Sharing your process is a great way to connect with your target audience. Much like telling your story, showing how you create can provide greater understanding about what you do and how you do it. It gives you the opportunity to show how you get from your intial inspiration to the finished product or why you have designed elements in a certain way.
By nature, most of us are visual people so actually showing your process, visually through photos, video or in person can be much more beneficial than just writing it down.
The aim is to give an overview of how you work, to inform and engage your audience and connect on a deeper level then just viewing your finished products in your shop.
So how can you show your process?
You can use a series of photos posted on your blog as a step by step. Husband and wife design studio This Paper Ship (see above) have used this method. It’s mesmerising looking at the intricate details and seeing the process broken down makes me appreciate their work even more!
Geninne’s Art Blog video series
You can use video to speed up a long process. Geninne’s Art Blog and Moxie Pear are great examples of how you can use video to speed up a long creative process whilst showing what you do. The videos are fascinating and show how talented these ladies are! Geninne’s video series shows her painting process and Lisa of Moxie Pear put a video on her About page showing her design process.
Mr Yen Paper cut art
You can include photos over the course of a project. If you are starting a new project, document your progress as you go along. Upload the photos to Flickr or share on your Facebook page or blog. People will feel a part of what you are doing, more involved and more invested in the final outcome. Mr Yen did this to great effect with his latest papercut art project.
As well as sharing your process on your blog or social networks you can put links in your product descriptions. Engaging with a potential customer at point of sale is a great way to encourage them to explore your work even further. You can link to a video showing how that piece was made or even how it can be used.
Have you used photos or videos to show your creative process? I’d love to see them. Link to them in the comments so we can take a look!