Old thread is in autosage.
>Resources
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1l-9tZn_PaqsZWkb5SB_aqwh7uvURyoLgdsQiuz_Ty08/edit#gid=0
>Taobao/Alibaba services
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14zGSegr0b-429wZq5_xdMbE9hpLcXg8fqqe0OxnU2Yo/edit#gid=0
>Artist Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ESQ-1h4IRUivbGNaxJFxXyDU1lSv26xTmMdH0sDX7sU/edit?usp=sharing
does anybody know where you can get full colored lanyards printed from?
>>8723384
If you want them cheap, and don't mind mass quantities, the answer is pretty much always going to be Alibaba/Aliexpress. You can also get smaller runs at pretty much any place that does dye sublimation, but it's not going to be as profitable.
>>8723389
You're awesome, thanks! I never shopped Alibaba before. How do you know if a seller is legit and won't run away with your money?
>>8723393
Use Alipay or PayPal. Preferably Alipay because they don't release money to the company until you confirm that you have your goods.
>>8723393
The same way you'd do it anywhere else online, really. Reviews, reputation, etc. Some companies come with 100% protection/trade assurance as well. Talk to a few, see who seems not only reputable but also convenient to communicate with. I made phone cases a while back through a company I found on Alibaba. If you reach out showing interest in things, usually you'll get a lot of people communicating back, more than willing to answer your questions and try to take care of any concerns you might have. Also >>8723398.
how do you guys display stickers and keychains? do you just have them laid out for people to touch and look at or do you stick them up on like a postboard?
Anybody have some business card insp? I'm trying to design mine but I've got like no ideas.
>>8723421
I have them in one of those clear display 8.5x11 sign holder things, like this. I put a pretty piece of paper in the back and tape the stickers on the piece of paper, sliding it into the sign holder. They're protected and easy to see. I put a pretty "stickers!" and price label in the sign holder too.
>>8723446
Well, here is my extremely lame business card.
Honestly, even if it turns out to be very lame, if you are going to be an artist, design your own business card, or have a member of your team help design it.
I'm very put off when an artist uses a generic business card design.
>>8723504
This looks like it was made from a PowerPoint slide.
>>8723446
>>8723504
This was my old business card. I don't use BCs anymore, since I've found them personally to be money pits with very little return. I keep a few in my wallet for non-convention situations, but since switching to a sign with my social media info on it, I've noticed that I've gotten way more follow-ups and watchers after a convention, and I didn't have to spend any money. Business cards usually make it to the bottom of people's backpacks, and are sometimes taken without even glancing at the table. However, people do tend to look through their pictures after a convention.
>>8723446
Here's my old card and new card. Same idea, just one updated to look more like a 3DS instead of the DSLite.
To get some ideas, just make it reflect what you do and love. I make custom Nintendo 3DS cases so I made my card look like a literal DS.
>>8723566
I love this <3
Everyone is buying the alpaca plushies. Do you think I could make and sell clothing for the alpaca plushies and people would but it?
>>8723810
Probably not. I know the alpaca are popular but they come in different sizes and a lot of them are already wearing costumes or accessories. If you wanted to make toy clothes it would be better to do BJD stuff.
>>8723754
WOW that is so creative!! I'm sure you get a lot of people grabbing your business cards haha.
>>8723446
I'll often use my business cards as hang tags to hang up my jewelry on my grids. So mine are vertical. When folded over, it has my business info attached to it.
>>8723566
I'm about to go to my first con, and it's a pretty small one, so I might just use business cards anyway, but a sign does seem like a better idea. And your card is beautiful!
>>8723754
>>8723932
These are both super creative ideas, do they yield good results? Like do you get a lot of follows and stuff after a con? I'd imagine you do, they're super attention-grabbing
>>8723979
I normally do get a lot of follows. But I'm so terrible at social networking. I've yet to upload my crap to Etsy or Store Envy aside a few things. I should probably get on that for Christmastime.
are there any FAQs from previous threads? i am considering getting into this but i don't know where to start.
>>8724363
www.artistalleysurvivalguide.com
>>8723908
>WOW that is so creative!! I'm sure you get a lot of people grabbing your business cards haha.
Thank you so much :) I actually have a lot of people that are unsure if they can take them since they're not the standard 2D card. I had to make a 'FREE' or 'BUSINESS CARD' sign to let people know. But once they know and open it it's always cute to see their expressions of the inside.
>>8723979
>do they yield good results? Like do you get a lot of follows and stuff after a con? I'd imagine you do, they're super attention-grabbing
I usually get 5 or 6 FB followers after a con. I put a business card in each purchase so I get more out of them by having past customers e-mailing me asking about custom personal cases more than follows, which works out better for me because I don't have an online store. (So the custom orders are just done through e-mails back and forth)
>>8723932
I love the function of these as well! I was thinking of doing the same if I ever got into doing acrylic charms. Having the business card mostly blank on the front so it shows off the charm best.
I'm trying to plan for my first artist alley next year and I think I'm going to end up traveling out of state. After calculating table fees, hotel, transportation, food, and merchandise, I think I'm going to lose quite a lot of money. How much did you end up losing at your first con? Was it still worth tabling despite the loses?
>>8724823
I made a $500 profit at my first con, haha (unimpressive now but to 14 y.o me I felt like god). Was for a local, fairly small con tho.
Are there no cons in your state? Honestly imo its way more worth to do a smaller, local con first so if you find out that your stuff isn't going to sell it's not as much of a loss.
I know a girl who invested over a grand in her first convention (not including travel/accomodation - she was really obsessed with having super-high quality, like art gallery quality prints despite her kinda mediocre art work) and she didn't sell a single print.
>>8725085
>I know a girl who invested over a grand in her first convention (not including travel/accomodation - she was really obsessed with having super-high quality, like art gallery quality prints despite her kinda mediocre art work) and she didn't sell a single print.
>not including travel/accomodation
>>8723810
I'm pretty sure someone already does this...
>>8725109
Yeah they're called Build-a-Bear.
But snarkiness aside I don't think it'll be very profitable in an AA and I don't suggest it. It would probably work out better if they made their own take on Alpacas or a similarly cute and simple plush and offered costumes and accessories for that.
>>8725085
>I know a girl who invested over a grand in her first convention (not including travel/accomodation - she was really obsessed with having super-high quality, like art gallery quality prints despite her kinda mediocre art work) and she didn't sell a single print
Shit. That must hurt. Did she sell anything else, or was it just prints? Also, how old was she? Asking because it seems that a lot of younger artists prioritise quality of materials over quality of art/end product, and many of them don't seem to understand that they need to improve drastically before selling.
>>8725085
>I know a girl who invested over a grand in her first convention (not including travel/accomodation - she was really obsessed with having super-high quality, like art gallery quality prints despite her kinda mediocre art work) and she didn't sell a single print.
Gonna assume she was either loaded as fuck or extremely naive.
>>8724823
Why would you get a table where you expect to lose money? I guess if you break even, you'll basically be going to a convention for free.
Go to a local con first, then branch out to other cons.
>>8725202
Just prints. To be honest she was kind of the pretentious artist alley type - all original art, snarky comments about fanartists, had never gotten critique on her work just praise from friends/family. I think she was 17 or 18 ? Swore off artist alleys for being scams.
>>8725205
extremely naive.
