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No. 2116844
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>What do you make?
Classic stuff. Prints, pins, charms but also magnets.
>Where do you sell? Cons, local markets?
Cons because I know I sell more and I like to be in a closed environment without heat/cold and shitty wind blowing my stuff off.
>What's the item that sells best/worst?
Best: keychains and pins, Worse: big prints
>Any advice for old and new artists and crafters?
For new people: don't think of it as a job day one. Relax, take it easy, take notes about what happens at cons so you know how to prepare yourself for the next one but most importantly, don't get deluded. Expect to sell zero so you don't fall in the "I should make more merch!" to fall into the scheme to maintain numbers. Avoid ocs (I've seen newbies trying to sell oc merch)
For old people: stop being fucking lazy once you get famous. Stop doing shitty stuff just because your know your fans will buy anything.
>Somebody tried to scam you? Rob you? Harrassed you? Any horror stories?
Mothers use their children to steal, one time one came, grabbed a big charm, gave it to her toddler and said "Will you give it to her? She likes it so much?" She was already drooling on it like what the fuck. Also older men telling me over and over if that's really my job and if I'm allowed to do that blahblahblah (sadly here, cons aren't restricted to 18+ only unless they have nsfw panels so children come with their parents because they see cosplayers and go fuck yeah this is a thing for children). I don't want to put clear wrap on my booth to avoid this stuff but I'm thinking about it.
>What's something you cannot stand in a con/market? Cringy cosplayers? Rude people? Other vendors being insufferable?
People talking as if I'm not even here like "What is this lol" or taking my stuff, say some incharacter or infandom joke to their cosplayer friends and then putting it back like at least don't come near me. In other vendors, I hate when they only do popular shit, for example for the last 2 years it was Genshin now it's Hazbin hotel because I know, one hundred percent sure, that that vendor is fucking lazy and isn't really an artist but a mere merchant. I don't buy from people who don't have anything original or don't do stuff from weird/niche stuff like why are you here you clout chaser, it also gives nevrotic person who constantly refreshers twitter for the latest trend and I don't want to buy from them to feed off their illness.
On merch, I hate anything queer like pronouns or sexuality pins.
The first because not only they're useless, because no one is gonna look at your bag first to address you, but they look like store clerk idk and for sexuality, it's creepy. Like why do I need to know what people this person fucks? I don't do that shit, even if I know it would sell a lot. It makes them look like tagged cattle.
No. 2116909
>>2116172>What do you make?Charms. Pins. Prints.
>Where do you sell? Cons, local markets?Animé conventions.
>What's the item that sells best/worst?Charms, hands down. Charms and especially obscure characters from popular properties.
>Any advice for old and new artists and crafters?Newbs: Don't expect to make money. Print small quantities of around 10 pieces a pop. That thing that you think will sell? It will not sell. So just make 10 of it.
Olds: The amount of pride merch on your table drastically reduces my wish to throw money at you.
>Somebody tried to scam you? Rob you? Harrassed you? Any horror stories?Being surrounded by furries and trannies with violent tendencies. Normal males are no problem, trannies have scary vibes more often than not. I had a very bad encounter with some furries that more or less ruined my ability to trust other humans, so knowing that they're around makes me anxious.
>What's something you cannot stand in a con/market? Cringy cosplayers? Rude people? Other vendors being insufferable? Vendors greeting me. To me, it means 'I want your money' and that's fine by me, but I decide if you get my money, by perusing your merchandise.
No. 2116933
>>2116896No my lovely nonna but at least I'm in Europe, dreaming of going "up there".
For two years it was shit here because everyone was up in genshin bullshit and I also got flamed because one time I said that if I see genshin in tables I don't check out everything else (I don't have time for that), other vendors told me that I was a pickme and hated my colleagues because I didn't want them to make money like what no I hate hypebeasts that's different my little cloutchasers
No. 2117773
Idk if this is a weird ick to have but I hate faggy males at anime convetions who have basic paint tool sai skills/trace over popular american/asian artists and people buy their shit because omg a boy doing this so cuteeeee!! They always have the same bouncy pokemon style a-la-meyoco. What's up with this.
No. 2120025
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>>2116844You could get cute displays for your stuff like picrel that you can protect with acrylic sheets to stop retards from stealing your stuff. Parents are the absolute worst at cons, you can always count on failed stage moms and peaked-at-15 dads to make life a living hell for every attendee, including their kids.
>>2116340It's a bit pointless to do older or less popular series for con merch. Fandoms have no lasting power these days and minimum order quantities and fees make it hard to justify doing even a small run of charms for a fandom that's old or obscure. It might sell online, but when cons are 95% Genshin fanatics, it's a waste of money and space.
