This is a collection of work I did alongside my main animation project. A long-time goal of mine has been to make an online shop and sell physical merchandise of my own art, or fanart.
At the beginning of the year I set up an Etsy shop but was permanently banned the following day because I had used too many addresses (I was in the middle of moving house) to set up my account and it got flagged as suspicious. I made multiple appeals to try and clear up the confusion and get my account back but to no success, which means - due to Etsy's terms of service - I am permanently banned from setting up a new account or selling on their platform. This was a huge setback, as Etsy is a renowned and uncontested online marketplace, but I still want to make things so part of my side project for this semester, I decided to pursue selling items in small quantities through a different platform - Ko-Fi.
At the beginning of the year I set up an Etsy shop but was permanently banned the following day because I had used too many addresses (I was in the middle of moving house) to set up my account and it got flagged as suspicious. I made multiple appeals to try and clear up the confusion and get my account back but to no success, which means - due to Etsy's terms of service - I am permanently banned from setting up a new account or selling on their platform. This was a huge setback, as Etsy is a renowned and uncontested online marketplace, but I still want to make things so part of my side project for this semester, I decided to pursue selling items in small quantities through a different platform - Ko-Fi.
STRANGER THINGS INSPIRED CHARMS
I am a big fan of Stranger Things and regularly make fanart and post it on my social media where i often discuss the characters with others online. As a fan myself, I wanted to make unique merch that appeals to myself and my audience, with my own personal style.
CHARMS
Concerned with copyright, and also wanting to push the designs to be unmistakably my own, I experimented with reimagining the characters as anthropomorphic animals based on their appearance and personality traits. I made a poll on my Twitter/X and discussed what animals suited the characters best, as well as drawing different versions and sharing them with my followers.
MANUFACTURING
I decided to use StickerMule to manufactuer the charms as they had a deal on that allowed me to get a sample of 10 charms for just £7.80. I wasn't sure how well the charms would turn out or how well they might sell, so I decided to get a small batch and potentially make more if they were a success.
SELLING
Once the charms arrived, I photographed them and put them up on my Ko-Fi shop. In less than 12 hours, all 9 that I had listed had sold out.
It was difficult to price them as I had to factor in the price of my art, manufacturing, packaging and postage. I was also kind of disappointed with the quality of the charms and decided if I were to make more in the future, I would get them manufactured somewhere else. This made me reluctant to price them too high, too.
a couple of customer images:
Unfortunately, one of the charms I had sent to Australia got snapped in transit. The lovely customer reached out to me and I decided to offer them a refund, or a custom illustration commission of equal price. This experience wasn't ideal but it taught me a lot about the standard of my packaging for long-distance customers, as well as how to deal with customer service issues.
PINS
I decided I wanted to make a pair of pins, using the same style, but with their human versions to target a slightly less niche audience and to see if a slightly bigger stock would sell. I decided to get them manufactured through Vograce, as I had heard a lot of good reviews.
I was very impressed with the quality of the pins once they arrived. I decided on a synthetic wood because I felt the slight texture suited my style.
I decided to price them higher, at £10 each, but offered a discount when buying both as a set.
As this is an ongoing project, I aim to make versions of these charms and pins with other characters and sell them in the future. I will continue to gauge interest from my audience and hopefully grow my shop and increase the number of items I get manufactured (and then sell). I may look into doing preorders - this way I only manufacture the exact number in demand.
BUISNESS CARDS
I had a look at some of my favourite business card designs from artists I picked up at conventions and art stalls.
I wanted a very simple design, with minimal text and image, and my signature green and profile picture.
