How to Make It: 15 Rules for Success From Artists on Tumblr

Learn from some of the best creators in the Tumblr generation.

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Image via Complex Original
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This feature is a part of Complex's "Tumblr Generation" Week.

Tumblr has changed the course of art, design, and creativity in ways no one could have ever imagined. Using Tumblr as a platform, artists are able to showcase their work to a global audience without needing to leave their laptop screen (or be represented by a museum or gallery), and frankly, it's revolutionary. The truth is, if your work is good enough, and you put it out there, someone will notice. 

Many artists and designers have been fortunate enough to get public affirmation for their work beyond reblogging; they've gotten book deals and jobs. While this may have seemed crazy even five years ago, today it's standard, and the artists in this feature would know best. Whether photographers, GIF-makers, coloring book illustrators, or diagram makers, these creatives know how to use Tumblr in both personal and professional capacities. 

Learn from them in our latest installment, How to Make It: 15 Rules For Success From Artists On Tumblr, and afterward, check out the interview of and exclusive video by Joe Hamilton, our cover subject.

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Chuck Grant

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Chuck Grant

When I joined Tumblr: January 2011

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: Tumblr provides viral marketing for your work. The only problem is that sometimes your photographs get reappropriated to the nth degree. When posting an image on Tumblr, you’re offering something you cherish to a disposable forum. It’s the sacrifice you make in order to get your work out there. I use my Tumblr as a kind of visual diary; one that showcases my work but also talks about my process in a more intimate, relatable, or conversational way. I have been contacted for jobs through Tumblr and have had art directors recognize or make Tumblr connections to seminal photographs in my portfolio.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Most people I follow on Tumblr curate their pages carefully for a specific, coherent, or polished look. Oftentimes, Tumblrs act as a scrolling mood board; there are some photos that are definitely more Tumblr friendly than others. I find that "aspirational" photos do well on Tumblr, as well as photos with softer palettes (think Camilla Akrans). I know that I’m catering to a demographic that’s interested in a look that isn’t necessarily my aesthetic, so I try to balance my Tumblr between imagery I’ve made that I love and imagery that will draw people into my work. Because so many people use Tumblr, it’s important to develop a distinctive visual perspective that stands out. Posting on the regular is big, too, so find a theme/project/vision you’re passionate about, no matter how many followers it may garner.

My most reblogged post: This one has over 38,989 notes.

yourgirlchuck.tumblr.com

Sagan Lockhart

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Sagan Lockhart

When I joined Tumblr: Early 2011

# of followers: 14,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: It was was the main catalyst in getting my name out there. I can post music or answer questions from fans, and it gives a sense of my personality to them. It's also not a bad place to advertise anything else I'm involved in.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: I've just always posted my original content for the most part, and it seems to have worked out alright.

My most reblogged post:

fersher.tumblr.com

Emma Koenig

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Emma Koenig

When I joined Tumblr: I put up the first FIIMT post on May 17, 2011. Previously I had messed around on Tumblr with a blog called "Babies Taking Care of Babies," which was half an inside joke, half the only fun thing going on in my life at that time.

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: I initially conceived of FIIMT as a zine, but Tumblr helped make it more accessible. I never thought it would lead to anything career-wise, so the fact that it resulted in having a book published has been an unexpected gift. I am simultaneously in awe/terrified by the power of the Internet.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Worry about generating material that you feel passionate about, not generating an audience. If you are consistently creating stuff that brings you joy, people will find it.

My most reblogged post:

fuckiminmy20s.tumblr.com

Michael Manning

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Michael Manning

When I joined Tumblr: I joined in August 2010 and started posting work with Phone Arts a year later in 2011. I held off from joining for a really long time because I hated how most Tumblrs were really just massive lists of shitty re-blogs instead of people actually creating content. I finally joined because I wanted to post original content, and at the time, they easily had the best mobile app.

# of followers: 217,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: For basically the past two years I have only been making work that is series-based. I got to the point where I was never in front of my computer, and I wanted my work to reflect that. Fuck sitting in After Effects for three weeks straight to make video loops and GIFs that get 8 likes on Facebook; I'd rather make 50 sick phone paintings while I'm waiting in line at In-N-Out. Then I realized Tumblr was basically the perfect way to distribute that work.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Make something every single day and don't put Monster Energy logos on your art.

My most reblogged post: This one has over 26,541 notes.

phonearts.net

Joe Hamilton

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Joe Hamilton

When I joined Tumblr: September 2010

# of followers: 106,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: Tumblr has been a really helpful infrastructure for me to find and be involved with loosely defined communities.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Learn to code.

My most reblogged post: 

hypergeography.com

Natalia Mantini

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Natalia Mantini

When I joined Tumblr: 2010 or 2011

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: Tumblr has helped me connect with people who are into what I do. It's a good way to stay updated on what I'm making or coming out with, and it helps get the word out for events.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: I like Tumblrs that are kept clean and are easy to navigate. Pages that have music playing automatically are kind of the worst thing ever—don't do that. Stay posting quality rather than quantity.

My most reblogged post: 

nataliabrutalia.tumblr.com

Jaime Martinez

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Jaime Martinez

When I joined Tumblr: March 2009

# of followers: 80,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: It has definitely been an excellent way to promote my photos, thanks to the reblog feature mainly. Thanks to reblogging and how easy it is to customize your theme and post new material, it is an excellent way keep a blog of your work.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Post only original content; it is more attractive for your followers, and you will be showing images that are not somewhere else. You can open another Tumblr for liked images or different kind of curated posts. Find a balance between uploading constantly but also not too much.

