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Many professional logos are developed through the combination and manipulation of letterforms — called a lettermark. These logos are typically made up of a person’s (or company’s) initials or first letter. As a designer, it’s challenging to limit oneself to two letterforms alone and still create a distinctive and meaningful logo. To do so, one often has to abstract the letterforms themselves and/or

The use of newsprint is a favorite medium for promos with many photographers. It’s a great format to work with – light, large-scale surface for images and it’s multi-page. This one from photographer Winnie Au is sure to win over clients and fans. Winnie sent out 300 tubes, which is certainly a significant mailing! Check out the teaser video. Check out the video.

There are few professions for which one’s means of self-promotion is more scrutinized and judged than in the creative industries. Which means you’ve got to have the work and find the best means of showing it off in order to make a name for yourself. With that in mind, check out this great looking magazine promo from architecture photographer, Joshua Dool. The magazine format will resonate with clients and

When you hand-craft your own book you have many more possibilities literally at your fingertips. When it comes to your book, there are many ways to enhance the viewing of your work considering both scale and sequence. For instance a right or left gatefold can open out and extend the length of the page for larger images or a triptych. A pop-up can add a clever bit of surprise. In this example from designer/architect,

We do some of our best work for clients. And of course we use this work to promote ourselves when it shows up in our portfolio. Sometimes though you can turn a client project into a promo all on it’s on. That’s exactly what photographer, Cade Martin did recently with the TAZO boxes he shot gorgeous imagery for. He got some great press and props for it too. Cade told me, “Here are the TAZO boxes from

This sounds like such a great organization to contribute to. Noah Webb told me, “I am happy to share with you a charity I believe in called Art of Elysium. I donated a print to the charity auction [recently].” Also check out: http://paddle8.com/auctions/theartofelysium

On the first day of spring I wanted to celebrate color (even while it’s still grey here in New England). This portfolio by animator and illustrator, Dylan Glynn was a perfect choice. Dylan was born and raised in Toronto and is a graduate of Sheridan College’s Animation program. Color, pattern and superb craftsmanship bring this portfolio to life. It’s a breath of fresh air. Dylan told me, “The organ

Benjamin Flynn is a photographer, currently studying at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. He’s set to graduate in August. And yet, he’s already thinking about his marketing and self-promotion. He’s already active in a professional world where the commercial market for young people is, let’s face it – tough to break into. Ben sent out 60 promo packages to different art directors,

Often I’m talking about the outside of one’s portfolio – the cover design, brand, etc. Today, let’s talk about the most important part – the work inside. The prints in your portfolio have got to look top quality to really do your work justice. This is super crucial for photographers. I recommend you print yourself as you’ll have more control over the final output quality. Of course

Your portfolio should be a well considered strategic positioning of your work. As Larry Volk (my co-author) puts it, “Creating a sequence for a portfolio of your works, even if they are varied by type of design or media, can contribute to a stronger, cohesive presentation. Just as with a sequence of photographs, the relationships within a page spread, as well as the pace and flow of your sequence, are not somet

Giving a gift is special. The winter months give us lots of opportunities with Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s, Valentine’s, and more. It gives us a good reason to show off that other kind of gift – ie “one’s natural ability or talent.” Of course talent only shines through with hard work and determination. Often this is true of promos as well – a good idea alone means nothing

Just in time for our presentation at SPE, I’ve been working on a promo poster to announce the 2nd edition of our book and also promote the website. The concept plays off of the “No” in “No Plastic Sleeves” and is a Yes/No flowchart that essentially follows the process as outlined in our book. It started with an idea on paper, evolved through whiteboaring and lots of Photoshop/Illustrator

This postcard promo for Nashville editorial photographer Josh Anderson really shines. Literally and figuratively. A gold foil stamp on one card shines in the light and is a nice special touch. But the thing that I most admired about this promo is the integration of typography and image into a unique, contemporary and stylish design. It’s a design aesthetic that not only looks great but also speaks to the “

This holiday promo from photographer Ashley Gieseking is sure to cheer most folks. Holidays are a great time to reach out and connect with old and new friends and clients.

When I saw this promo, I just had to reach out to Swedish photographer Jens Lennartsson. Luckily, he had heard of No Plastic Sleeves and been to the site. So he was happy to have me share it. This idea is certainly unique and seriously well executed and it also generated a lot of buzz online (which is how I heard of it). Time will tell whether the action figure or the buzz it created generates more leads. Jens had 40

When photographer Chris Sembrot set out to create his latest promo he set the bar pretty high – “keep costs low, be visually interesting and make it so great that it would be difficult to throw out.” He knows from his previous experience as an art buyer that it takes a little extra something special for an art buyer or art director to actually hold onto a promo. Melissa Hennessey told me – 

Fun promo from photographer, Brook Pifer. Newsprint is a great idea for a mailer. It’s a larger, multi-sequence format, less expensive to print, folds up great for mailing and lighter to ship. Mixing in the hashtag merges the “old” media of newspaper with the “new” media of social networking. Great way to keep things fresh. Brook told me, “I’ve been inspired by how instagram

These color themed promos from PlainPicture, a photo agency based in Hamburg, Germany, are eye-catching while still remaining minimal in their design approach. The promos focus on the agency’s “unusual and unexpected” photography while still grouping imagery around a common theme.   Aaron Vähi told me - The design of our print advertising / promotions is usually reduced and minimal as to put as

This promo from lifestyle and portrait photographer, Eli Meir Kaplan promotes a very cool project he’s doing on soul musicians from DC called Soul51. The packaging and cover design of this booklet really makes it a stand out. Eli told me, “I’m a big fan of soul music and music in general and I’ve often wondered what happened to the artists whose records I would see in stores but didn’t b

This undergrad portfolio book from designer, Andrea Meli from San Gwann, Malta has it all! It’s a showcase for Andrea’s strong brand design skills, excellent book and editorial design, and more. He even includes a 3D printed rendering of his logo (created in Cinema4D) – very cool! With business cards and a website Andrea is ready to take the design world by storm. Andrea says, “I had one goal;