SELF PROMOTION.

Self promotion can either make or break first impressions of an artist, so with this in mind, I intend on making some killer work to take down to London with me next month. I've done a brief bit of research into what other creative folk are doing and I particularly liked the hand made looking bits. Rather then just printing out my work in a zine or some other form of publication, I think I'm going to make some sort of pack, almost like a more 3D envelope out of thick card. Almost like the format of Don't Panic! but a sturdier packaging. It's also going to be another form of transport for my business cards as well, so I'm hoping if they're encased in a slick, hand made package that looks like its taken time to make, people might be less likely to just throw it in the bin. I hope. A few weeks back I read an article on Creative Review (I can't find it to put on here so it must have expired) that had a list of design based cv's and business cards, specialising on how to makes yours stand out against the rest. It featured some brilliant ones by post-graduates, one in particular that I remember that unfolded to make a poster of a print. The net used was dead simple, but looked really well thought about and pretty innovative that stood out to me as being a memorable piece of design. I'm aiming to hopefully achieve this myself in whatever I decide on making.

With this in mind, I've been trying out some rough designs in Illustrator (haven't used in a lifetime and can tell) to see what sort of layout I want to go for. I think I'm going to try and keep it reasonably compact and stick to a print size of A6 so it's not too bulky. Playing with layout and type arrangement has been a refreshing change from the norm that I've really enjoyed doing. Differing from the usual illustration based work, it's made me think about how I could apply the two together and apply my work to packaging amongst other 3D items. I like the idea of it all folding/unfolding together to reveal some text, perhaps a short bio or something which I intend to screen print onto the card itself. I need to have a look at what sort of material is going to work best for me and what I can realistically afford, which isn't loads.

I've seen a couple of places online that offer reasonably cheap laser cutting services, so it could be an option for me to get the packs cut professionally, cost dependent. This could be really beneficial and save me a lot of time with the scalpel if I can get score lines cut with a big laser beam. Some of the studios also have the technology to engrave using lasers as well but I presume that depends on the depth of the material used and more specifically, what the material is. These are all things I need to look into pretty promptly as I want to get it done and dusted asap really. I'm pretty excited to be making something to hand out as I haven't really touched on self promo much other then my site. If all goes to plan I think it could look really professional and play in my favor with potential clients. I just need to make some decisions now and crack on making.