Killer DJ Promotion 4

What’s your advertising plan?

Before you even think of designing anything (or having someone design it for you), really seriously need to think about how you want to go about advertising your event. Basically, your tactics. Are you ready and willing to go out and network, handing out flyers to potential customers? Or are you just planning on leaving small stacks in local stores? What about online? Do you have a website? Social media? Email list?

The main reason to think about these things (and plan from them) is because you don’t want to spend valuable resources on physical paper flyers if you’re not going to really utilise the art of street promotion. Leaving stacks in local shops has become a losing situation, mainly because everyone does this and thus your flyer is lost in a mass of others.

I’ll also add in that promoting your event online is a different tactic than on the street. Too many will design one paper flyer and then use the same graphic on websites, social media and emails. The problem though is too many print flyers are just not easily read in the online medium. This is why you need to make a plan, and list out all the potential areas you’re going to seriously advertise in.

Designing a flyer for print

So let’s say a print flyer is in the plan. First you should decide if you want to enlist a designer to do the work, or if you wish to go at it on your own. Many DJs have toyed in graphic programs such as Photoshop or GIMP to make their own flyers in the DIY spirit. Others will know someone or even enlist a design student looking to build his/her portfolio.

A good designer can turn your mass of event information into an effective, distinctive and attractive flyer.

If you go the DIY route, bear in mind that some programs are better than others, but there isn’t a set “wrong” or “right”. I’ve seen flyers designed in Microsoft Word that can do the job just as well as those designed in Photoshop. What you need to be able to do though is provide your printing service an adequate file they can use. This usually means a PDF or even a JPG that carries a high resolution of 150-300 dpi (dots per inch).

The primary reason for the higher resolution is that a lower resolution will give you an end result of a blurry, pixelated flyer. I touched on this point in the article on logos. While you don’t need to make a vector file of a flyer, you do need something sizeable enough to print.

When it comes to size, that really comes down to you and what your budget is. Unless you’re an experienced designer in some regard, I’d tell you to shop around for a printer, and then talk to them about sizing and pricing. Flyers can be printed in black and white, or more often now “four colour”, which means CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). Those four colours are what printers use and mix to make literally any shade of any colour you design with.

Talking to a printer in advance can help you because they often will advise, give you templates to work off of, or even offer you design services at a modest fee. It’s in their interest to help simply because not helping could end up with them receiving a “project from hell”. So talk to them, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. If they seem annoyed, then take your business elsewhere.

Clean design with a hierarchy of information

If you had to ask me for just one extremely important piece of advice in designing a flyer, I’d actually give you two: Have a clean design, and build a solid hierarchy of information.

When I say “clean design”, I mean a design that can be easily read and understood. Way too many times I’ll see complete rookies and even amateur designers get a little too enthusiastic with fonts, colours, filters and 3D effects, turning what’s supposed to be a flyer into a busy cluttered mess one can’t easily decipher.

‘A clean design with a hierarchy of information’: Here are the three areas on this flyer fir primary, secondary and tertiary information, so you can get a sense of how important getting this right is.

I don’t care how cool that font looks, or how glows and strokes make words blast out… if you can’t easily read the flyer then it’s useless. Best practice is to use the wild effects on what’s known as the “hero image”. That’s the main big logo or text lockup of the whole event.

So if you put “EDM DREAM” as the name of your event, that’s the big piece of text that could be jacked up in effects. Your lineup, address, and other vital information should simpler, clean, and easy to read. Even then, there is good creative design, and then there is overkill. You can only put so much “pop” on a flyer until you make it a mess.

The hierarchy of information is even more vital. This is when you take all the information you need on the flyer and break it down into a list based on importance. From here, the placement of that information, and even how big and “designed” you might make it, will begin to take on great importance.

