12 Great Hashtags You Can Use to Give Your Work More Reach

@merriweatherc merriweathercouncil.com

12 great #empoweredcreatives hashtags

There is no denying that nearly everyone loves Instagram. Basically, it’s the greatest app that’s ever been.

INSTAGRAM IS A WONDERFUL WAY TO SHARE YOUR WORK IN ANY FIELD, BUT SPECIFICALLY THE VISUAL ARTS BECAUSE IT IS A VISUAL DRIVEN PLATFORM.

No matter what stage you are at in creative work, you should consider sharing your work on instagram! If you are just a dabbler or hobbyist it can be a great way to connect with others and learn about new resources or even supply sources. If you are in business selling your creative work you can connect with customers, bloggers, other brands or even shops that might want to carry your products.

BUT HOW DO YOU GET EYEBALLS ON YOUR WORK? AND HOW DO YOU FIND OTHER PEOPLE TO FOLLOW?

There are a few ways but one of the best is through hashtags! There are basically fifteen zillion hashtags out there and of course there is the opportunity to create new ones. But using the right hashtags – ones that are specific, smallish and aren’t overrun with nonsense – can make all the difference.

I’VE ROUNDED UP 12 GREAT HASHTAGS YOU CAN USE TO GIVE YOUR WORK MORE REACH.

I chose these because they are just popular enough that your work will be seen by many, but won’t be gone from the ﬁrst twenty images within 30 seconds of tagging. (The most popular hashtags on twitter have millions of images and it’s barely worth it to share your work within those collections because it’s just moving so fast, no one will see it!) Also, these will help you connect with other accounts you might ﬁnd inspirational or want to follow!

Some of these even include the opportunity to be featured, meaning the person or entity that established the hashtag uses it to curate images for sharing on their own feed. Some of these can be super scores because the original account has a huge following.

#ABMLIFEISCOLORFUL

If you would normally tag your work as “colorful” – which has over 62 MILLION photos in the feed, try this one instead. The ladies over at A Beautiful Mess invite you to share your colorful images on instagram with this hashtag. They are consistently sharing images from the feed on their account which can really be a fun way to reach new people! They’ve shared a couple of mine and each time it was such a thrill!

#HOMEINTHESTUDIO

A very small collection still, less than 1000 images at the time of this posting. This is great because not only will it continue to grow but it’s still small enough that your images will stick around in the most recent postings for a while. This tag collects images of studios, little messy moments, works in progress and genera behind the scenes/ ﬂy on the wall in artist’s studio type images. I’ve found some wonderful feeds to follow through here.

#DSTEXTURE

Still a relatively small collection in this hashtag with less than 4,000 images at the time of this writing. Weavings, textile art, paint palettes, beaded garments… all of these are beautiful textures! Capture a beautiful image of your textured work and share it with the #dstexture hashtag. This hashtag is brought to us by Grace over at Design Sponge – check her feed to see the photos she has pulled and shared from this hashtag.

#CALLEDTOBECREATIVE

Brought to use by Emily Lindbloom, this hashtag is for “showcasing the passions & stories of today’s creatives.” Some really lovely imagery happening in here.

#EXPLOREMORE

More of a place for photographers to share photos or their travels near + far. Beautiful images in this feed include everything from neighborhood shots and cityscapes to underwater photos.

#CREATIVITYFOUND

This seems to be a catchall for creative works, experiences and spaces. There are photos of works in progress, ﬁnished pieces, and other pleasing imagery. Check it out here.

#MAKERSGUNNAMAKE

A fun catchall hashtag for creative work of any kind. So snap some sweet pics of your handmades, illustrations, sketchbooks and other projects and tag them.

#MYCREATIVEBIZ

LOVE THIS. Caitlin Bacher of Little Farm Media created this hashtag for the creatives in business out there. She invites you to try this tag out “for a good time.” She is an excellent source for all things social media for creatives as well.

#HANDSANDHUSTLE

Brought to us by the lovely Sabrina Smelko, an illustrator and an editor at Design Sponge. Sabrina invites you to rage your projects #handsandhustle and regularly shares pics on her feed.

#ARTSTUDIO A place to share photos from your studio – similar to #HomeInTheStudio – consider switching it up between these to from time to time.

#MAKERSMOVEMENT

Need I say more?

#CROCHETERSOFINSTAGRAM #KNITTERSOFINSTAGRAM ETC

You can pretty much ﬁnd an “…ofInstagram” tag for anything. Painters, Knitters, Crocheters … plug and play, my friends.

#ARISTHANDS #PAINTERHANDS

I just love this so much. The down and dirty part of art making. This is a great way to show a bit of yourself as well as your work which is always nice.