Learning my ABCs of illustration and self-promotion

I’m about to send out my very first postcard mailer to art directors and potential future clients abroad. As a freelance illustrator, self-promotion is important, and one way of catching an art director’s and potential client’s eye is going the old-school route: sending a postcard mailer. It’s essentially a direct mail piece but a pretty, less spammy one! You’re still trying to hard-sell a product (yourself/your work) but you do it in style.

I thought it would be best to show what I like drawing the most to get work related to what I like drawing– children, animals, cupcakes, colorful things, and my hand-drawn letters. I’d want an art director to look at this piece and immediately know: 1) the illustration style I work in, and 2) the market or audience my illustrations aim to capture. I think this communicates that perfectly. However, towards the end of completing this illustration, I changed my mind and decided this won’t work well for an introductory/first promo mailer. It fails to introduce ME, the personality behind the illustration. It will still work as a postcard mailer, but maybe not for my first as I think it makes for a weak first impression. It doesn’t even have a cat in it! #crazycatladyproblems

I’ve already finished a new, stronger design for my mailer and it’s going through the finishing stages before it goes to print, but I’m not letting my work on the alphabet piece go to waste (it was fun to do!). I’ve made it available on my Society6 shop as a print, a canvas bag, iPhone case, cards, and other merchandise.

My Society6 shop

In the meantime here’s a little sneak peek at the new direction I went with for my new mailer:

Can’t wait to get this printed and get the word out :D