Look at most flyers you’ve encountered. Usually the date and name of the event is treated as of the highest importance. Secondary to this would be what you see as the “main draw”. Bear in mind this won’t always be the DJ. It could be some kind of “contest” (like a hot body contest), or some unique attraction/vibe (like a white party or costume party), or even just a great food/drink special. I know we’re all DJs here and would love to promote ourselves as the most important, but always think business. Think what you believe the average person will come out for.

From there, the rest is only what you feel is important to put in the space you have. Of course the venue address (or hotline number if this is a rave) is important, as well as any web addresses you like. When it comes to the DJ lineup, you should only list names if you think they are truly beneficial to your marketing. Sometimes you just need to sacrifice the smaller names on the print flyer to push what’s more important.

You should also not try to cram everything into a flyer. Again, it’ll make a busy, cluttered mess. Always think like the consumer does… and what you think will attract them.

Other good tips

If you are using background imagery or colours, design your flyer with a bleed. A bleed is added background length/width put on a design that will be chopped off when the printer cuts your flyers. A 1/8-inch bleed is usually standard. So if you’re designing a flyer that’s 7″ x 5″, make your final design 7 1/4″ x 5 1/4″. This is how you get colour (or the photo) running to the edge as opposed to small bits of white showing up in the cut.

Here’s an example of a messy flyer. People’s attention is short, their time for anything you’ve got to tell them limited. Don’t make it hard for them by producing a flyer that doesn’t even look like a flyer, more like a screwed-up paper bag.

Make sure you use high-resolution imagery for anything you need. So if you have a photo of a headliner or some pretty girl you want to use, make sure it’s big. Taking a small photo off someone’s Facebook page won’t do. If you don’t believe me then try it and see how well it looks.

A big tip is to think branding and marketing in your design. Way back when I touched on the fundamentals of marketing, I showed a flyer I made for an event that failed. It was supposed to be a laid-back, fun night at a bar with some good music, and I used an image and design that would more fit an elegant lounge. It’s no wonder the flyer didn’t help promote our event. You need to watch yourself when you think pictures of gogo dancers, or DJs, or big space events could be a wonderful visual… when your night isn’t about that.

If you’re looking to save to money, consider designing two one-sided flyers and printing them on either side of the paper. This is ideal for those who perhaps have two weekly events and thus want one flyer to hand out for both (even if they are at different venues). Granted you lose valuable real estate in going one-sided, but you’ll save money and have one easy flyer to give out (as opposed to two).

Versioning for online use

Despite event promotion moving more online than offline, I still see too many out there not fully utilising the internet space for maximum return. Most simply take that large high-resolution flyer image and post it on websites, in emails, and all over social media. The end result are images sitting in hard-to-read sizes, and thus potential customers passing you by.

When you design a flyer for print, take down the sizes you would want for a full online promotion, and implement them. I won’t list any sizes here because they constantly change as these sites implement updates. I will say though that your online graphics should have a resolution of 72 dpi, as opposed to the 150-300 dpi of print. This is mainly due to the fact these graphics will be seen on screens as opposed to on paper, and screens (even HD ones) are low resolution.

Back to our friends at Ministry of Sound, and look how Defected uses a clean, simple (but recognisable) version of its branding on its Facebook page to advertise its events.

So let’s say you plan to heavily promote on Facebook. Many will want to put the flyer on news feeds, as well as the cover photo and/or profile photo. Notice though how you’re now dealing with three different sizes. The cover photo is very horizontal while the profile photo is a square, and news feed photos are smaller and rectangular.

So what’s the solution? Design three graphics, and make even bigger decisions on the information to be shown. That profile photo perhaps should be your “big text” telling the name of the event, and the date. Put other information in the description. Your end result will be a visible graphic that might entice someone to look deeper.

The same goes for the cover photo. Why are you cropping a big vertical image into a horizontal space? You’ll end up losing 80% of your information. Instead, make a big horizontal image that fits the space with the name of the event, date, venue, and one to two big pieces of important information, such as the headliner. In all honesty, barely anyone will even come to your profile page versus seeing your flyer in their news feed, so your cover graphic (if you want one) should be a quick read.

