By Alan Matthews
As all of us are watching what we spend these days and I am no exception. Marketing is crucial to getting our work in front of those who hire us so we can't ignore it. For those of us who are budget concious but want something tangible to send to a potential client we can always do-it-yourself which is what I did recently.
I must admit that while I am creative in photography I'm not terribly "crafty" which is what seems necessary for creating DIY promos. It took a long time to figure out how to create this idea. I wanted to be able to print my own 5x7's on Moab paper and bind them somehow and mail to art buyers. An advantage to this is that I can create different books for different audiences. Recently, I mailed the promo you see below to a record label art buyer with just images that would be relevant to musicians and his business. I wouldn't want to send an image of a mom and daughter laughing together in the kitchen because he doesn't work with advertisers.
I cut black 12"x12" chipboard into 5"x7" sizes for the front and back of the book but wanted my logo to show instead of being all black. I tried to use a hand-held circle die cut from the craft store but it wouldn't cut through the thick chipboard. I wound up in the hardware section of Lowe's finding a fine tooth hole saw for my drill (see the picture). This is not ideal and I will change it up because the edges aren't as crisp as I want. After the front and back were cut and my prints were done I sandwhiched them together and drilled 2 holes all the way through in order to use screwposts (http://www.screwpost.com/) to bind it all together. I later added a paper strip using thick premium printer paper on which I designed my logo and name for a final touch. I just used double-sided tape to hold it together where the strip met the other end on the back.
I believe I will continue to improve on this idea but I like the flexibility that I can create it myself. One day this week I created 3 additional promos like this one (except I did use clear plastic sheet for the front) in about 3 hours from printing (12 prints each book) to completion. Have fun out there!
