The 4 Week Promotional Mailer Challenge: Week 3

1st December, 2011

Welcome to Week 3 of the zero2illo Promotional Mailer Challenge.

If you’ve been following along, so far you will have:

• Solidified the direction you want you career to go in 2012
• Started building (or adding to) your targeted contacts list
• Worked out a realistic schedule of promotional activity for 2012
• Planned how you’ll measure the success of your promotional activities
• Checked your portfolio is ship-shape, appropriate for your target market and planned any new pieces you’ll need to complete over the festive holidays before your mailers are sent out

Now, after all that planning and strategising, it’s time to get to the fun stuff…Illustrating.

Format

Ok, so there is still a little bit of planning to do, but it’s fun planning – before we start doodling thumbnails, we need to work out what format our mailers will take.

Are you going for a standard postcard (most cost effective), a more elaborate format like a concertina to show more images (more expensive), or maybe a mixture of the two and send a package of your work to your contacts (most expensive)?

Although the most expensive option, sending a well thought out targeted package of your work to a small number of your dream clients my be the best way to go, as it not only shows how serious you are about working for that client, it also shows that you have done your research.

Whatever format your mailer will take, make sure you include space for the following:

• Your name (and logo if you have one)
• Your address
• Your telephone number
• Your email address
• Your website url

It’s also worth checking with your postal service (eg. Royal Mail if you’re in the UK) if there are any specific postage requirements. For example, the weight of card on which your mailer is printed, if a specific amount of clear space is required where the stamp and address should go etc

Thumbnails

Finally it’s time to put pencil to paper (or stylus to tablet) and start sketching out what you’ll be illustrating.

Think about your target market and consider what will demonstrate to them that you understand their requirements. For example, if you’re sending promotional material to a children’s book publisher, demonstrate that you can handle storytelling, multiple characters etc

This is your chance to nail down exactly what you’ll be illustrating so you don’t waste time in the final artwork stage – work out compositions, gather reference and create colour studies if necessary.

If you’re struggling and would like some feedback on your thumbnails, why not post your sketches on the zero2illo Facebook page as I’ll be encouraging feedback and friendly, helpful critique from the zero2illo community on there for the remainder of the challenge.

Ok, let’s get sketching – I look forward to seeing you over at the zero2illo Facebook page.