With the actual news feed, you’ll probably be posting the flyer as an image, like you would any photo. You might think your normal flyer design is ideal, and it just might be. However, if you have small text, then it won’t be easily read…even when they enlarge it. Your goal should be a quick read graphic that will catch their attention as they gloss over most of the junk on their news feeds. Again… think clarity and information hierarchy.

All of this still reinforces why you should have a website; a central spot to send people to where they can get all the information… including if they need to buy tickets. Your social media and email should all be about leading the patron to one spot where you can post full information in great detail.

Killer DJ Promotion 3

1. Entertain, then educate

I’ve seen it loads of times. A DJ comes on, head down, straight into what he or she loves – no consideration for the crowd, who came before, the flow of the night – nothing. And they wonder why their “amazing” music clears the floor. But then there’s the other way, which I’ve also seen, from underground as well as commercial DJs: You have a box of tunes that express you, for sure, but you also have tunes you are pretty sure will please the dancefloor. The thing smart DJs like these do is spend the first part of their set pleasing the crowd, then when they’ve won their confidence, feel their way with twisting things around to their way of thinking, gently and considerately.

It doesn’t hurt, either, that the second half of the night is usually the intoxicated half – or to put it another way, people aren’t going to generally become less likely to dance as the night wears on! So planning your set in this way gives you longer to weave in those 4am techno minimal must-hears that have been kicking around at the back of your collection for months. Get everyone onside, then test your “good” stuff – you may be surprised.

2. Tease and test

Of course, you don’t want to just play a whole pile of tunes everyone knows, then bang into some UK white label dub country step (i just made that up – please tell me I made it up!) and expect the whole floor to come with you. Teasing and testing is your friend here. You can tease riffs, beats, intro sections, vocals, drum loops – anything that is reminiscent of what you want to play later, just for a few seconds or eight bars, repeatedly, to get people used to the sounds you want to move across to.

This teasing is your “test” – you’re watching the dancefloor, watching who maybe recognises stuff you didn’t think they would, getting a feel for what you may or may not be able to get away with. You’re priming and preparing people for the direction you’d like your set to take, in good time. You’re marking our boundaries, pushing things slowly, and always with the dancefloor on your side.

3. There’s a difference between “like” and “know”

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “like” and “know” mean the same thing. Just because your crowd doesn’t know a song, doesn’t mean it won’t necessarily like it. You’re a DJ, a tastemaker. Let people taste the new music – they might like it! Remember, every song wasn’t known by anyone, once. Use your judgement to decide if a song is going to suit the night or not.

Of course this ties in with points 1 and 2: You can tease and test new music, and you can save it for later in your set, but there’s nothing better than “breaking” a tune that goes on to become huge – it’s “yours”, even though it subsequently gets heard everywhere. People will remember it, and you for first introducing them to it. Having an ear for a commercial song before anyone else is a huge skill and one not to be sniffed at – just ask the likes of Pete Tong, who has signed hundreds of hits with his “record label” hat on over the years, to give just one example.

4. Mix it well

Throwing a different style in badly is one thing. But playing a considered build up to a surprising twist in a pre-planned mini-mix is something else entirely. If you want to play a different style, to try something new, to surprise the crowd, then it definitely pays to plan a little and make sure they way you are going to mix that new thing in is clever, or at least smooth and accomplished.

There’s nothing wrong with practising mixes; it’s not the same as sticking rigidly to a pre-planned set, which is wrong of course (in most circumstances, anyway) – many DJs play from lots of 2-3 tune mini sets, slotting them together as they go along, and this can be a great way of holding the crowd’s attention with more challenging material – plus of course it makes you look good as a DJ, and pulling off pre-planned mixes in public that are maybe that bit more technical as a result is a buzz in itself, whether the material is challenging to the audience or not.

