Art directors, designers, creative directors, copywriters, print buyers--pretty much anyone in the creative department is inundated on a daily basis by paper promo mailers from photographers, illustrators and their reps. In the age of digital, it's a pretty antiquated way to reach people. Furthermore, all those trees could probably be put to much better use. CO2 reduction, for one. It's not that we don't love the samples we get--some of them are from the most talented artists in the business. It's just that we don't physically have place to store it all in our offices.
With that in mind, I've been helping a group of guys on a project that aims to chip away at this colossal waste of paper and money. We've created a site called first-stop.org that we hope will 1) be a good tool for creatives to search for photographers and illustrators--a kind of central directory, and 2) at least make photographers and their reps think twice about sending out paper mailers.
If you have time, please check it out. Send us feedback on the site and its functionality. What would be helpful to you? Feel free to sign up and submit work if you're an artist. It's completely free. And please spread the word. Thanks.
-jim
VISIT FIRST-STOP.ORG