>>8724823
Consider going more local. The first con I did was 1-day and cost be $90 in supplies. I made like 30-50$ profit.
The next con I ramped up and i think it cost me about $600 in supplies/travel/etc. but I made $600 on top of breaking even. Haven't lost money since then, knock on wood..
>>8724823
I (well, we) spent about $700 for our first con, including products and table cost. The con was local, so no costs in hotel/transportation/food and the like. We made back like $200? The $500 lost was split among four people so it wasn't too bad, but yeah, we did overspend a bit.
> was it worth it?
To be honest, we ended up art trading a bunch of our stuff and got a fair amount of stuff back. If you calculated how many prints we traded, we probably saved a lot compared to if we went and bought those prints at full price. The mistakes we made were more linked to display and pricing than actual art, though I'm sure art quality had a part in it too. Objectively speaking, we're average-low tier artists.
>>8725486
Or, the costs include the badge price. So basically it's like we paid to get into the con, except we sat around and tried to sell things rather than participate in events/panels. Wasn't an awful experience. One of my friends really disliked it (people walking around really made her feel crippling self-doubt about her art), while the other one (who's tougher) seemed to have fun chatting with our neighbors.
>>8724533
>put a business card in each purchase
That seems like a really good idea actually, I know sometimes I'll buy a print and then forget to grab a card and be so disappointed that I can't find that artist again.
>>8725762
another (and cheaper idea) for prints is having a stamp made with your store/social media info to stamp the back of each print, or getting simple labels made with that info. A couple or artists I've purchased from have done that as well, which makes sense, you can lose a business card, but you're (hopefully) not going to lose the print.
>>8725226
How much did she try to sell her prints for?
>>8725226
>all original art, snarky comments about fanartists, had never gotten critique on her work just praise from friends/family
Same thing happened to a girl I was in high school with that split a table with her boyfriend during their senior year. Sorry chickee but nobody wants to pay $150 for your acrylic art class paintings and copic marker furries.
>> 8724823
Same anon here. I have to travel out of state because there ate some local cons but they're all happening at an inconvenient time for me. I did some calculating and even if I bring a helper along to split hotel and food, I'm gonna end up losing about a grand. I never knew flying across the country would be this expensive. And granted, that's only if i manage to sell at least $200-300.
>>8726188
are your things time-sensitive? if they're just prints they could probably survive in storage for a year
>>8726090
Does anybody know which ink to use for this? I always hear horror stories of people getting exciting with stamps but it would eithe a) smudge b) transfer to a print behind it or c) bleed through the paper over time and damage the print. It sounds like such a cool idea and I wanted to know if anybody has success with it? I print on Epson Luster paper now but I want to move onto their artisan papers soon.
>>8726188
They're just prints, nothing time-sensitive. I just really want totable next year and don't want to wait until 2017 to do a local con. Would you recommend holding it off until 2017 though so I can do a local con?
>>8726221
I got really paranoid about that once and printed out my info on little slips of paper and glued them to the backs of each print with an archival glue stick (which isn't hard to find at art stores)
>>8726221
maybe stamp a piece of paper and paperclip it to the print?
>>8726090
The label idea seems really great, I mean you can do that super last minute if you have to.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
>>8726188
Wow, you're flying to another convention? I hope you are going to a giant convention (5000+ people) if you expect to even break even.
>>8726148
$20 for a4 i think, $10 for a5. higher than most peoples at that particularly convention, but not extremely so.
>>8726188
Yeah, that's my only option if I want to table next year. A question about the convention size b/c peeps usually say "go to a small con if it's your first time tabling." So although it'll be my first con, since I'll be spending a lot of money on it, would you recommend going to a big con?
Goddammit. I was relying on tabling at a small local con this weekend to start saving up for christmas presents and pay off some expenses, but they've had issues with the hotel to the point where the con was just canceled. Guess it's back to madly hawking my online store.
I was wondering if anyone knew if doing patches are worth it? I came across Steven Universe patches and miscellaneous Tumblr aesthetic patches, and was wondering if patches are worth making.
>>8726949
JEsus yes, at least if you go to a big con you have a chance of making up the cost. If you spend like crazy to go to a podunk con you absolutely WON'T make back the money because there's simply not enough customers.
>>8727154
I see! That makes sense. I'll look more into 2015 attendance!
>>8726949
>>8727154
>>8727333
I actually have to disagree on this one. Yes, at some point, you'll run out of attendees to sell to, but you'd have to be making top bank for it to start impacting you. Vendor:Customer ratio is always a good one to keep in mind. However, you also have to consider that the larger the con, the more the customers pool towards the largest, the best, and the most popular. At a smaller con, you're less likely to have big name competition, and would get a more equal share of the hall as well as have more visibility to each customer. Yeah, you're not going to get tens of thousands of dollars, but it's totally feasible to have good if not higher profit margins at a small convention.
However, there is no reason to drop a grand on your first convention, nor is it to fly across the whole country. You mentioned states, so I'm gonna guess you're from the US. I can't think of anywhere you could possibly be where you couldn't just travel a few states out for a good con. You could easily make going across the country to a small con profitable, but don't take that much of a gamble on your first time.
>>8727358
Forgot to mention! Yes, I'm in the states. I would love to not fly across the country if possible because it's just too expensive. I'm only willing to do this because I won't be able to attend any of the local cons next year and I think I need to table at some point for some exposure. Both sides have valid points so now I'm really torn!
>>8727372
>some exposure
This is probably one of the worst reasons to AA that for some reason a lot of people are insistent on. AA is a business, so you have to think like a business. And desu, AA isn't the best for exposure anyways. My results have always been very similar to >>8724533, where I get between 5-10 followers after a convention. Experience is a somewhat shakier excuse, but at the end of the day you should be going into Artist Alley for profit, or you're going to be disappointed by your other results.
If I might ask, what state are you located in? I'm sure we could find you a decent starting con that works with your schedule and won't cost you a grand to attend.
>Exposure? People die from exposure.
>>8727380
Not a problem, I'm from OK.
Is exposure really one of the worst reasons? D: Is it better to gain a decent following before attempting to table?
>>8727414
You don't need a decent following to get a table, but you shouldn't get a table in order to get a decent following.They're mostly unrelated until you get super popular.
>>8727414
You don't have to fly across the country to do cons if you're in OK though. There should be cons in Texas that are within driving distance for you even if they are like ~8 hours away. I have friends in TX who do cons in OK regularly and just drive there.
I'm supposing that you're busy during Tokyo in Tulsa and Wizard World Tulsa?
If you're interested in getting experience selling, I'd recommend seeing if your city has any seasonal/monthly craft or art shows. My city has a few and tables are 10-25 dollars. I did them for a year or so, every month getting more experience in selling and merchandising. It really helped my performance at conventions later on.
>>8727422
Yeah, July is not a good time for me. But I haven't considered Wizard World Tulsa at all, so I should look into this. Thanks!
Aren't Texas cons hard to get into? I heard they were all jury based.
asking for advice on glosses/sealants for shrinky dinks? (or just general shrinky dink advice?) not keen on being the first artist in my local community to invest in doing acrylic charms, plus I wanna do some cute custom charms for friends.
