illustrated self-promotion ideas?

Question

as an aspiring illustrator i need to send out some work or maybe just one piece to art directors and such, something that gets their attention. Its too late for xmas cards and calendars, besides thats all a bit predictable, anyone got any ideas what i could make/design?

Answer 1

Many freelance graphic designers send out periodic mailings of professionally printed post cards, with a single sample of their original design. I do about four or five of these mailings each year.

On the back of the card I have printed the relevant contact information, and, in my case, the url to my restricted online portfolio.

Art directors get these all the time, and, while the idea is not new or original, it is an industry standard way of getting one's name into the right hands. As part of my campaigns, I do research to narrow down my mailings to the most likely publishers to buy my work. I may send out anywhere from fifty to three hundred cards in one mailing. I also send out sets of mini-portfolios, containing a half dozen pieces to a very select few publishers. Most times, I only assemble a dozen or fewer of these sets. Depending on the theme I select, I, either bind them by hand, or send them loose, mounted on heavy stock in sturdy envelopes.

I have done more elaborate mini portfolios, but the labor to make these is intensive and I only make a very few of these.

Answer 2

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and Easter not far away.

What about designing or illustrating something that has your face incorporated into it? It would certainly be different and memorable.

Good luck.

xx