Promo Pack Research and Concepts

This post is an update on everything I've been preparing for my promo pack, looking at different solutions and sourcing inspiration from zines and Pinterest, seeing how information can be displayed creatively. I love researching how people cut out sections and use origami techniques to create distinctive booklet shapes, straying away from the formal A4 CV.

Creative CV

Recently I've been thinking of how to produce a creative CV. We did some in a workshop a few weeks ago with each page representing a personal trait or icon such as your house number, keys, or favourite animal but I wanted to rethink this concept using information from my actual CV. Since a lot of my work focuses on publishing I wanted it to read like a book, either as a short zine or a smaller handbound book with children's, commercial and sketchbook spreads in between pages of text. This way I could incorporate personality while giving the client the necessary information, informing them about my practice and experience. 

I picked up a riso-printed zine at The Old School Gallery in Alnmouth and remembered it for this project. Its very clever and complicated with concertina pages, pull out sections and double-sided. Although the book is only A6, its so interactive and conveys information through engaging graphics and a fluorescent riso colour scheme. My book wont be half as colourful but I love the idea of a small book with postcard prints to pull out so the client can have a sample of my work.

With this, I started working on a layout and wrote down what I want to include. Since I've just finished my portfolio book I had a clear idea of the type of work I want to include, with the zine featuring work from children's publishing, commercial publishing and editorial showing my love for printmaking. Much of the print work I have done are A5 riso prints so I hope to include some of these held by photo corners or something non-permanent so the prints can be removed. Below is a rough plan that I have started working through. I liked the idea of having myself illustrated on the front to introduce the book, with smaller personal details to follow like my dog Riley making an appearance and the F1 car illustration on the inside page showing interests outside of illustration. 

I plan to print each page and have it as a leaf to bind with a kettle stitch. I've done this before for my Edgelands 'Journey into an Industrial Landscape' book but that was with bigger sections so I don't know how this will work. An easier solution could be to glue each spread together. I'd love to riso print it but I don't have the time as its such a long process to print it in printers pairs and get the alignment correct on the risograph printer. If I were to make this into a single A3 page folded into a book this would be a lot easier (could be another idea!). Another reason riso is more challenging is that my children's book pages are in colour and I'd loose that. 

'In my opinion, zines are a combination of art, idea and personality. Each zin is unique and has its own character. Opening the publication, you are immersed in a certain world, which can repel, and can attract and interest.'

(Polina Murzina, 2019)

Below I've sourced some different creative zine ideas from Pinterest, all with distinctive styles in both 2D and 3D. I like the idea of creating the net of a shape like the Grass studio milk carton (Milk Carton Postcards Project, 2010) as it allows the client to engage with your work, adding an interactive element. Since I want to go into publishing I loved all of the zines and how people had cut shapes out of the pages to make them more interesting. These are all great examples that have influenced my direction, especially seeing the interactive elements like postcards and smaller prints that could be pulled out of the book.

Left: Alice Donadoni, Right: Sourced from Polina Murzina's collection

Left: Dot Studio, Right: Altered Journals by Heidi Burton

Swayspace self-promotional book publication

Left: Grass Studio, Right: Charlie Smith Design

To see my final creative CV, I've done a separate blog post that can be found at:

Written CV

When I applied for the MA in January, I had to submit a formal portfolio so luckily I already had the writing to condense for the creative CV. I think it's also good to have this version as a way to show clients my experience and education in a clear and professional context. When we were told to start thinking about promo packs I showed my tutor this and he said to add some sketches based on some of the points. This is something I've been working on to create continuity between the two CV's. I think the sketches are a good addition and work well with the roller texture down the side, both showing that I enjoy working traditionally.

Illustration to represent working on the mural at Ryton Primary School

Postcard Prints

I've always loved the idea of opening an online shop to sell my prints. There are so many riso prints I've done that would be great to sell as original art as they are very popular and easy to make lots of. For the exhibition, I thought it would be a good opportunity to trail some of the prints, a lot of my work is framed so it would be good if people could buy some of the ones on display. I think postcard prints are a better way to promote yourself than something like business cards as they can easily be lost and the person is less likely to keep them. Whereas a print has more value and as an illustrator, you're likely to put it up somewhere. Therefore, I decided to print 3 prints in the bigger postcard size 7x5 which I love. When I've been to the Wunderground Gallery in Disney Springs in the past, I've collected quite a few postcards from Disney artists at this size; its squarer than a5 and since its in inches, it works better for framing making it easier for the client to find frames and mounts.

Joey Chou, illustrator selling prints in the Wunderground Gallery, 5x7 postcard print size

Wunderground Gallery

With this I decided to use the company Printwork who are based in Yorkshire and popular among creatives with online shops. As I haven't printed anything like this in the past I've just decided to print 3 designs, each with 20 prints so I can sell some at the exhibition. I liked the idea of having smaller versions of what I have in the frames so people can buy them and they link to my project. 

Printwork website print builder

First print, night observatory

Second print, Florida sketchbook page

Third print, tree monoprint

Possible Merchandise

There are so many things I'd love to make stationary wise but its figuring out what is actually useful and links to my project at this stage. To go with my children's book I though about making bookmarks with 'This book belongs to...' text on and fun crayon illustrations to appeal to children. Another thing that is always successful at exhibitions are stickers. I want to make some big Woodster stickers and possibly pull from some of the imagery in the book to make a set.

I also made a Woodster doll out of felt a few months ago which would be amazing to sell if they didn't take so long to make! Simplifying the shape and detail could be an option but I would have to sell them for quite a lot- it could be something to look at in the future with a simpler character. The same idea could be replicated with clay as that would be quicker to make multiples.

This sort of illustration would work well as a large sticker as it's a rounded shape

 

References

Donadoni, A., 2022. Museo del 900- Yearly Programme. [online] Behance. Available at: <https://www.behance.net/gallery/2769059/Museo-del-900-Yearly-programme> [Accessed 10 May 2022].

Sostav.ru. 2019. Polina Murzina, Weavers Brand Consultancy: "Zines are a combination of art, idea and personality". [online] Available at: <https://www.sostav.ru/publication/polina-murzina-ziny-eto-sochetanie-iskusstva-idei-i-lichnosti-35250.html> [Accessed 11 May 2022].

Roden, M., 2022. FIRST LOOK: WonderGround Gallery at the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts. [online] MickeyBlog.com. Available at: <https://mickeyblog.com/2022/01/14/first-look-wonderground-gallery-at-the-epcot-international-festival-of-the-arts/> [Accessed 11 May 2022].

Joey Chou. 2022. Joey Chou. [online] Available at: <https://www.joeyart.com/> [Accessed 11 May 2022].

Gaffney, C., 2012. Swayspace have been Vandercooking up a storm and yes, we're swayed. [online] Itsnicethat.com. Available at: <https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/swayspace> [Accessed 11 May 2022].

Dieline. 2010. Milk Carton Postcards Project. [online] Available at: <https://thedieline.com/blog/2010/1/26/milk-carton-postcards-project.html?> [Accessed 10 May 2022].

Biard, R., 2014. Terence Woodgate by Charlie Smith Design. [online] Bpando. Available at: <https://bpando.org/2014/07/03/logo-terence-woodgate-by-charlie-smith-design/> [Accessed 11 May 2022].

Mixam Print. 2022. Art Book Printing - The Best Price & Quality. [online] Available at: <https://mixam.co.uk/artbooks> [Accessed 10 May 2022].