>>8727440
Not all of them. Texas is a huge state. So what it sounds like to me is that you need to do more research on cons within driving distance from you. San Japan in San Antonio is FCFS - I've heard rumors that it may become juried for next year but no confirmation on that yet. Texas has a ton of comic cons that are jury-free too.
>>8727440
>>8727473
I do A-Kon and San Japan, and I would give great reviews of both. They both have incredible artist alley staff- some of the most helpful and organized I've ever met- and sales are great at both due to the decent vendor:attendee ratio.
They're FCFS, you just have to be on top of things. (They tend to sell out in a few seconds.)
>>8727494
Yeah I've done San Japan too and have also always had a great time there. I've heard from several people that they may be switching over to jury soon though. Idk how reliable that info is since they haven't updated their artist info yet
>>8727414
After doing a brief google search:
http://izumicon.com/
http://soonercon.com/
http://www.tokyointulsa.com/
I think there should be no need to pay airfare at your first con.
>>8727358
I agree in general you should start at a smallish local con, but anon was saying they HAD to fly and HAD to spend a lot. So If you HAD to spend a lot, you better go to a con where you even had the potential to make that much money, does that make sense? Like if you were spending $850 to get to a con, would you rather go to a con with 1,000 attendees, or 10,000 attendees, regardless of your skill as your first time? You're unlikely to make much over $1k at a 1000 attendee con even if you have the best art. But you ARE likely to make $1K at a 1000 con even if your art is mediocre.
Of course i think we all agree they should aim for a con where they're not dropping air fare in the first place though.
>>8727433
I'm really curious about craft or art shows. What kind of merchandise did you sell there? And was it fan art or original?
>>8727464
Resin? It's durable and super glossy. I would recommend UV resin for faster and cleaner work(As the picture I'm posting) it's a bit more expensive. You can also use clear embossing powder but It won't be as nice as resin and also it happened to me that shrink plastic curls during the melting of it. Here is a tutorial I found:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nRAgVsEPj8
>>8727464
i used clear embossing powder when i did shrinky dinks. you need a clear ink pad and a heat gun to apply it properly (doing it in the oven makes it yellow + potentially burn your shrinky dinks) and about two layers, but it's nice and glossy and it's pretty painless.
>>8728204
also keep in mind you should use the heat gun AFTER you have already baked them.
>>8727433
In terms of stickers, prints and charms, would that kind of stuff actually be allowed at a craft show?
>>8727624
I think this past year they said something about looking at how other cons do AA admittance, so some people think they're either going full jury or they'll do what A-kon does which is FCFS, then jury.
I was actually surprised A-Kon had on-site AA tables this last time since applications went in so fast. I get that stuff happens but my friend and I were waitlisted this year and didn't think that any tables would be available.
Is it common occurrence for people to mistake you/your art for *insert popular artist of the same fandom here* or is that I sign that I need to consider a major style overhaul?
>>8728246
I don't see why it wouldn't be allowed... but you're probably not going to sell much. Fan merch is only really going to sell if it's something western and popular with children, or something like Dr Who. Shows like Adventure Time, Steven Universe, or Dr Who are safe bets. But, again, I don't know if it's going to be allowed at a craft/art fair. If in doubt, make 'inspired' keychains and stickers. I'd say to stay away from prints. Normies don't really buy them all that much, in my experience, but things like stickers, charms, notebooks and lanyards are harder to come across in normalfag shops, so they'll be easier to sell. You probably need to price stuff lower, too, because people won't bat an eyelid at paying £20 for a 10p ebay bracelet but they will be horrified at the thought of paying the same amount for a fanart notebook.
Again, all this is from my personal experience, and I've only talked about selling this sort of stuff at craft fairs with my normie friends (who were absolutely shocked that you could order charms from China, buy literally the same jewellery from shops online for a fraction of the price, and take more than 2 hours to digitally paint a complex piece of fanart).
But yeah, if you're a good artist and can make stuff that looks professional, go for it. People will be happy to pay for fanart that does not look anything like the official art, if only because it's likely to have the characters in more than 3 poses and doesn't look like a bootleg.
>>8726989
If this is for alternicon, a few other artists are showing up to the meetup at the commons saturday afternoon. Bring little stuff you can carry. We're going to try and salvage at least a few bucks.
>>8727464
Just an add on, I used spray fixatif when I made my shrinky dinks! You might need a few layers though, just to make sure the ink is really secure. Super easy to apply, but not as pretty as resin...
have you guys ever confronted/been confronted for selling at a lower price than anyone else at the convention? How do you guys feel about people who price half or less the 'average' price?
I personally totally get the whole "everyone is entitled to price things the way they want" but at the same time, I don't feel like artist alleys are necessarily the cutthroat kind of market that requires people constantly fighting to have the 'lowest' price...
>>8728915
If it's someone I know and they're not setting a fair price for themselves I'll try to boost their confidence and let them know they should up their prices, but otherwise I don't really confront people. Similarly the only time anyone has said anything to me was when I got to know some con neighbors and they told me I should charge more for my plush because I was newer and they didn't want to see me underselling myself.
>>8728915
I usually try to stay within the mid-high average of prices depending on the item. I don't like undercutting my fellow artists by huge margins, and if you can make a higher profit, why not do it? It also hurts the overall market when everybody is trying to compete and lower their prices to beat out other people with low prices. Art is a luxury, not a necessity; nobody needs to be paying dirt cheap prices for your hard work.
It really does make a difference too. I upped the price on some of my better selling items by a couple dollars and nobody fussed since it was still in the average for the alley overall, and I made a ton more just from that one change. I also don't need to reprint a bunch more shit for my next con even if i didn't sell quite as many, so it saves me on costs in that department too. It makes a world of difference to not price too low desu.
>>8729105
I don't understand why my last word got turned into 'desu' but you get the picture.
>>8728765
Oh, really? Sweet, I'll be there with my granny cart and button maker. What time/where in the commons?
>>8729108
world filter for "to be honest" mi familia
>>8729142
Gazebo around noon. Should be a pretty ok turnout.
Is there any printing place in he US that prints international paper sizes? All my prints are formatted for A4 and my only option looks like to trim all my prints after printing it on legal sized paper. I tried bringing some of my own paper to a local printer and they didn't want to print on it.
>>8729400
Doujinpress is the only option that I can think of right now but they're really pricey. You're better off calling all your local printers if you have the paper already.
>>8729400
Catprint does custom sizes.
>>8729144
why word filter that? it makes no sense
>>8729144
Dang, okay. Have to remember that for the future I suppose.
>>8729609
i feel like this place is so passive aggressive about critiqing coords that the acronym would be dropped a lot
>>8727624
They posted on FB today that they're switching to FCFS Jury like A-Kon.
>>8727414
Texas has several cons, and driving isn't too awful.
>>8727433
I've been thinking about stuff like this, and whether or not AA people sell some of their more normie things at craft shows.
>>8728589
Many of the larger cons that have that huge exposure had to go to the jury system and 'ban' certain types of overused things, like perler bead crafts. It sucks for those starting out, but I like that they had applied standards to what goes in.
>>8729609
Because t bh fa m sm h was overused on the other boards, along with c uck.
>>8727414
The only way you will get a following from an AA table is if you go to the same convention every year.
VERY few people will follow you after seeing you at a convention.
How popular you are has very little to do with how well you do at a convention.
