green thinking

image from bluebird vintage

week #3 entry #2 02/14 - 02/21
I learned one of the coolest things thus far during this past week. I read an interview with Grace Bonney, the creator of one of my all-time favorite websites Design*Sponge, in The Handmade Marketplace. Grace talks about how she only accepts digital press kits. If you don't know what a press kit is, let's get a definition for you..

A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials of a person, company, or organization distributed to members of the media for promotional use. They are often distributed to announce a release or for a news conference. (source: here)

If I were to make a press kit for my t-shirt line I might include my business card, a shirt, a bumper sticker, and perhaps a magazine with all my designs. However, a digital press kit includes a simple press release, blog url, images of work details on work, how my work differs from others, and how can someone purchase the items. Grace argues that this is more budget-friendly for independent shop owners. She says "why waste budget on sending samples to everyone?" and that's a good point. Additionally a digital press kit is a much greener way of promoting your work. It reduces printouts and if you use a flash drive, it can be reused. Brilliant! Plus, you can include lots of great photos and even attach videos.

I think that this would be a fabulous way to give my work to the FOCUS panel when I present my work in May. It's green, which I'm hoping to keep in my business ideology. Plus, it's creative. At least... it seems creative to me. I could even go so far as to paint my logo on each flash drive and tie my business card with some twine around it. Or I could even get them made like the one in the photo.

This past week there were also some workshops for FOCUS students on Tuesday. I attended one on crafting something by yourself and interviewing. Some things I learned in the interview workshop are to be aware of the behavior of the person that I'm interviewing, to make a solid list of questions and not to just "wing it," and to keep people on track. As I said in my last post, I have been reading a lot of interviews and I don't know if I really need to conduct to many myself. Instead, it is important that I focus on making my designs and to gain excitement about my brand. In the crafting your own.. workshop I learned that it is especially important to make a schedule and to stick to it. I know this is very important with my project. I also think I should start setting my alarm clock earlier. Additionally, I reconfirmed the importance of a workspace, which I have also read about in Craft Inc. and Handmade Marketplace. Mr. Emery suggested also starting with a creative warm-up everyday. Some important things I learned about my presentation are that i must prepare a lot in advanced with an audience, perhaps prepare a gallery space in advanced, and to engage the audience. Until next time...