Hello everyone,
I hope you had a great summer. Mine was really busy, maybe a bit too much… But now I am back and I have many projects planned for the coming weeks. More on this later in the newsletter…
Today I wanted to talk to you about a post of mine. This one to be exact:
I did it in June, when I was starting my collage exercises and I was thinking maybe I could do a quick Reel with the 2 collages I had on these pages. So I took my phone, my sketchbook and filmed it pretty quickly. It took 7 seconds actually.
And I posted it (It actually took me more time to choose the music haha :D)
It had some visibility but this is a few days later that the buzz started. Looking at my stats, it seems that this post did land in the Explorer tab or as inspiration in people’s feed. And it is still there today. But the visibility for that post was WAY more important than anytime before. Here are the numbers today for you data nerds :P (sorry for the French)
So to summarize, it made 618000 views, 28000 likes and almost 5400 new followers.
What did work?
I am not pretty sure but if I think the design might have had an impact, I think the biggest impact was the message: “Don’t quit… Make More Art”. And to be honest, I did these two letterings separately and did not think of a common message when putting these together. But yes, I think this message talked to a lot of people. Which makes me happy and sad at the same time. The message is positive, but the fact that it worked so much means that many people struggles. Or at least, that is what I think.
What works the best on social medias are stuff that talk to people or make people feel good.
And I think this is how it made the buzz. I did several similar Reels after that and it never reached more than 20k views. The style was the same but the message different.
But to come back to what I said above, I really think people like and share what makes them feel good. Ok, technique and style might have a role to play, but feelings and emotions are what work best IMHO. As an example, my drawings/doodles in my sketchbook, sometimes really messy, work also well. And I think this is because people like to see the backstages, the drawings, the failures, the human more than a good technical design.
So if I could give an advice from this “experience” it would be that: who you are is more important than how great or perfect your work is. You have to put yourself in your work. Your skills for sure but also who you are and your vulnerability. I think this is what people are looking for and what make them feel good.
The best example for me is Lisa Congdon. Her work is so vibrant, so her and she shares her struggles, but also her wins. And I think this is what makes her popular. Her work is great because it talks to people. Her messages are always powerful. This is no bullshit, this is truth.
So what do you think? What is your point on that subject? How could you put a little more of yourself in your work? What do you like doing the most might be a first direction to look into :) Don’t hesitate to start the discussion in the comments:
A new font is coming soon!!!
Actually, it will out next Friday :) But if you are a Paid Subscriber, you will get it on Tuesday FOR FREE, as the paid subscriptions get a free commercial licence for each of my fonts. If you are interested or want to to know more, please check out that page:
But for now, here is a quick teaser of what my new font will look like :)
Inspiration of the week!
To finish today’s post, I wanted to share with you that great project from Chad Laybourne. This is a project for a Bagels Shop and of course I LOVE the design of the branding :)
This is it for today! Enjoy the weekend! Days are still warm and you can still get your dose of vitamins from the sun, so go take a break outside and energise your mind by taking a walk.
See you next week,
Francis