>>8729660
Its a global filter, not /cgl/ exclusive.
>>8729917
oh so that's why my post turned into 'keked' the other day and I keep seeing desu everywhere.
what do people think about this?
http://theblerdgurl.tumblr.com/post/121104481939/25-reasons-why-you-dont-make-any-money-at-comic
>>8729917
i am going to write c uck just to see what it becomes, excuse me. kek
>>8730161
I think we've discussed it in an earlier thread. tl;dr some of it's good, most of it's dumb, all of it's definitely written by a non-artist.
Not a strictly AA question, so forgive me. I wasn't sure where else to ask.
I sold at a con for the first time earlier this year and several people were disappointed that I didn't have an online store. I've been considering it lately and I've heard good things about Storenvy and Tictail. Are sites like these difficult to use or go through? How does one figure out shipping costs and the like? I just wanted to ask for some advice before I jump right into it.
>>8730763
I've never used Storenvy or even heard of Tictail, but I use Etsy and it is really simple. To figure out shipping cost, just go to usps website and type in how much your item weighs and it will tell you the cost.
Make sure you post plenty of pictures and give your listings good titles and tags so people can find your stuff.
>>8729609
desu senpai i'm baka, kek
>>8727433
Art show anon here, I have 50/50 fanart / original prints and comics that I've worked on (not self published). I guess every art show has different rules about fanart, but I typically would make about $100 a night doing those shows for a few hours. I also live in a town with an art school and a bunch of nerds so ymmv.
>>8723375
The booth looks great, but all the things that they're selling is just so basic. I get the simplistic look of the paintings but if that's all that they have to offer then more than likely I would just skim over them.
>>8731337
Piggybacking to say I don't see any teddy bears (maybe I'm just blind) but that's disappointing since it's on their booth display that they make them. And the paintings are cute but I agree with the anon that they're basic, and as shitty as it is when I see stuff like that my first thought is "I could paint that if I actually really wanted it. "
>>8731544
no, i feel this as well. But i mean that could be said of a lot of things in artist alley (particularly simplistic plushies, text button, etc) which rely more on spontaneity and impulse buying than 'selling itself'
>>8730763
Don't open a store just because some people at a con told you to. Most con goers that ask about an online store only ask to get out of buying something in person, the follow up rate is so low (like less than 10%) than i just take it as a lost sale when they ask.
If you're popular and people ONLINE ask you to sell stuff online then go for it. But the "do you sell online?" line of conversation is mostly just a way for them to say they can't buy now but will totally buy later (not)
Who else is feeling that Sakura Con salt
I didn't get to hit submit for my app until 5 after... Hoping since the website was shitting itself that nobody got in on the dot.
>>8732164
same. The site was shitting itself.
>>8732164
None of my friends could get in till 6 minutes later. It's like Acen all over.
This whole year has been really shit, I get there's more competition but what's up with the juried cons. There's no standards when selecting.
>>8732203
It's not as bad as Sacanime was but I'm seeing people posting timestamps from a minute after to three mintues after can I'm feeling the dread.
Are the big cons really so worth it? I go into AA's for places like Anime Expo and there's so many artist tables there I have to go through half one day and half the next day, and I'm sure because there's so many tables there I miss stuff I'm super interested in. Also all the artists look crazy stressed and I feel bad even trying to talk to them...It looks so shitty basically.
Then I go to the tiny itsy bitsy cons like Anime Conji and Anime California and spend time at every booth that even mildly interests me, chatting and taking business cards, and if I find a table I really like I usually come back and buy things a second time. If I'm staying the whole weekend sometimes I go through the AA three or four times. Yeah there's less attendees but the quality interaction of small cons makes people buy more I think. The only people I see doing bad at the small ones are people trying to sell their graphic novel/comic. Even people with truly atrocious art get some interest if they're doing fanart, because there's a much smaller selection of things to look at.
Basically, is the stress of getting in/going to a huge con as an Artist really worth it when there's a plethora of smaller, cheaper, easy to get in, conventions? I registered for Anime Conji AA a few weeks ago and I'm sure there's still tables left now.
>>8732284
I think a lot of it depends on where you live. If you live squarely east coast/west coast you can find a lot of small cons to go to over big ones. Midwest/Mountain region has fuck all for cons though, at least in a plentiful enough amount, so I have to travel to big cons to make up for it and the cost of traveling itself.
Small - Mid cons are definitely less stressful than giant ones though, I agree. It's all up to you and what choices you have.
>>8732284
Depends on what you go for. The profit margin is usually enough to justify hitting up a huge con and dealing with flights. Plus, if you've done one or two, the rest are relatively easy to manage.
I like big cons for the profit and seeing friends I usually don't see. Big cons bring us together since everyone's there to table. Small cons are nice because they're less stressful, are good for getting rid of some inventory, and making a bit of pocket money on the side.
>>8732164
I got mine in at probably 3-4 minutes... We'll see. I'm still hoping to get off the waiting list for Wondercon or to see if my friend got a big enough table to share at Anime Boston though. I don't know what I'll do if all three fall through.
>>8732284
I use small cons to fund large ones. I typically hit up a small/one day events before a large con because with them, I earn enough to cover at least major expensive. Last small con I did had a $30 table, and I earned enough to cover plane, hotel, and merch for an out of state con so most expenses were covered already.
I was wondering if artists at any recent AA's were selling Undertale merch, since it's blown up recently.
I'm asking because I'm doing my first AA in March and I have a lot of Undertale merch ideas, but I heard from a friend that the creator was against it. Are people still selling anyways?
>>8732412
Toby's taken the disney appoarch to fanart and has basically told people to report undertale fanart in AA's because "they're taking money from me, the poor indie."
>>8732412
it's like homestuck, don't make merch to sell at cons unless you want to have a bad name and for sure people will call you out on it
>>8732412
the bad reputation isn't worth it
>>8732414
what's wrong with that? hes not a company, the game was funded by a kickstarter, and there is official merch available for people to buy so he probably wants people buying that.
welcome to night vale has the same policy too, not sure if that changed since their book came out.
>>8732412
As far as I know only people that worked on the game have permission to do merch. Fans will hound you for doing it.
>>8732425
I've never understood the thought that if people buy fan merch they won't buy the official and vice versa. At least my motive buying the stuff lies solely on the look of it. If it looks pleasing to my eye, I don't care if it's fanart or the official poster etc.
>>8732414
>>8732421
This drove me crazy when it happened in Homestuck. I get it, everybody's got limited money and they can only buy so much art so the creators want it to be their art.... But a lot of the market isn't the same. Until creators start selling official prints of [popular pairing here], people are going to buy it from fanartists through unofficial channels.
>>8732565
If someone really wants a picture of [popular pairing here] they can just commission it, which Toby's ok with.
I rolled my eyes at the witch hunts that resulted from the Homestuck ban on fan merch, but the request is not an unreasonable one. This isn't Naruto or Kingdom Hearts, this is essentially one person's labor of love. It'd be like someone taking your OC and selling art of it and keeping the money for themselves and excusing it with "but I REALLY love your OC!"
>>8732562
It's less about wanting people to only buy your merch and more about keeping a firm hold on your intellectual property. There was more in-depth discussion of this when it was a big deal for Homestuck, but basically you have to put forth reasonable effort to protect your IP from unauthorized derivative works.
