Your work deserves to be discovered.
Pilot cohort · 6 designers · 4 sessions
Instagram opened doors I didn’t know existed: exhibitions, speaking, design jobs and paid collaborations. In this four-session pilot, six designers and artists learn the method I built: how to tell your story, present your skills and position yourself.
Starts Sunday, 22 November
Led by Maya Kaplan, fashion and textile designer and researcher. 38K+ followers in five months and an average of 5 million monthly views on @mayakaplandesign.
Creativity · Visibility · Opportunity
Why I’m doing this
I didn’t think Instagram counted.
What Instagram opened up for me
- Public speaking
- Exhibitions
- Design & consultancy jobs
- Paid brand collaborations
And that’s only the start.
Followers · @mayakaplandesign
Drawn to scale
I’m Maya, a fashion and textile designer and researcher. For years I shared my work on Instagram without taking it seriously. I didn’t think it counted, I couldn’t see the platform’s potential, and I didn’t want to invest in it.
All this changed when I decided to put myself out there and present my work in a way I never had before. I found what works for my style and repeated it, and my posts went viral again and again.
That’s when I finally saw what this platform could do for me as a designer. The opportunities kept coming, so many that I had to quit my full-time design job to say yes to them. I never knew that was even possible. Instagram opened those doors for me.
So I went deep into the algorithm. Through many trials and plenty of errors, I found what works, and I want to share this knowledge with others so they can enjoy it too. My exploration also showed me that no social media practice was tailored to designers. As a designer myself, I learned what actually works for us.
What I learned
As a designer, knowing how Instagram works isn’t enough. You have to know how to tell your story, what to show and what not to, how to present your skills, and how to position yourself. Beautiful images alone won’t do it.
Instagram is where the industry looks.
Most professionals in design spend part of every day on Instagram, looking for inspiration, ideas and innovation. It’s the main channel where they discover artists.
The followers are only the proof. What matters is who sees your work and what they invite you to do next. You’ve probably watched someone else get the exhibitions, the invitations and the collaborations, and wondered how. You can have that too.
Skipping Instagram isn’t neutral. It means passing up the biggest free showcase for your work you’ll ever get.
Afraid? Embarrassed? Not sure where to start?
Many of my designer friends told me exactly that. I get it, I didn’t think it counted either. But being embarrassed quietly costs you your biggest opportunities, and once you understand how it works, it’s easier than you think. The first wins push you forward.
The pilot
Four sessions. Six designers. Your own voice.
Every designer and artist has their own style and their own voice, so the same advice doesn’t work for everyone. I learned that by testing format after format on my own account.
This pilot gives you a clear strategy, built on my professional experience as a designer and on what worked for my own Instagram, then adapted to your work and your niche.
I’m taking only six designers, so each of you gets my full attention and personal feedback.
We meet every Sunday for 90 minutes, four sessions in all, starting on 22 November. In every session, you put real work on screen and I give you direct feedback.
In the sessions, I will
- Teach you a strategy that works
- A clear method for telling your story, presenting your skills and positioning yourself, drawn from my professional experience as a designer who dove deep into the Instagram algorithm.
- Teach you the Instagram rules and how the algorithm works
- What it rewards, what it ignores, and when and what to post for your work.
- Help you find what works for you
- I’ll study your work and define the voice and format that fit you best.
- Teach you to create the content itself
- Filming and editing tips: how to shoot, cut and present your work so it looks the way you want and holds attention.
- Give you direct feedback
- You bring real work each session, and I tell you what to change, what to keep and what to post next.
- Teach you to read Instagram Insights
- We’ll analyze your numbers together: which ones matter, and how to use them to improve.
- Turn views into opportunities
- How to make your profile work like a portfolio.
- Build a community that empowers and pushes you
- A WhatsApp group for all of us, where we lift each other’s engagement, share insights and break down the barriers to putting ourselves out there.
- Starts
- 22 November
- Sessions
- 4 × 90 min
- Meeting
- Every Sunday
- Group size
- 6 designers
- Selection
- By application
When
Starting Sunday, 22 November
Four Sundays, 90 minutes each: 22 and 29 November, then 6 and 13 December.
Every Sunday at
Europe
- London
- 4:00 pm
- Paris, Berlin
- 5:00 pm
- Athens, Helsinki
- 6:00 pm
United States
- New York
- 11:00 am
- Chicago
- 10:00 am
- Denver
- 9:00 am
- Los Angeles
- 8:00 am
This pilot is for you if…
- You’re a designer or artist who actively creates.
- You have work you’re able, and want, to share publicly.
- You’re ready to put yourself out there. Nervous is fine.
- You’ll commit to the process if you’re chosen.
If that’s you, nominate yourself below.
Pilot price
$225$325
This first cohort is a pilot, so seats come at a discount: $225 instead of the $325 it will cost later.
It costs nothing to apply. If I choose you, I’ll send you the payment details.
Apply
Nominate yourself.
Answer the questions below. I’m choosing six designers based on your answers, and I’ll get back to you personally.
Excited for this. Talk soon! — Maya
Nomination received
Thank you!
I’ll read every nomination and get back to you personally.
— Maya