5. Look like you’re enjoying it

It can be really easy to look sheepish when playing tunes you’re not sure of – or to look scared, or be rigid (“rabbit in the headlamps”). It can happen to us all – I remember several times throwing on a tune that just bombed while DJing, and being so embarrassed that I actually hid (crouched down, pretending to look for something in my bag)! Luckily it doesn’t happen too often…

Thing is, you’re the leader of the party. Most people (with the greatest respect) are usually sheep – they’re looking around them for clues and pointers as to how to behave, and will generally follow the crowd. And the leaders of the crowd? Well, on a dancefloor, they’re looking at YOU. If you’re confident, dancing behind your decks, having fun (even if the material you’re playing is unknown to the audience / suddenly challenging), they are FAR more likely to copy you. Make no mistake: when you’re DJing, you’re leading from the front. Be bold. Make it as hard as you can for people to NOT enjoy your music!

6. Use mashups and remixes to introduce styles

Classic advice, but very true. In “old times”, you’d throw a familiar acapella over a challenging instrumental. Crudely, girls can dance to the vocal, boys to the beats. Not always the case, of course, but hopefully you see what I mean: If you can introduce something familiar to your new material, people will more likely accept it – especially if you tie it in with 4 above.

Now, more than ever in this SoundCloud world, there are myriad version of all kinds of tunes available. Find remixes of commercial tracks in the style you love. Find clever or fun mashups where the remixer has done the hard work for you. Have a go at doing your own re-edits to meld stuff more to the way you like to play or mix. Music isn’t sacred; it’s a tool, there to be twisted into whatever shapes you can imagine for your floors. And don’t worry about not being “purist” – remember, this is meant to be fun! Break a few rules – you’ll be remembered for it.

7. Persevere

A DJ (who sadly I can’t recall) once said that he felt if he didn’t empty the dancefloor at least once a night, he wasn’t doing his job right. A bit extreme maybe, but you get his drift, no? It’s OK to like stuff nobody (yet) likes. Sometimes, a tune played one week will empty the floor, the next week it will fill it. Sometimes, the same tune played at the end of a set will work having bombed at the beginning. There are no hard and fast rules – if there were, everyone would know them! So it’s OK to mess up every now and then. In fact, it’s pretty much essential.

Bottom line is you don’t have to play music everyone loves all the time. For example, we all have our favourite comedian, right? But we don’t laugh at all their jokes. We don’t expect to. They’re allowed to push it too far every now and then, to “test out new material”. It’s the same with DJs – if what you do is part of a bigger picture, and you’re letting people glimpse parts of that picture every time you play, they’ll get it. They understand they’re not going to love everything you ever do. Be genuine, try your hardest, keep your vision, and you’ll at least start to work out where and how to get away with mixing the stuff you really want to play in with the stuff you have to.

Killer DJ Promotion 2

1. Brainstorm and research first

If you’re starting off this process sitting right now in front of a graphic design program, turn it off. Seriously, the biggest mistake most make in designing a logo is to just open up a program and go at it without any real research or brainstorming. Take a sheet of paper, or a notebook, or open a text editor if you like to type it all out. Start writing down adjectives, genre names, and any other words you can think of that you want to use to describe yourself as a DJ or artist. Don’t worry if it all looks like it won’t make sense. These are what will help you then do your research.

When you have a list to start with, then do your research. Look at the logos of DJs you admire and even emulate. Take notice to how they design their logos. Look at flyers and ads for the music and scenes you like and want to play for. Believe it or not, the branding of a rave differs from that of a mainstream club and that of a rap music event. I usually like to save logos of where I get my inspiration from. Sometimes it’ll be a treatment I like, or a font, or some unexplainable thing. Many designers will even sketch out rough ideas and shapes they find on the same page as their adjective list.

2. Move on to rough design

This is the point of the process where we hit a fork in the road. Do you want to try designing it yourself? Or go to an actual graphic designer to do the work? If you have the money to invest, then it can be better to get someone to design your logo. Again, I’d hold off on using any computer-based design programs at this point of the process. Right now this is more like writing the rough draft of your bio. You’re better off taking a pencil and a piece of paper. Just sketch your ideas, or what you like.