>>8732577
>It'd be like someone taking your OC and selling art of it and keeping the money for themselves and excusing it with "but I REALLY love your OC!"
If I had a webcomic or worked on a game that blew up in popularity I would fully be okay with people selling fanart. It's not like my fans wouldn't support me too if they happened to buy a print of my character from someone else. I get why others wouldn't want that though.
>>8732284
I'm interested in Anime Conji as well but I live in texas so I can't decide if I should try getting a table there or not. I want to try registering just in case I can't get into any of the tx cons but i wonder if Anime Conji be worth it to an AA newbie...
>>8732618
Well sure, but I wanted to make an analogy that people were more likely to be able to relate to. More people here probably have original characters vs webcomics.
Plus like I said, it's definitely not just about fan support. It's mostly about an individual protecting their intellectual property. If you don't have a big company with lawyers on hand to take care of any big threats to your IP's copyright, you have to be really guarded.
>>8732284
This post got me wondering, what cons do you consider the "best" and/or most profitable for the AA? I see a lot of talk about Sakuracon, Anime Boston, but what are your must-attends?
>>8732577
>>8732653
The blanket ban on HS merch was unfortunately more personal and stupider than that. Homestuck merch was banned in part because Hussie's aggressive girlfriend went full on batshit at an artist who sold hats. She spent a long time encouraging witch hunts on tumblr by posting artist info, and eventually laid a complete ban on 3d art (including commissions as well as sales of old cosplay outfits). But she gave the okay to 2d art commissions since she still had to stick it to hat-chan. She also spread a lot of misinformation about how it's illegal to make hats/cosplays because of copyright (not true) which means a lot of whiteknight babies still spend a lot of time harassing artists for wrong reasons. At one point she even sent a cease and desist letter to an etsy artist who sold zodiak charms who had never even heard of homestuck.
>Out of the fandom now but yes I am still mad that I never got to throw money at homestuck artists who made stuff other than the lackluster garbage sold in the official store
>>8732679
Oh no I remember all that, it was batshit. I was only referring to Toby's treatment of Undertale and encouraging people to respect his wishes.
Is it just me or does anyone get irrational discomfort when people post merchandise supply sources on AANI? lmao I'm probably just being dumb but when people post here I'm like yay but there I'm just like no STOP like don't share Vograce/etc with them!!!
LOL it sounds even dumber when I type it out but...just wondering if I'm the only one haha.
>>8732618
Read the last thing the post you quoted said. It's not about the small people.
If they don't make an effort to protect their IP, then a big company like Hot Topic can just start mass producing your shit. Unfortunately you have to protect your IP from all people and not just some.
>>8732650
Anime Conji is pretty small, I don't think it's worth coming here from Texas. I live two and a half hours away and am going to get a hotel for it and it's worth that much, but I really don't think it's worth flying/roadtripping.
>>8732876
Really? That's a shame, it looked like it would be a good first AA. But that's good to know beforehand, thx!
What cons would you recommend to make flying worth it?
>>8732852
No, that pisses me off too. AANI is a giant group compared to our little thread here, so shit can get passed around way more.
>>8732875
Also the thing that keeps companies like Hot Topic from reproducing shit from big companies with out permission despite fanart is those companies are large enough to have lots of good lawyers. They don't need to bother to stamp out every bit of fanart and trademark infringement because when someone big actually does it they can stomp them in court when it's a real issue.
Now, Undertale is selling very well and I'm sure toby has a good amount of money now. But he doesn't have big lawyer money. In the end, just freaking respect small teams like HS/NV/Undertale and don't be a dickhead.
>>8733235
>They don't need to bother to stamp out every bit of fanart
What would the point even be though? HS/NV/Undertale etc do not produce large varieties of art and posters, or even enough to provide their fans with their choice of favorite character. Forcing fanartists to stop isn't going to put all of those theoretical sales back in the creator's pocket - I'm not going to go buy a piece of art I think is unappealing, just because I can't find anything better. Same thing with steamrolling people who want to sell something that doesn't exist period in those stores, like pieces of clothing or other weird merch. I get wanting to protect your IP but there comes a point where you're just making your fans mad.
>>8732852
I feel the same. But I guess it's similar to how you don't mind sharing your food with your close friends, but don't really feel as inclined to share with a mere classmate, even if you have a fair amount of it.
> I put a lot of effort in finding this food; go find your own food you lazy shit
Yeah, the sentiment is petty irrational.
>>8733278
As the post a few replies up from mine said, if you don't defend a trademark in the USA you lose the rights to it. A very simplified way to put it is, if a bunch of artists sell Undertale merch, especially advertising it using the word "Undertale" or it's character names (trademarks), Hot Topic can then produce undertale merch and say "Hey they let artist X Y Z do it, so they lost the right to their IP and thus we can make as much money off it as we want"
Like that's just literally how Trademark works in the USA. Again if you have better lawyers of course you can tell HT to fuck it self but this is not the case with small creators.
>>8733305
And on the other hand you had the HS merch team sending take down notices to Etsy because people were selling pink striped scarves without mentioning Homestuck in the description once.
I get trademark defense has to happen but there's a middle ground that these creators refuse to acknowledge.
I just think it's kind of amusingly hypocritical that the company that was granted the license to make and sell Undertale stuff is a fanmerch company in of itself.
Though they both have Earthbound fandom roots somehow, I think? So maybe Toby was already buddies with them.
I thought Toby stated on the Undertale blog that he only wanted people to hold off from selling fan art until he set up an official store? I mean, it's up now but has he released a statement saying its ok? I'm just becoming more and more confused and I really hope that this mess won't become like Hussie's bullshit policy/witch hunt
>>8733353
if you go on his twitter he's done a bunch of tweets about individually asking people to stop selling undertale merch...i doubt it was just until the store opened.
>>8733325
HS regardless, talking Undertale only here. I don't know of any instance where toby has over reached, if anything he's been pretty hands off telling his fans to just report to constaff so it's kind of up to staff and artists to not be shit heads.
>>8733325
I wasn't a fan of Rachel and I know she did some batshit things to "protect" Homestuck, but you can't assume that every independent creator is going to be that iron-fisted about IP that is rightfully theirs to begin with, especially if that insinuation starts to turn into blaming the creators themselves.
Like aside from Rachel, which creators have been really that batshit about protecting their IP's? What "middle ground" are creators refusing to acknowledge, and why should they even acknowledge this "middle ground" if fans are gonna be complete asshats and not do what they're very politely asking them not to do?
>Starting up store.
>Putting down a fair bit of capital on essential start-up stuff.
>Ordering packing supplies from AliExpress.
>$4.50 for 300 cute plastic 10"x10" packing bags.
>EMS shipping is $24.
I mean, at least next time I can order more before I actually NEED them and the ~2 month wait on free shipping won't matter.
>>8732894
I was at Anime Conji last year and just said 'fuck it' and took a train to Wondercon, because it was a ghost town. And all of the ghosts were 12 year olds. Definitely not worth it.
>>8733353
No, he used the "we're getting the official store up soon" to try to placate people and discourage them from making their own merch.
>>8733334
It is pretty ironic. It's hardly hypocritical, though - if Nintendo didn't want fanmerch of Earthbound to be made, I'm sure that Fangamer would have heard of it by now and would have stopped. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of them because of the whole fanmerch thing, but they have good enough suppliers. IMO it would have been nicer if he'd been able to get in with ThinkGeek, since all their stuff is 100% licensed - but I dunno if UT is THAT big.
