Doing a self-promotion is a tricky thing. The last thing I wanted was to send people something they would look at once and then toss in a file or, worse yet, the trash. Instead, I decided to do a small book in a run of 250 copies and send it to a select mailing list as a kind of “design present.” So, I had a plan. The only thing I needed was the words. For that I went to David C. Madden. His short story is about “a small city with a photography college that creates a fervent love for photojournalism and leads the city to start taking photos of itself.” I included copies of a photograph that I found on the street one day (I have no idea where it’s from) in one of the French-folded pages.

The result of the project turned out as I had hoped. I received a lot of positive e-mail and many phone calls from people I admire and this, in turn, led to quite a few new design opportunities.

The total budget for letterpress printing, binding and materials was approximately $1,250. I, of course, donated my time. David donated his short story and Krieder Printing donated the printing of the pages.

A very nice promotion that deviates from the norm in an understated way.