... ah well.
- Also got a very nice response from Kit Hinrichs @ Pentagram.Scotch_Roman
- fodcj0
Amazing self promotion/CV/resume:
- timeline.........Scotch_Roman
- ^Scotch_Roman
- Yeah sorry, realised after I posted it.fodcj
- uberdesigner0
dick in a box