>>8733325
That was Homestuck, this is Undertale. Two different creators. Toby has been nothing but polite thus far and there's really no reason to not honor his request. I mean, we wouldn't even have Undertale if not for him, and all he's asking is people not specifically produce stuff based on his work for profit.
>>8733278
You can still commission something if you really want it, so it's not like people have been completely cut off from getting unique items; I bet if there's a poster-style piece you really like by a fan, you could message them privately and ask if you could pay them for a one-off print of it. Hell, in my experiences with Homestuck fanartists, they would usually have a few Homestuck prints on hand to give to fans 100% free, or free with another purchase. Just because something isn't being mass produced for sale out of respect for the creator's request doesn't mean it's not being produced at all.
>>8733305
>Hot Topic can then produce undertale merch and say "Hey they let artist X Y Z do it, so they lost the right to their IP
Kids selling fanart on the internet usually don't have a company name or pay taxes on their revenue. Hot Topic is going to get laughed out of court if they point to Joey McTumblr's $100 of fanart sales as a reason why they can mass produce merchandise to be sold in brick and mortar stores - Joey McTumblr has practically zilch marketplace presence or searchability so it's entirely reasonable that the trademark owner didn't know about them in the first place. If you are selling something with enough of a marketplace presence to garner attention, THEN yes, a trademark holder will probably not turn a blind eye toward you for the reasons you stated. But folks in the AA? There is a reason real companies don't give a shit about sending a cease and desist to most fanartists unless you have become ungodly popular.
I'm totally fine with artists who don't want to sell webcomic art out of respect for the artist, but it really rustles my jimmies when people try slap incorrect legalese on top of it to scare or shame people.
>tfw want to do AA to meet new people and pass the time at conventions but lone person and no idea what crafts I'm good at
I probably should have tried harder in art class but drawing was never my thing.
>>8733305
But copyright can't be lost. He could theorically allow people to sell "underground story" fanart.
>>8734048
What you're thinking of is copyright, and you're right, you don't really have to fight to protect copyright - it's yours no matter what. (Person you're replying to specifically said trademark, which doesn't completely apply.) But a copyright holder has every right to request that people do not profit off of derivative works.
We, as fanartists, do not have a "right" to sell prints or keychains of our fanart. We're incredibly lucky that so many big companies are not serving up C&D letters like candy to us. It's not mean or stupid of someone to not want artists to take their hard work (character design, marketing, and in Toby's case: programming, music, writing, everything) and turn it into a personal money machine.
>>8734048
>>8734138
Why do you guys gotta be such dicks about trying to get around like one dude's request? Can you not see that in any case it could potentially open up some legal issue that small indie creators would just not want to deal with? Like it's not enough that we all profit off big name IP illegally but you guys have to try SO HARD to justify profiting off every single thing you think you're entitled too?
And FWIW as soon as someone has proof they e-mailed you about someone using your trademark then you will "know about" it, and it's just easier to say everyone stop than it is to turn a "blind eye" to hundreds of fanartsts at cons. And the boogeyman isn't always Hot Topic or Walmart or whatever, it can be smaller companies that still pull significant revenue like sharkrobot or teeturtle which start making people ask why can an artist with 5000 (or 10k, 20k, 50k, etc) followers sell but X company can't, etc. etc., it's just easier to not be a douchebag isn't it?
Is one of you guys trolling aani because this guy has got to be fake
>>8734151
Agreeing with all this, I'd like to also point out that people who get their fan merch printed in China are basically shoving this stuff into Chinese sellers' hands. So your "little" order of charms or whatever can later turn up on alibaba and ebay and create a whole new headache for the IP owner.
>>8733827
Well of course it's a ghost town compared to Wondercon. It's a tiny one floor of a hotel anime convention compared to a bigass convention center comic-con. It's not even fair to compare those two.
Has anyone sold zines before? I'm planning on making a small one (5-6 pages) but I'm not really finding any useful information online.
How much should they generally sell for? Anything I should know before I begin?
>>8734270
Minicomics sites might be a good resource. Check what people charge at spx or fluke for comparisons
>>8734156
Jesus christ this guy. His first post was literally "what's popular so I can hustle", asking for what everyone thinks is most popular and will sell best. Most people got pissed at him for trying to make a quick buck without understanding AA etiquette or fundamentals and he just kept whining about how negative everyone was. Then with this he keeps complaining about how he can't make an investment if he's not going to make profit instantly. I don't think he's even an artist because he keeps referencing his friend being the one drawing and saying he's the manager or something. He just wants everyone to hand things to him and thinks he's going to strike rich off the back of his artist friend by drawing what's popular.
>>8734151
I'm not even an artist, just a bitter whiner who's upset I can't buy the kind of merch I want because the creators don't sell it and have made sure nobody else can either.
>>8734384
You are allowed to commission someone at any time.
About Undertale.
Do you think it'd be iffy to bring prints to cons just to show off / maybe printtrade? I'd slap a "not for sale" on them oobviously. I'm just really into it and I've drawn a bunch of stuff I'm proud of, on top of talking about fandoms and trading with other artists being a huge part of what I enjoy about selling in the AA.
>>8734566
I remember that back when Homestuck was a big thing, people would bring Homestuck prints and buttons and stuff and do deals where you can have one for free with purchase of other stuff.
I don't know about the legality of that but a lot of people did it.
>>8734578
I remember people who did little homestuck 'goodie bags' if you spent a certain amount. Like if you spent $25+ they'd give you a little baggie with a homestuck button or two, a sticker, and a postcard sized print. They didn't seem to be getting any flack and I thought it was a nice idea to showcase their homestuck art without technically selling it.
>>8734400
Commissioning isn't the same as having a wide variety of prints/merch to choose from. Think about it, to commission a decent artist for a full color, background included, full body pic of a character is around $60. Let alone your fave chars interacting or a dynamic group shot which could easily run in the $100's. Getting a commission for a print is in no way comparable to being able to see a wide range of prints for sale and picking one or two for $15 each.
I'm sure this problem will be solved once more stuff is added to the merch shop like the plethora of stuff currently in the homestuck shop, but it is frustrating for sellers and buyers at once to love this insanely popular thing that can't be touched by artists. Also, there's always certain kinds of styles/topics that will never be used in official art.
>>8734631
There are dozens if not hundreds of artists starting out who will happily, unintentionally, undercut themselves because they're new and/or poor so you can get your fan art fix on the cheap. You could also donate to artists who have made quality fanart buy aren't selling it and ask their permission to have it printed for your personal use if you really want it on your wall that badly. I'm not trying to be harsh here, it's just, you're complaining about a problem that has multiple solutions.
>>8734631
Like, I'm sorry you can't have the pleasure of an impulse buy at a convention but even then I saw several small undertale items being sold at the last event I went to. Perlers, stickers, bookmarks, and even a print or two. They might have been reported by the end of the con but there are artists and alleys out there that don't know or don't care about Toby's wishes so it's not impossible. But even if they allowed it, what's to say you'll like anything depending on who decides to make it? It's a lot easier to just find someone to commission.
