eight-month portfolio build Zave had a book that visually
articulated his message.
“My photos are about the spirit of everyday life,” says Smith.
“They express the multifaceted emotions we all experience:
laughter, fun, and awe. In essence, my images portray the small
moments of everyday life.”
Once the portfolio was created, the next step for Zave was
to choose the actions that he would use to deliver his visual
message to agency art buyers and graphic designers. Zave’s
tools include in-person visits, drop-portfolio showings, direct
mail, e-mail, a Web site, and multiportal visibility for his
Web site.I believe that even in bad economic times, talent
will rise to the top and find a place, as long as it’s visi-
ble. My task is to communicate my talents in all of the
places that buyers go to when looking for photogra-
phers. However, I now know that the tools alone are not
enough. In order to drive home my message I needed
to visually brand all of my sales and marketing options.
That way my efforts would be maximized. My portfolio
housing is a deep purple, it speaks to emotion, and
I wanted my ad materials to play off of the mood and
feel of the portfolio.Zave chose to work with a graphic designer to develop the
look of his site, mailers, and e-mailers.I am not a graphic designer, so I hired Michael
McDonald, a designer whom I knew and whose style
I really liked. His job daily is to create materials that
inform and seduce. The first tools we developed were
direct mail pieces and a Web site. I send my mailers out
six times a year and I wanted them to begin to establish
my name and brand. Michael took on the job, designed
a look for my company, and then carried that visual
message over to the Web site.Zave knew that beautifully designed Web sites couldn’t do
the job if they have no visibility. He also believed that buyersCHAPTER29 / ZAVESMITH’SCONSISTENTMESSAGEChapter 29.qxd 6/25/07 7:26 AM Page 177