I'm Doing Something About Social Media Fatigue

 

The Glory:

For freelance artists, social media is an important tool for marketing. Visit any designer's website and you'll probably see links to Twitter, Facebook, Dribbble, Flickr, Google+, blogs and so on. The conventional wisdom is that you must leverage as many social platforms as possible to increase exposure to your work.

There is truth to that. If you’re successful in marketing online, your networks grow. People follow, like and friend you as they show interest in your work, and often you reciprocate. It really does work for marketing!

 

The Fatigue:

I’ve been growing tired and overwhelmed by social media. As a freelancer, I only have so many hours in the day to balance my work and personal life, both online and off. According to Dunbar’s Number, a person can socially keep up with around 150 people. I find this to be fairly accurate.

Currently I have:

  • Facebook: 136 friends.
  • Twitter: 141 people I follow, 683 followers.
  • Dribbble: 241people I follow, 370 followers.
  • Google+: 118 in my circles, 180 circled me.
  • LinkedIn: 109 connections.
  • This art blog.
  • A photo blog.
  • My website: CampSteve.com.
  • Who knows what other random sites I signed up with.

For the social networks, those are actually low numbers (except my Twitter followers.) Overall, it’s an overwhelming amount of people to be connected to online (regardless of overlap between networks). I just can’t keep up!

When am I supposed to be making artwork, creating the next great thing I’m passionate about, or spend time with my wife? Honestly those things do come first in my life. Social media is not a priority but because of the social demand, it feels like it’s trying to be one.

 

The Release:

I’m culling my social. I’m going to abandon many of these networks, and choose one. The winner, unsurprisingly, is Facebook.

If you want to follow me and my artwork, I now have:

  • Facebook: Please "like" my CampSteve page.
  • This blog, where I’ll make key announcements about my work.
  • My website will, of course, always be the best place to see and buy my art.

I will not be posting to Twitter and Dribbble, except for trying to migrate followers for a little while. I’m shutting down LinkedIn, Google+ and my photo blog.

As I said, social media marketing works. But I believe there's a balance to be struck. I don't think that means trying to leverage every network for maximum exposure. It means being smart about how you use them, whether you're active on one or ten networks.

Less distraction = More execution. It's time to create!

Working for the Gnome

Since moving to Colorado nearly a decade ago, I've built a freelance career in illustration and design. I like being my own boss and I like working on a multitude of projects.

In the spring of 2010, I designed a logo for a local startup called Nudgems.com. Their original concept didn't take off so they pivoted their early company into a marketplace for greeting cards - real ones made of paper. It was renamed CardGnome.com.

Naturally, Card Gnome needed a new logo. They also needed a better looking website if they were going to compete with other online card shops. That's where I came in.

Cardgnome

I did some initial design and illustration work for the site, but was pulled away toward other important commissions, including the large Whole Foods Mural.

The founders of Card Gnome appreciate the value of good design for their customers, so they convinced me to take a job with the company. I took a part time position so that I could continue freelancing and support my ongoing clients. It's a good balance and I'm having fun being creative in new ways with web design.

And of course, you can find some of my artwork on greeting cards here

Watch Me Paint the Mural in Time Lapse

Nearly every day that I painted the Whole Foods mural, the store's social media specialist, Ryan, set up a camera. It shot a photo every two minutes, which over ten weeks must have been 1,000s of photos. He edited those down into a time lapse video.

He also shot a short interview of me talking about my creative history and my inspiration for the mural. Enjoy!

 

Check out the mural progress photos here.

Whole Foods Mural: Populating the Scene

Since I began, I've been painting Boulder as a ghost town. No more. Today I began populating the mural with people! It is the final ingredient in capturing the local lifestyle.

I started with the most complex group of people - the crowd dancing in front of the band. I still want to add a few more shoppers at the tents. Almost every shape in the mural was carefully planned and drawn before I painted it. The people, however, I am painting freehand without underlaying linework. I have some of the people planned out on paper, but I'm mostly just winging it, creating various Boulderites going about their lives.

The mural comes alive!

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Day 57

My Art Gets Real in the Whole Foods Parking Lot

Besides painting the mural for Whole Foods, I also designed a series of 13 banners that now adorn the lampposts of the parking lot. Each depicts a Boulder or Colorado lifestyle scene. Seven of them illustrate the company's corporate values, which are written out on those banners.

The illustrations have some personal influence. My two dogs make an apperance and the hiking scene is of my wife and I. I like to sneak things like that into my work, as long as it doesn't interfere with the client's needs.

Here are the banners on the lampposts:

They look good across the large parking lot. (Click photo to view larger.)

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If you don't get the reference in the headline, check out the funny Whole Foods Parking Lot rap on YouTube. 

Whole Foods Mural: Downtown Boulder

The most time consuming part of painting the mural has been the downtown scene with its many complex buildings and other structural details. It is now finished! With the exception of a few minor details, the entire mid section of the mural is complete. Here are a few closeups of the buildings.

And below is where the mural stands now. All I have left to paint are the outer foreground elements of the scene, which is mostly composed of rocks and trees. Then I will finish the mural by adding people throughout the entire scene. Getting close!

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Click image to see larger.