>>8734384
Have you tried tell toby this instead of whining on a thread of artists who don't want to go against the wishes of a guy who made a really cool thing they like?
Like we all would love to make money off the IP but really you're just kinda shoving it our face and also simultaneously saying you refuse to spend legitimately.
>>8734566
Some artists at my local conventions have a portfolio of works they're not selling (commission work, homestuck stuff) that they display next to their business cards, I think it should be fine as long as you're clear that they're not for sale
Really, I think Toby should be contacting some of the artists in the fandom and striking up deals with them. Prints, charms, etc are cheap to produce. People are already drawing super quality artwork en masse. It'd take little effort for Toby to put together a store of AA flavor merch whereby he gets his cut and the fanartists that boost Undertale get tossed a bone too. We'd get an array of quality and unique merch without AAs being flooded with unlicensed soulless crap, Toby would make money, all should be happy.
Instead we're stuck with like 5 pieces of blandass merchandise. I really do think he'd make more money off of merch sales if he were to pick and choose within the fandom. I mean really, theres a reason fanartists can sell a few pieces of paper for $30 when the dealer`s room is right around the corner.
>>8734631
>plethora of stuff currently in the homestuck shop
It took literal years for that to happen actually - there was a stint of time when the shop was pathetically small and featured 4 characters max, all with gen art obviously (and there are STILL characters noticeably absent). Hopefully Undertale will be different but even that is wishful thinking unfortunately.
>>8734701
Toby needs to strike while the iron is hot. He doesn't plan on creating another Undertale game. The crazed obsession going on right now is going to die significantly within a year.
>>8734566
That should be fine, I and a lot of others did that at the height of Homestuck and never caught any flack for it.
>>8734701
You're right. There's no way for the creators of the stuff to keep up and churn out art catered to the fandom like the fandom itself can.
>>8734156
every once a while a thread like this would pop up and brings joy to my eyes.
speaking of which, he actually posted his "art" isn't that just photo mash up?
>>8735204
>>8734156
hahahahaha
isn't he a 'music producer' or something
>>8735206
I can't believe people are helping him. I've never seen anyone who wants everything spoon feed.
>>8735206
So for real, where did he rip the image of the girl from? I cant find the source.
Honestly everyone who isn't making undertale merch anyway is a fool. It's flying off the shells on Etsy no matter what he's saying.
>>8735206
$13 per print, jfc he's stupid, and it kind of upsets me people are helping him. It's funny and terrible at the same time.
>>8735267
Its more the issue of respecting the wishes of the maker. Sure you can probably never get caught even if you sell it but its a shitty thing to do.
>>8735206
Yeah. Check out these sick designz for his CD. To be fair they're like 4 years old but I can't find any other examples of his "art" on his profile.
>>8734695
Except working out licensing and royalties with several people is not easy at all. I did art for some of the Homestuck albums and the process of getting your work into the print store and getting paid was an absolute pain in the ass. Just go commission someone or ask an artist if it's ok for you to print out their artwork yourself at Staples. Toby has been nice, not pushy at all, and yet people have nothing better to do than complain about it. Stop, it's shitty.
>>8734270
I made a zine of Gravity Falls fanart, it was about 24 pages and I sold it for 10 bucks, everyone told me to sell it for more but honestly I was just trying to get it sold & share my love for the series (as well as cover con costs- which I did!)
I think it's up to you, but if it's original it's usually like 5 dollars or whatever. Like work out how much it costs to print and then take that and put a few dollars profit on it, depending if it's original or a popular series etc.
>>8735318
Please tell me this is a joke. I could do better when I was ten and messing about on Paint.
Also, 60 for a print? People have got to be trolling him.
>>8735206
this guy has been going on about ‘managing’ his friend for days but doesn’t even know the word ‘bust’ means a chest-up picture, thinks aa is a get rich quick scheme, and is trying to pay $13 for a single print
his friend has some pretty decent talent and it’s unfortuante this guy is being shitty because he’s just gonna try and suck his friend dry without actually doing anything. this level of spoonfeeding is absurd too. he calls himself a hustler but won't even do enough hustle to fucking look in the group docs for sources.
>>8735621
Well, I was trolling him... And we were right it being a (shitty) photomash
>>8735741
His artist friend needs to dump his scheming "hustler" ass. How is AANI not imploding themselves over his art theft? And I get legitimately pissed every time I see someone give him concrit and his response is "why are you insulting me? Wow I thought this group was supposed to be supportive".
>>8736068
Does anyone have pics of his friend's art? I didn't see any posted to AANI, but maybe I just missed it.
>>8736075
This is his friend. Honestly I think the "manager" is seriously taking advantage of their friendship and is just trying to milk his friend's talents for his own profit.
>>8735741
God bless whoever is trolling him for the image source he stole. Which, shocker, is an actual stolen digital painting and not royalty free. His response was pretty much "lol k not my fault it was stolen". So trashy.
>>8736131
Mod just told him off. Shots fired. Capping for hilarity.
>>8736131
I swear this guy must be an elaborate troll, everything is too perfect.
>>8736141
"Lol y'all, sue me I dare you"
Oh my god I love this guy.
>>8736143
I hope someone is screencapping this shit.
>>8736131
I just...I couldn't take it anymore. After not being able to find anything with Google Image, I just "fuck it" and laid the trap.
And our hustler was a sucker.
Good riddance!
>>8723504
Uh, to be honest your business card isn't very appealing. It's too much information to cram into a business card and the picture looks like clipart.
>>8723754
Wow, that's so creative! I see your booth at cons sometimes but I didn't pick up a card! I'll make sure to get one next time because those are just awesome.
Okay so one more vograce question for those who have ordered through them before for the epoxy charms I've seen almost everyone only have one side with their drawing and then one color on the back sometimes with a quote or their url, is there rules on how detailed you have to have the back or can you put another drawing there or is it recommended not to be very detailed? I'm putting my files together and I just want to have everything ready for coco already, or did you guys ask for a template first?
>>8736103
I don't think that friend have much talent either, the elf one is referenced from sakimichan and pretty sure the other ones are from photos too
he got kicked hahahaa
that thread is pretty lulzy
>>8736577
Haha, wow. I still feel bad for his friend but man.
>>8735267
Yeah I love getting shit talked by my peers for blatantly profiting off some indie designer's hard work against his wishes. Anyone who isn't totally into money over dignity and basic respect for a fellow creator is such a fool.
Do you guys have any ways of displaying earrings and necklaces without taking up too much table room? I still want to have room for my prints and I'm sharing a table.
Maybe other table space management/solutions would be cool too!
>>8736770
They have mini earring stands to display those. I recently got one for 99cents and it's tiny but still works.
>>8736131
This guy clearly knew that he was being a shit about it too. "Oh teehee I don't have the full source name so I can't give you that or a searchable image <3 <3 <3" Meanwhile, you can clearly see half the source name in his shitty cellphone pic. I'm curious how trap-chan managed to find it honestly... good job on that.
>>8736790
These can also be made from a pretty picture frame and some fine wire mesh (like window screen). The benefit to the wire mesh one is not only can you make it whatever size and hang things in whatever arrangement, but you could also easily stick some hooks into it to hang necklaces and bracelets as well.
