Advertising In Interior Design Publications

[Eric Biggerstaff]

My wife is an interior designer and gets a ton of the monthly ID publications.

In the last issue of "Traditional Home" there was an aritcle about how interior designers are currently buying large color prints from people like Sally Gall, Edward Burtinsky and Thomas Struth to hang in clients homes. I guess this is a current "in" thing with designers.

Has anyone ever placed ads in these types of publications to try and drum up sales?

If so, what are your thoughts?

Thanks,
Eric

[Scott Davis]

I haven't advertised in the design mags, but I have had a solo show at a store in the DC Design Center, and that worked out pretty well... sold three prints. All were framed to 20x24, b/w negs, printed to 12x18 or thereabouts. There's definitely a market there, but from what I've heard, unless you're already a Burtynski, it is the kiss of death for getting in "serious" galleries.

[Jon Shiu]

It might be better to have someone write an article about you and feature your images. What are the ad rates? I'm guessing they are much higher than say, B&W?

Jon

[paulr]

Is that $437.50 price in your website anywhere? the price i see in the pdf is $1500.

[Gordon Moat]

I disagree on the Workbook and Blackbook comparisons. There is also AltPick, Lürzer's Archive, and several other choices. It really depends upon what target market you want to know about you and your work. It is simply too generalized to condem any publication results. If you look at something high end and targeted at specific market segments, like LeBook, then success rates are quite high.

On a more non-photography specific publication level, I have seen ads for commercial photographers sometimes appearing in architectural magazines, and a few times in trade publications. Some other types of publications were Robb Report, Riviera, lifestyle magazines, music publications, and others targeting specific readers or potential clients.

Advertising anywhere might be more speculation. Depending upon what market segment of photography one wants to approach, there are certain publications that are much better choices than others. There are also a few that get looked at quite often for new talent. Take a look through the media kit provided by any publication, read the demographics information, and decide if you want to try reaching that audience. Best of luck.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio (http://www.allgstudio.com)

[Kirk Gittings]

Not having a name like Burtinsky, I always found the Interior Designer route to be very fickle and time wasting for selling FA photographs. It was more like selling stock; I love that Anasazi ruin do you have a shot of a dafodil?, or do you have this one in color instead of b&w?, or can you do this image (I don't print 4x5 over 16x20) 40x60? and wanting to pay "poster" prices for huge mural size silver prints. Of course we are talking the SW here not NY.

This is one of those areas that I keep at arms length now because I don't have the patience to deal with IDs. I don't shoot my art for a market and chasing the whims of interior design would make me insane. That is why I took on a FA rep (after years of thinking I didn't need one). It is worth it to me to make less per image if it allows me to concentrate on making images.


On a more non-photography specific publication level, I have seen ads for commercial photographers sometimes appearing in architectural magazines, and a few times in trade publications. Gordon

Commercial photography is another story. Now this is where the web shines. In my early days I tried allot of this, the Blackbook once, ASMP directory, arch magazines etc. Blackbook et al is really targeted at big ad agencies, who by and large aren't the market for architectural photograpers usually (sometimes). I got zip from it. I was targeting the wrong market. There are so many good arch photographers now (there used to be a handful) that most clients simply do a search on the web in the area they want something shot. I get much more work from big out of state clients from my website than I ever got from incredibly expensive national advertising.

[QT Luong]

I've also found that working with interior designers/decorators/consultants to be like stock, and frankly, unlike Kirk, I have no problem with that at all since I've always considered print sales as a disguised form of stock sales.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

I've also found that working with interior designers/decorators/consultants to be like stock, and frankly, unlike Kirk, I have no problem with that at all since I've always considered print sales as a disguised form of stock sales.

Have you contacted the American Society of Interior Designers and if you did, did you have any success marketing to their members?

[Kirk Gittings]

Qt, for me my b&w work is not like stock. It is way to personal. I sell quite a bit of commercial stock and I am very flexible with that. The b&w work however is what it is. I don't print it larger or smaller than what I think suites the image. I mat everything the way I want it seen (of course they can change that later themselves). And I don't even print images that I am not in love with even if someone really wants it. Nor do I sell rights to the b&w work for advertising or editorial (unless the editorial is about my work, exhibits etc.) purposes. To me there is a big difference between my commercial and personal work and I think one must carefully consider how that personal work is seen.

I am not being moralistic here, it is just my personal POV. More than one person has thought that division of mine is silly.

[Kirk Gittings]

Have you contacted the American Society of Interior Designers and if you did, did you have any success marketing to their members?

I once contacted the AIA to see about buying their mailing list for the SW. It was absurdly expensive. I did though, put up a booth at their regional convention twice, which did lead to some important clients from out of state..

[domenico Foschi]

Sometime ago I spent one all month in sending e mail submissions to interior designers in California.
It is an incredible amount of work, and honestly didn't bear any fruit.
They said they have me on file....
You can check the ASID site here for a list of the designers websites here http://www.asid.org/find/View+Designers+Websites.htm and start working.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Sometime ago I spent one all month in sending e mail submissions to interior designers in California.
It is an incredible amount of work, and honestly didn't bear any fruit.
They said they have me on file....
You can check the ASID site here for a list of the designers websites here http://www.asid.org/find/View+Designers+Websites.htm and start working.

Well nahhh....e mails from unknowns would be treated as junk. I was thnking more about a reciprocal link exchange with a discount for the ASID members. I am not about to copy and paste 6000 e mail addresses just so they are routed to the junk folder... :)

[QT Luong]

Kirk, I see where you come from, but since none of my work was done on assignments, there is no such distinction for me. Back to the original subject, you will indeed be asked to print at a specific size (not necessarily the same aspect ratio as your original images), on canvas, or even in B&W (if you shoot color) so if this makes you feel uncomfortable, think twice about this market.

[paulr]

Submitting any kind of work to any kind of designer is going to be a crapshoot. I've seen it from the other side, working in print design shops. Photographers drop off books, designers look at them, take promo pieces, try to remember them, etc...

But it's only going to bear fruit if the designer has a project right now that requires your kind of work, and has a budget for a photoshoot, and if he likes your stuff more than the alternatives. Not the best odds.

I think the photographers who got the most work like this had done a good job targetting the right design shop, and had been persistent. After your work shows up for the fourth or fifth time, the designers and art directors might start remembering your name and your style.

This isn't quite the same thing as showing fine art to interior designers, but I'll bet there's some common ground.

[jnantz]

around new england, they don't want framed and matted photographs. glass + reflections is not what they want. the ones i have been touch with ( mass, ri and ct ) were all asking for "ink jet on canvas" ... so they can convince their clients it is "fine art" and they don't need to deal with anything but a framed painting-like thing. it costs anywhere from 100-300$$ to get a canvased 24x30 ( that does not count a drum scan or ps work on the file ) ...

there is a company called workbook (http://www.workbook.com) that will sell you a mailing list curtailed to your region &C, and they will have one for "decorative art" which is targeted to interior design &C buyers and it will be "cleaned up" in the next 6 months or so ... their lists are very inexpensive you don't have to buy the whole enchillada (the whole list from the folks at asid ) :) i think the last one i got was 60$, with one free update after 6 months it was about 180 names ...

good luck

john