The main reason for using pencil and paper is so you can just think design and not get too enveloped into choosing fonts, colours, and making things “perfect”. You don’t have to make a fully-refined “polished” logo. You’re just more doodling and toying until you come up with the solid idea that you’ll want to polish.

The kind of logo you make is really up to you. Many logos will have some kind of symbol or item with the name all nicely laid out. Many others do not. I personally like simple text-based logos, but you might be different. One good tip if you want to incorporate symbolism is to look at your list of adjectives, your name, and thus pull symbolism out of it. Feel free to make a few ideas if you have them. You don’t have to just pick one sketch. If you’re torn between a few ideas, then keep them all as ideas you’re going to pursue on the computer.

3. Now you can use the computer

With your sketched ideas all in order, it’s time to move on to the computer and polish them up into what could be your final versions. You will need a vector-based design program. Adobe Illustrator is the most well-known program, but you can easily get all of what you need in the freeware program InkScape. Unless you have a deep need, I’d advise you not to use bitmap-based programs such as Photoshop, GIMP, or the web-based Pixlr. The main reason is a logo should be a vector file that can be easily resized for any purpose. It could be a tiny logo on the corner of a flyer, or a big billboard on the side of the road. With a bitmap image you cannot go larger than its original size without having blurring occur.

From this point, take your ideas and lay them out now in the program. Take your time, as rushing will only give you a mediocre deliverable. Explore not only your idea as a whole, but the font you’ll use, how the lettering will lay out, and the balance you create between your text and any symbols you might create. Don’t be afraid to “play around”. That means feel free to toy with or distort the font and shapes if you need to, or just sit there tweaking and trying variations until you are happy. Also explore colours if it is something that is important to you. I personally like to stay away from picking specific colours, but many others feel the opposite.

4. Review and revise

When you have one or multiple pieces ready, take a moment to review. If you’re going about this all on your own, then perhaps make some kind of rough design of a flyer or an album art with your logo. See how it looks to you. Many logos might look wonderful by themselves, but when you put them into context, you might find one standing out while the rest won’t. If you want to make it collaborative, then show your friends and ask their opinions, or even just check that your final designs fit the list of adjectives you wrote up in the beginning of this process. It’s not the rule you must make it fit that list, but more a good guideline to start from. If you need to collaborate and have no.one, try using our forum.

Make any changes you wish, and keep going back and forth until you feel solid on your final logo.

5. Export the final versions and make your guideline

When you’re finished with your design, you’ll need to save it out as graphics you would send out to designers or whoever might need your logo. The most popular file format for logos are EPS. I’ll usually have my logo ready as EPS files as well as PDF and transparent PNG. Since PNG files are bitmap (ie a “set size”), I’ll make the final file around 1000 pixels wide. It keeps things large in case someone has issues with EPS or PDF files (which are “vector”, as described earlier).

The main point is so you’re covered on all bases. If a designer is making a flyer with a darker image of a big crowd at a festival, he/she might end up using the white logo instead of the coloured one. That, or it could be an inexpensive flyer made on a copy machine, thus the designer will use the black logo.While making these files in every file type, I’ll also save versions in black, white, and any other colour scheme used. So if the final logo is let’s say, red and green, I’ll have EPS, PDF, and PNG files of that, but I’ll also have a white version and a black version in those file types.

A logo guideline isn’t a requirement, but you should make one if you have very specific “rules” on how you want your logo used. I personally hate them, because too many logo guidelines are super-strict and thus do not give designers much room to breathe. Regardless, if you want to make a guideline, then speak of your logo in the following factors:

• Colours / versions that can be used
• Sizing
• What colours can you put the logo on top of?
• Can you put the logo on top of gradients, photos, or textures?
• Space around the logo in design