So I got a bunch of mini bottles for making necklaces or charms with, with the idea that they are good for a lot of things. However I am brainfarting and Pinterest is only showing me the same few ideas on repeat (terrarium, fairy in a bottle, galaxy in a bottle, bits of paper/sayings/origami, and dandelion fluff). Most of the ones I have are like the second from left in pic related, but I also have other tiny ones. Is there any super creative thing you've seen done with them?
>>8738575
Make some witches brews/potions with the fancier looking ones.
>>8738575
Beach in a bottle. Sky in a bottle. Emergency potpourri. Blood vials. Dragon souls (like, fill it with gems and claim they are soul gems, or with thick colourful liquids)
>>8738575
Small animal bones/teeth, gemstone flecks all of one type (rose quartz to attract love/hematite for protection/etc). Dried herbs, essential oils. The color scheme of a character with sand layers.
I did this before for a local craft show but do you think there's a market for little pillows with dried lavender in them at anime conventions?
You can put them in a drawer to make your clothes smell nice or in your pillow to smell lavender when you go to sleep. I was thinking of making them with some cute patterned fabrics I had left over and selling them for $5 each.
>>8738575
Polymer clay organs? Heart in a bottle has a nice ring to it.
>>8738777
I'd buy them to scent my luggage. I always cringe a little when I have to pack all my dirty clothes/costumes up in my suitcase again if I don't have time to do laundry in the hotel.
>>8738781
seconding this, i would buy a heart in a bottle. only if it's anatomically correct though.
For those of you who've printed stands before, what do you like to price them at? I was gonna print some 6" ones to use as whiteboards and I wasn't sure what a good price point was.
Apparently Emily Hu (averyniceprince/barleytea) is a cheating and lying artist?
>>8739127
This reads like a petty comment from someone who knows who they are to me.
>>8739171
>>8739174
Different anon but I read this backwards since I'm too used to twitter's format, but anyways, this sounds more like a personal problem than it is art/business wise.
Not all artists are gonna be sweet saints from the heavens above so what happens in the relationships between friends/SO/otherwise should not interfere with their business if they keep a consistent output with their work.
I don't know what you were fishing for but if this is a personal problem then it's really none of our business.
>>8739174
every time these crazy tumblr types cry about being "cheated on" it's "emotional cheating" and they're just exaggerating it for asspats
>>8739174
>ableist
sounds like a tumblr baby
>>8739174
>she's abelist
you can't just say that and not elaborate, twitter man
>>8739127
You've been dragging her in a couple threads. Knock it off, nobody cares.
good god, i hate when people do that thing where they breakup a relationship or friendship and they repaint their memories of the person / situation as this big negative thing. is it so hard to acknowledge that you were close with this person for so long because for a good period of time you were happy together.
now it's even worse because with tumblr activism and everyone having a degree of human flaws you can publicize and paint your ex as a literal villain.
>>8739667
>now it's even worse because with tumblr activism and everyone having a degree of human flaws you can publicize and paint your ex as a literal villain.
I hate to break this to you, but this was a thing way before Tumblr. I get it--social media makes it easy to publish this stuff and Tumblr's the go-to scapegoat edgelords love, but I really can't help but feel like you don't live much at all outside of whatever concentrated area of the internet you hang out in when whenever someone says shit like this. It doesn't even make sense. We're on a website famous for vendetta. You're mad at technology.
>>8739670
My bad, there's an extra "when" in there.
>>8739670
oh, i know everyone does this in real life too, it's just what people do. but now instead of keeping it within whatever circle of friends, you've dragged an army of impressionable 14 year old idiots into it.
>>8739675
That's fair. I think the fact that the whole of the internet fucks up the line of privacy made me knee jerk a bit.
>>8739687
Especially since we're talking about a screen cap of tweets, not tumblr posts.
>>8739675
pre internet, if they're part of a community like the bdsm one or w/e, they usually drag the community into the spat. romans probably carved drama into the walls along with ancient memes
>>8738585
could make for harry potter merch even? like harry's felix felicis was a gold liquid in a little bottle. that would look nice.
>>8739127
Did Emily do something to you? No one cares about your petty vendetta.
>>8738781
>>8738796
This would actually be awesome but the necks of the bottles are all quite small, and I don't know how I'd get it in there. Think like the thickness of a pencil at the biggest.
>>8738585
>>8738749
The witchy ideas are pretty good and fit with my stuff, actually. Thanks!
>>8738591
What kind of liquids are recommended? I've done some before mostly using oil or soap but the coloring never seemed very stable. Also I found I have some pearl powders that would be nice for a potion or dragon/unicorn blood of some kind, but would I want to use a thinner more swirly liquid for that?
>>8739190
I know a dude who broke up with his girlfriend for 'emotionally cheating' on him. Meaning she had a pre-existing crush on someone else but never acted upon it or brought it up while dating him, and he only found out by straight up asking her who she'd like to date if they never got together.
For cons that require a portfolio submission, what do you guys do? Do you submit your art portfolio (fan art or original) or pictures of the items you will be selling?
>>8740204
I'd say art portfolio if you're doing art and pictures of items if you're doing crafts. If both, do a mixture of your best stuff.
What do you guys think about grey area selling?
>artist copies someone else's idea
>makes kickstarter with copied idea
>funds it and sells at cons
>>8739127
I bet your the person who started her thread on lolcow
>>8740574
Do people seriously drop money for these embarrassing weeaboo/anime trash clothing lines?
>that terrible kerning
>>8740587
*you're
>>8740615
>weeaboo/anime trash
You're part of the problem faggot
>>8740574
The thing is that acrylic word snapbacks existed before either of the two artists started doing them. The original artist was basically stealing the idea from the Asian fashion industry anyway and there are only so many ways you can be ~creative~ with words catering to a con crowd.
I feel like it'd be safe to say that when you're in a market like the con scene, there's bound to be some overlap. But she's burned SO many bridges doing this and she specifically has admitted in private to other artists that she's stolen the supplier of the original artist and shit like that. It's kind of hilarious just how many people in the con scene do not like her.
The artist group that she hangs out with are all crazy protective of their suppliers too and some of them give out the wrong supplier on purpose to people who ask?? (Hilarious considering that she's talked about undercutting people/pricing out competition re: suppliers before.)
She's actually had a ton of AA drama before she started doing these hats too but I don't want to talk too much about that just in case the details give me away.
tl;dr - Acrylic letter hats weren't really the original idea of the "original" artist but yeah this girl definitely stepped on a lot of toes and pulled a shitty move.
>>8740668
Is there anyway I can talk to you privately? I'd like to talk about this more without giving myself away also.
>>8740095
Use resin for the liquid-looking ones.
>>8740107
Lucky escape.
>>8740574
That is a super shady thing to do. Honestly, I'd probably make them and sell them at the same cons just to see her reaction. Mature, I know, but my jimmies get very rustled indeed when people like this think they can get away with art theft.
And yes, I know >>8740668 said it was stolen from someone who basically stole the idea, but they probably didn't need a kickstarter and probably weren't generally terrible people. Making her shit her pants thinking that someone got hold of her super-secret holy grail supplier would be a reward in itself, imo.
>>8740695
Sure, shoot me an email or we can gchat or something. I made a throwaway email.
Are there any tips with ordering shirts and makeup bag with artcow? I'm mostly concerned with colors being too desaturated but I'll try to double-check on two different monitors.
