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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

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

Photographer Sarah Lim made her most recent portfolio book herself. Making a book is an art unto itself and as with most art forms you either enjoy that process or you don’t. Clearly it also requires a certain level of skill and patience. All of which will show in the end result. The best hand crafted books are a labor of love. Sarah’s unique book is a nice example of craftsmanship and the pride she takes

Wow! What a special promo this is from Canadian photographer Dan Bannister. It’s just one of a kind. Definitely a promotional piece for a few select clients that you really want to impress. I imagine these sitting on the desk of quite a few agency creative directors. It’s a reminder everyday of the unique vision, exceptional skills and creative mind that Dan has to offer. So, while probably on the more ex

When I received an email from photographer Marshall Troy sharing his summer promotion, I was blown away by how nice it was! Troy said, “To get into the spirit of summer, the idea was to send a ‘picnic basket’ to some dream clients that work with food – magazines, ad agencies, brands, reps, etc. We sent out about 12. We had boxes custom made to look like picnic baskets, inside and out, and then

This is an impressive first promotion from photographer Brandon Haynes. With a specific target audience in mind (editorial and music/entertainment based clients), he was smart to chose a concept for his magazine – “Light v Dark.” The theme helped to frame the work and provide a cohesive context for the sequence of images that ranged over several bodies of work. But Brandon’s promo package does

This smartly designed newspaper/magazine features some of Chris and Sarah Rhoads‘ favorite work. Type and image work beautifully together in this striking layout. Extra consideration with a gold foil deboss on the cover and the inclusion of perforated leave behind cards really make this a stand out promo. Sarah says, “The promo we sent out this year was an oversized newspaper/magazine hybrid at 15″

Photographer, Nate Luke‘s “Musky Old School” promo is a great example of a promo that captures a “look and feel” created through specific visual references along with copy that together draws you in. This piece thoughtfully brings together image, typography, texture and form in a well considered promo piece that takes you along on a journey into the the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Nate says

Your logo design is a graphic representation or symbol of your professional self. It should be used consistently across your promotional and business materials as an identifying mark. Logos can be more or less specific to a particular subject, industry, aesthetic style and of course one’s name. The strongest logos are meaningful and versatile, holding up across medium, format and varying sizes. A professional l

Celebrating spring, photographer Shelby Duncan‘s DIY promo package catches the eye – right from the get go with the use of clear plastic envelopes. This creative and smart idea gets you to the lush, colorful image right away, tempting one to see more! The use of text combined with the image (as an incomplete sentence cropped off the card) also helps to lead one on to the next image. Nice concept! Shelby t

Photographer Sean Sprague gives us a promo that mocks itself and the whole idea of sending promos. It certainly raises questions and challenges the system of self-promotion. Sean says, “I’m not a big self-promoter and have been frustrated with getting work seen by art directors. I have sent out fine art prints, postcards and booklets with some success, but not overwhelming. So when it came time to do anot

Photographer Adam Jones just rebranded himself and got a new logo from Kevin Fenton Design. He’s got a whole new site, cards from moo prints, mini portfolio books he made himself and more. This redesign touches all the points of a portfolio package from portfolio book to online presence and promotional materials. Everything is well thought out and integrated into the same visual look and feel. The logo has a co

Many of you have probably never done a promo before and are reluctant to take on something more costly and time consuming. So, start simple. An effective promo can be as basic as a postcard. For example, check out photographer Marcus Smith‘s new (and first) promo. With great imagery and a short contextual message these postcards do the job! Marcus told me, During football season this past winter, I was approach

It’s so important to stay in touch. A holiday or new project presents a great opportunity to create a meaningful promotion to remind people of what you can do. For holiday promos, try not to get too cliché and instead create something that reflects who you are. For example, check this out. Photographer Lee Love sent this promo to key potential advertising and editorial clients for Valentine’s.   

In the creative fields, it always helps to love what you do. There’s no better way to express that feeling than with personal work. And it can make for some strong promotional material. For example, check out this new series by photographer Josh Kohanek entitled, “The Painted Desert“. Josh says, “Lately the intention has been to produce imagery I’d continue to shoot even if it meant another so

I really enjoyed this portfolio for los angeles based lifestyle photographer, Bryan Alano. Unique material choice, great craft and attention to detail. The denim makes this a real stand out and it’s meaningful and relevant – saying much more than your standard portfolio cover. It makes me want to see the work inside even more! Bryan took a risk doing something different and I think it really pays off. Wit

Is your portfolio of the traditional big, bulky, leather bound kind? It’s probably really impressive to view in person. But expensive to make multiple versions of and not so great to target specific folks and mail out. Enter the era of online, print-on-demand services. I’m most familiar with Lulu, Magcloud, and Blurb. Many of these services have greatly improved their color management solutions within the

It’s always a good idea to create a promo that’s entertaining and interesting to look at. If you can make that promo something people would actually keep around and use – well that gets you bonus points. Case in point, check out photographer Jonathan Hanson‘s 2013 Calendar. Jonathan says, “In September I made a post asking readers to choose between the two layouts below for my January ma

Fun Valentine’s promo created by Alaska House on behalf of Big Leo and photographer Melissa Punch. Love their concept that plays off of Melissa’s last name. And the image really stands out and is perfectly modern, edgy and fun for the holiday. Alaska House says, Its hard not to fall in love when a client comes to you and says ‘So I’ve got this image, lets think of something to do with it.’ With Valentines