My most reblogged post:

fuckyoudraculas.tumblr.com

Mr. Div

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Mr. Div

When I joined Tumblr: 2009

# of followers: 120,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: As a freelance motion graphics designer, the popularity of my Tumblr blog has had a HUGE impact on my career. It's been really amazing to have musicians, artists, and designers who I know and respect reach out to work with me on different projects. I mean, I got to design something for Daft Punk's album launch party last month —that was like my life's goal!

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Experimentation should always be at the core of any good artist's work, but one of the most useful things about Tumblr is the feedback loop of likes and reblogs. The relative popularity of your posts can help you pinpoint which aspects of your work people are connecting with and can help you further refine your style.

My most reblogged post:

mrdiv.tumblr.com

Jon Rafman

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Brandon C. Long

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Brandon C. Long

When I joined Tumblr: September 2009

# of followers: 1,700,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: It's helped me in ways that five years ago would have never been possible unless you're a celebrity or connected to someone who is extremely influential. It's gotten me noticed by several reputable companies including the Impossible Project, Holden Outerwear, Time Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Club Monaco.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: There's an invisible revolution going on right now, and we're smack dab in the middle of it. The old methods of processing art and advertising are being upheaved from the roots, and an entire playing field is opening up to the "common man."

Don't miss this opportunity. Find your niche, and use whatever methods of social media you can to promote yourself. Work so hard at it that you create a snowball effect, and eventually the opportunities will come to you.

My most reblogged post: 

theonlymagicleftisart.com

Jon Chonko

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Jon Chonko

When I joined Tumblr: February 2009

# of followers: 100,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: It's made me more detail-focused and more methodical. Scanning sandwiches is not a quick and easy process. It can take hours for the hardest ones. There's a lot more styling, cleaning, and resetting than you might imagine. The process of making a sandwich, cutting, scanning it and cleaning the scanner afterwards to make it ready for the next scan has made me think more about the way I approach a project from start to finish. Before I used to just dive in and get my hands dirty. Now I take a moment to think about how I can conserve my energy and be the most efficient with my time.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Be consistent. Scanwiches, I think, has been successful because people follow it knowing what they're going to get. They see variations on that theme that might be surprising, but they're never shocked or disappointed by a totally random post. I don't repost, I just publish original content, so it's a little different than the more curatorial Tumblrs out there. I can't do one thing well and keep it consistent to that type of Tumblr user. There's a lot more nuance to that than what I do.

My most reblogged post: Who doesn't love a Dagwood? There's something in there for everyone!

scanwiches.com

Shea Serrano

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Shea Serrano

When I joined Tumblr: I created Bun B's Jumbo Coloring & Rap Activity Tumblr in October 2012.

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: Mostly, I think it helped me avoid having to write a book proposal! Haha. Book proposals are not that much fun to work on, and Bun and I had designs from the beginning on getting the idea into print.

About a week or so after I started it, it went viral. Lots of very nice, very respectable people wrote very kind things about it. We were everywhere, from New York Magazine to XXL to the Washington Post to Vice to everywhere. It was neat to watch. It should be mentioned that the Tumblr people are fantastic. They watch everything and are very good about finding cool stuff. They helped promote us early on, too (infinity high-fives to Rachel F.). Once the Tumblr had legs, we started getting emails about publishing the book. About a month after it went up, we were working out a book deal. It was very neat.

Oh, also, I had the opportunity to do some art for places like Village Voice and Grantland and MTV and so on. So yeah, Tumblr's been all the way helpful.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Just do what you like, I guess. Or, maybe better: Team up with a famous, beloved rapper. It makes getting noticed WAY easier.

My most reblogged post: The page we did for Drake got something like 12,000 reblogs.

 

rapcoloringbook.tumblr.com

Julian Berman

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Julian Berman

When I joined Tumblr: June 2010

# of jollowers: 45,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: Tumblr is a great networking tool for young and aspiring artists. I've been lucky to meet many like minds and talented individuals because of it. Also, it is a great platform (complimentary to a web portfolio) to display your work for the masses.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: Maintain a sense of fluidity, do not take it too seriously, post whatever you want (as long as is fluid)(just have fun)(keep it fluid).

My most reblogged post: Some time in 2010 or 2011 I discovered one of my images floating around the SPOTLIGHT with tens of thousands of notes. I sent the user a message which was contains some not-so-nice words; she was like fourteen and told me she was so deeply sorry on Facebook, then I got over it. So much material is rehashed on this website that it is nearly impossible to keep track of it this days, so in terms of notes/blogs/whatever, I am unsure.

julianxberman.tumblr.com

Foster Huntington

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Foster Huntington

When I joined Tumblr: I joined Tumblr in April 2011 to start The Burning House project. Since then, I've started two more Tumblrs, #vanlife and Out of Reception.

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: The Burning House allowed me to quit my job working as a concept designer in New York and travel around in a VW van. This experience has changed my life. It's been a source of inspiration for my photography and websites. The success of these subsequent online projects has set me up with consulting and photography work.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: If you cant explain the concept in a minute, people probably won't be able to understand it. Peoples' attention spans are short, especially for blogs.

My most reblogged post: 

theburninghouse.com

Haydiroket

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Haydiroket

When I joined Tumblr: 2008

# of followers: 15,000+

How I believe Tumblr has helped my career: Because of Tumblr, I get to collaborate with many other artists, which is very awesome. Because of Tumblr, my work is seen all over the world. It helped me to work with MTV (I made some visual works for the VMAs in 2012). It also helped me get noticed in order to work with VANS on their Action Gallery. The Creators Project and Complex have done awesome features on me, too.

My advice for artists on Tumblr: They should be stay connected to other artists and make some new collaborations. I advice them to show their own style, less reblogs, if its possible no reblogs, post their original stuff with different versions and styles!

My most reblogged post: 

haydiroket.com

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