Hi friends! I’ve lately been trying to work more on the “strong internet presence as an artist” thing since standing out in the world of art and crafting is a tough game. I love engaging with and supporting fellow makers of things – coming from different backgrounds and training and styles, making dope art, crafting things I couldn’t have imagined – and being able to share my work and make a name for myself.
I’ve been doing some research and figured I could share some of the things I learned with any fellow makers of things who, like me, might not be experts on the subject.
Establish what it is that makes you stand out in your field and own it! Your “brand” should encompass something unique about your art, or about you, so that folks learn to recognize your style.
Define yourself with a key phrase, and stick with it. It should be concise and unambiguous. Key phrases help connect with your audience in a way that a logo alone can’t.
Establish your aesthetic! Logos can be cool, but mostly importantly stick with a consistent look in terms of fonts, For example, the old UPS label wasn’t fancy at all, but through simplicity and repeated use, it became widely recognizable. Norman Rockwell simply used his own signature as his “logo.”
Each piece of communication has to be effective. Consistently use your key statement and logo/aesthetic on everything you create. For sending emails, throw your personal phrase or logo below your signature line. Make them prominent on postcards or flyers, and, of course, your website and business cards.
Here are a couple of folks who I think embody the journey from casually having a hobby to making a prominent name for themselves. Their online presence and consistency in both aesthetic and production of content definitely helped them build the presence they now have.
Alysha Littlejohn is a super dope craftsman and the founder and Littlejohn’s Yarn. She built out a strong YouTube presence in order to share crochet patterns, decor ideas, reviews, and generally cool crotchet-y mastery accessible to audiences across all skill levels. She emphasized that part of her success was “consistency and research.” Here’s some of what she had to say about her journey from casually crocheting for friends to ultimately having a wildly popular presence in the yarn world. Get it, Miss Alysha!
I’ve crocheted for years until maybe recently, like five years ago, five or six years ago, I began selling my own crochet items, and that progressed into blogging, pattern writing, and more, just from that.
-Littlejohn
I’m like, people care about what I have to say, so therefore, I have to make sure I put forth good information, because I don’t want to lead anybody astray.
I realized you just have to be consistent, putting something out every single week.
You just can’t put out content one day and five months later put out something else. And also, you need to learn how to promote what you put out. People are not just going to find you. You have to make sure you can find your audience.
Robyn Blair Davidson, has done a knockout job of building an identity in the art world with her candy-ful, bright pop art pieces. She made one for herself, because she thought it was funny. Then some for her family. Then some more for her friends. Then even more for folks seeking her work out via her online presence. Get it, Miss Robyn!
“Friends and family were constantly asking if I’d make [a piece] for them out of their favorite candies. Everything took off from there very organically. I started getting custom orders, at first by word-of-mouth and social media, and turned it into a full-time business.”
-Davidson
Anywho, gave me some interesting things to think about and work on. Hope it was helpful for you as well!
Cheers, R
Rachel Admas 