Back when I used to be a freelance illustrator, I joined the Illustrators Association of Australia. They produced a promotional book each year which you could, for a pretty high cost, have a page in. It was sent out to all the publishing companies and ad agencies, so it was worth it for the targeted advertising.

You also, for a fee, order a bundle of copies of your page to hand out to customers:

I haven’t worked as an illustrator for some years now. While I’ve now tossed the books in the recycling, I couldn’t bring myself to part with the sample pages. They’re good quality card – a little lighter than postcard thickness – with a smooth, shiny finish. Surely there’s something I could do with them?

So recently I took them to the local printer, who kindly chopped them up for a small fee:

(I love how he put each stack into it’s own perfectly-sized plastic bag. He must have a machine that does it, and by golly he’s gonna use it!)

I figure the ones in the front can become postcards or greeting cards. The three strip ones above and to the right are a good shape for bookmarks, and the small rectangular ones to the left of them could be small gift tags or cards, or fridge magnets, since two have a food theme. I have no idea what to do with the ones at the back. They have maps on them, which aren’t as suited to cards and such.

Half of the images can’t be used to make anything to sell, because the copyright resides with the publisher I did the illustration or map for. But I probably wouldn’t be looking to sell anything I make out of these anyway.

Any suggestions for other uses for these little pictures and maps?