Believe it or not, this is a mockup of a book made by Laura Varsky to promote her new illustrated font Lady René for the font studio Sudtipos.
There are five things I love about this project:
1. The illustrations
2. The topsy turvy use of the font
3. Acknowledging that endpapers are important
4. The butthole on the cat at the end of the book (American publishers often don't allow that in children's books)
5. The obvious time and care put into something that only tangentially might get you attention for your product
This is a prime example of how marketing can be not only done right, or well, but done beautifully. I have no idea how long it took her to make this nor whether it has garnered sales for the font, but for the sake of added beauty to the world it was worth it. She even made it free to download (go here) and perhaps should consider putting it on Blurb where people could buy a little copy of it. I'm not sure I personally would since this classic song is about trying to kill a cat in the most imaginative ways possible but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it.
One thought on working fantastically hard to market a project. I wonder, how much time does it take out of your life? I'm sure it generally produces a great return, especially when it is as creative and beautiful as this. Things that people can get for free are also an effective tactic, and just a downright generous thing to do. I've never made such a thing for my business (other than little printables which are mostly fun for me to make and a way to break from thinking commercially), I've never put that kind of effort into marketing. And seeing this makes me want to, like hearing about someone crocheting giant coral and thinking, "I should learn how to crochet!". Or hearing a friend's story about driving cross-country with their 3 month-old and thinking, "I should dare to do something like that with August!". It makes me think, "I should create a grand project that will gather attention and snowball into huge exposure and bring people to my site and make them want to buy our stationery!"
And then I stop and think, "I am working at capacity. I am a person with limited energy. And I really want to make that recipe for spicy corn pakoras with mango-tamarind chutney I saw in the New York Times the other day. And also, in my spare time I want to make art". In a way I am not terribly ambitious, and am fine with that, even when I think, "I should do something amazing for marketing like that..."And then stop and think, "... some other time. Right now I want to watch Kooky again and sketch leaves." Thoughts on ambition will be in a whole other long post.
Seems like I can write a lot about working!
Found via designrelated, all images courtesy Laura Varsky and Sudtipos
