Projects come and go. Some we are happy to see go and some we wish would stick around a little longer. No matter what stage of the design world you are associated with, from a student to Chief Creative Director of a firm, we have all experienced this firsthand. Let me share with you about a project that excites me as a designer.
As our final project, we are instructed to design and construct a self-promotional mailer. Design firms receive hundreds of resumes and job applications a day. So how do you separate yourself from the other designer’s competing for the same position? One way to do this is through a self-promotional mailer. Every self-promotional mailer is as unique as the designer it is representing. It serves as a tool to market you as a designer. This uniqueness allows for variation from mailer to mailer. The goal of a self-promotional mailer is to impress the desired receiver enough for her to take a second glance at your work. First impressions are everything. For our assignment, our professor pushes us to think out the traditional white envelope. The structure should be very intentional in it’s relation to the design as a whole. Specifically, in our assignment, prior to beginning the design of the pieces comprised in the promotion, we are to create a prototype of the package. Every aspect of the self-promotional mailer should be intentional.
What does this mean in relation to the structure? The content inside should interact with the structure in some way. Is there a slot in the wall of the package for your business card to slide into or a sleeve for your resume to slide into? The structure should be more than a form of transportation for your promotional pieces. The variation in structures are endless, depending on the tone you are attempting to accomplish.
Beyond structure, the variations in size could greatly impact your design. There is no standard size for a self-promotional mailer, so be creative!
SKY RAE Designs 