Today I am thrilled to be presenting a guest post by graphic and web designer Nicholas Burman. He also happens to be a singer-songwriter, so he understands a lot about music and personal branding for musical artists. Nicholas has transformed two of my websites from self-designed confusion to polished and professional. As a creative type, I was convinced that I could whip up something acceptable...eventually...
Well, eventually never came, and I was stuck with an ever-changing blog design and a lot of frustration behind-the-scenes. Along came Nicholas, and I was able to experience first-hand how wonderful it is to take work off my plate and hand it to someone who actually knew what they were doing! So, I asked him to offer his thoughts about graphic design and marketing for artists:
Self Marketing for the Artist by Nicholas Burman
Every time someone comes into contact with anything to do with you or your artistic career, they encounter a brand touch point. If each of these touch points is telling a different story, confusion will ensue. While the leg work involved in creating awareness will likely be up to you (and who else is going to be as motivated to promote your career as you?), it is essential that marketing material production is undertaken by a professional graphic designer.
Don't Go Alone
Just as you will encounter many other professionals in your career who will each do a specialist job (a recording artist, for example, will rely on a recording engineer, amongst others), consider a graphic designer as one who is a specialist in the field and will save you the trials, errors, pitfalls and cliches of which others may not be aware. Just like an experienced engineer knows what is wrong with your mix, an experienced graphic designer will know why your print ad looks cheap. The graphic designer will also be able to take the same look and appeal and apply it to a variety of media so that you maintain a consistent image.
Hand it Over
First of all, the most important tool in any musician's kit is the business card. When you meet someone at a gallery, off stage or restaurant, you may not be able to email them a link right away. The lowly business card is still the most immediate and universally accepted method of handing over information.
When you hand over that card, you are instantly telling the recipient about who you are and how you do business. How does the card feel? What typefaces were chosen? How thick is the card? Was it trimmed properly, or pulled apart from a perforated sheet? As already mentioned, the reason for a professional looking card making the right impact instantly is a combination of things that you may not be able to pinpoint right away, but it could make the difference between being remembered and simply blending into the crowd. Here is a tip: whatever you do, do not print your cards yourself on an inkjet with perforated cards! Business people would rather hear that your cards are still at the printers and receive a torn off corner of a napkin with your phone number scrawled on it. Practice your hand writing first.
You, Online
Your business card may contain a phone number, but also online details. There are two and only two avenues you should be considering here. One is to hire a professional designer to design and build your website, which may include a logo that you can use on other media and maintain continuity. With a reputable designer, this will allow you maximum flexibility and room for growth in the future. The more you look at other websites and see how others are marketing themselves, the more 'web envy' you will experience. If your web designer starts telling you that things cannot be done, reasons of taste and usability notwithstanding, move on. Your custom site should represent you exactly how you should be seen and be consistent with your brand. The other avenue for creating an online presence, which would probably be necessary if your budget does not allow for a custom site, is to setup your own blog. This can be done for free on many blog sites such as Wordpress or Blogger. There are sometimes issues with too much expansion that can sometimes necessitate a hosting plan or private domain, but for most functions a free blog can serve well. Templates are easily found on a plethora of gallery sites, the blog will always look the same on any browser and any platform, and search engines love blogs. Many templates are available that make sites appear to be anything but a blog and they allow you to perform multimedia friendly tasks such as uploading tunes, installing a media player, playing videos and more.
You Missed Something!
What about Facebook and MySpace? I purposefully left these out of the equation at this point because it is more important to establish an image and a brand that you can use on a website of your own. Create a facebook fan page so that others can gossip, chat, and share photos, but make this a secondary tool and not a main point of contact. With social networking, you may not have control over what is said about you and for the uninformed this may be a distraction. Create your own site, or blog, and maintain complete control.
Measure Twice, Print Once
Other materials that can be supplied by a graphic designer, who will be well versed in your needs and market, are demo covers, promotional kits and resumes. Put as much consideration into the demo cover as you would a full album. Make sure your promo kit includes the info people need and not just the rambling that you think is interesting. Your graphic designer will know how to put together a kit that is going to be printed efficiently and save you money on printing. While print design can be considered expensive compared to the web, remember that it is always cheaper to get the job printed once. Any printer will be able to share horror stories with you of irate customers who didn't have their artwork prepared properly before they authorized a print run of thousands of copies. Finding a printer that would cover that cost themselves is as likely as finding a four leaf clover.
Not a Cheap Shot
Some designers work closely with photographers and can recommend a good one to produce your headshots. Again, this is not something to be taken lightly (no pun intended!). Your best friend's cell phone is not a camera, and your living room is not a pleasing background. Visual media can be considered bill boards - you have approximately three seconds to make an impression, then the viewer moves on. If your headshot looks like it was taken with a webcam, people will know how much consideration you put into your business.
Tell the World
How you actually go about taking what you have and distributing awareness to the uninformed masses (also known as marketing) is largely up to you. You may already be using some of the avenues - Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc, but from a business point of view, consider setting up separate accounts for your musical endeavors. avoid the trivialities of your personal life (which are usually only interesting coming from the very famous) and keep it to the facts.
Consistency is the key when it comes to marketing, and using materials from a good graphic designer will make sure that you have everything at your disposal in a type of kit that you can draw from without having to recreate graphics or materials every time something is needed.
You're Worth It!
Consider how long you have been practicing and honing your craft. Perhaps you started when you were a child. Add up the money spent on lessons, instruments, materials, rehearsal space, travel, music, paint. How many hours did you spend rehearsing, researching, discussing, critiquing? You have already made an enormous investment in your career. Now you are considering furthering that career and digging in your heels deeper, the investment you make in a professional graphic designer to ensure that people get to see you at your best is comparatively minute.
All these recommendations are about making you look your best and presenting others with fewer speedbumps that will act as turn-offs and distractions. Everything you do should be free of debris, pointing to your art and making you stand out.
Nicholas is the Media Designer for NBurman Design in Calgary AB, singer/songwriter, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, painter, husband and father of four. Read his blog at lifeimitatingdesign.comand find his music at nickburman.com.
Possibly Related Posts:
Practice. Seriously, It's Not an Option!
Body Awareness: Folding Your Hands
How Often Should I Practice Singing?
Want more singing or acting advice? Email me directly for personalized advice, or subscribe to Working the Voice for ongoing tips and instruction!
Possibly Related Posts:
Want more singing or acting advice? Email me directly for personalized advice, or subscribe to Working the Voice for ongoing tips and instruction!
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