No. 2121431
>>2121101True, it's soul sucking to pander exclusively to FOTM fans, you have to keep up with endless samey shitty isekai magical girl webtoon shounen high school slop with zero plot and a repeating cast of stereotype characters, all of them are overdesigned as fuck, you need to be the first one to churn out merch or the zoomers will spend their pocket money elsewhere and leave you with piles of unsold merch, and it sucks all the fun out of art. I honestly don't know how these artists do it, I get burnout just thinking about it.
>>2120172You could sell generic kawiwi animu shit that incorporates references to the stuff you like. You'd get a lot more customers who like the aesthetic and fellow fans will be able to pick up on the references. There's a lot of garish tacky merch out there, making subtle and actually wearable pieces will get you a ton of customers who don't want to look like the world's cringiest billboard.
No. 2121449
>>2121431>I honestly don't know how these artists do it, I get burnout just thinking about it.If they're not into it themselves, they burn out REALLY FAST. The most profitable AA artists are extroverts who hop from popular fandom to popular fandom and genuinely enjoy the buzz of community and participating in it, they come up with the innovative ideas and create fun fan merch people actually find worth their money. The artists who try to churn endless amounts of Genshin charms while never even having opened the game are borderline grifters who become bitter, lazy and resentful, and it shows in their work.
>You could sell generic kawiwi animu shit that incorporates references to the stuff you like. This is the advice I always give to people myself because it's true. Just create generic original works that anyone can buy and use. That way you wont end up with tons of useless merch of a fandom that already went out of style while you were waiting for them to get printed.
No. 2121526
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If any nonnas still sell MHA merch they should start making less and phase it out because the manga just ended the other day.
Do people still sell a decent amount of prints? I was at a convention last month and wasn't particularly drawn to any of the stalls. The only thing I bought was a keyring strap made of vintage kimono. I guess I'm bored of the same-y anime merch. There's only so many charms, buttons and prints a girl can buy before she's bored. I low-key miss the handmade stuff from conventions back in the day. Yes, there's still handmade things like my keystrap but there's a severe lack of crafters.
No. 2121701
>>2121526Not
all MHA merch slingers. If there's any doujinonnas out there, they should consider making an alternate ending doujin for Deku considering how disappointed a lot of readers are kek. Anyway, my con-seller friends tell me that smaller prints (A4 and smaller) do decently compared to poster sizes. But, it sounds like a lot of people are in the same boat as you, where they want something other than buttons and charms. My most successful friend sells anime themed candles, but we don't live in a very saturated market so anything outside of the norm does pretty well.
No. 2125543
>>2116340I was about to say the same thing. I get it though because having a table in a con must cost a lot, prices keep increasing for my local con according to artists who used to go there and stopped. But it's so soulless now. I went to the local con last year in December and it was full of Genshin Impact, FF14, and shonen jump and Berserk prints that were just badly traced panels, sold by shonentards. On the other hand, the things that interested me the most were a lot more original, small crochet plushies of pokemon, decorations made of wood that looked like street food signs, small "bags" to cover your books, etc. so most of it was original content. It's making me hesitate to go back, I'm not sure it's worth it anymore but I really love the few things I bought there. Last time I went to Japan expo almost everything was also Genshin Impact and FF14 but the rest was a little more varied and there were artists from all of Europe and not just locals. I was going through everything I bought in cons this past decade so far that I didn't get rid of yet and it was very varied, it's half popular things, half things that were a lot less famous after the series ended, so I got pretty nostalgic.
No. 2127957
>>2125543Perhaps if tables weren't so expensive people could make things of old/unpopular fandoms because it wouldn't be such a loss.
>>2121701I don't think I've ever seen doujin at any con I've been to other than doujins imported from Japan.
No. 2128015
>>2117773Overall I agree but I actually like snackyboy lmao but he's like my only exception because I do like his art and at least at the cons I go to literally nobody else does the same style as him. I'm a pokemonfag tho and it's hard to find pokemon merch here for some reason (the reason is genshin, or whatever else is the "it" game/show at the moment) so I appreciate him having art with unusual pokemon in environments. At best other sellers here do plain starters and eevee and call it a day.
I also like that he's never done any troon or pronoun shit in his art, at least not that I've ever seen. Men who do troon art are the most insufferable misogynistic people on earth.
>>2120025>Parents are the absolute worst at consI've never noticed this so thanks for the heads up nonas. I can see why entitled moms/parents would steal for their child because "it's just plastic anyway".
No. 2128028
>>2121449>The most profitable AA artists are extroverts who hop from popular fandom to popular fandom and genuinely enjoy the buzz of community and participating in itRelated to this: I see so much advice for new sellers of how and what to invest in, yet no one is pointing out the obvious fact that if you're an introvert you're probably going to hate selling at cons! That they'll drain you out fully and you'll need a week minimum to recover.
Same with autists (I am one kek) I see so many weeby introvert autists who ask "hey Already Established Big Artists could I also sell at cons despite being a bit shy and on the spectrum?" and they're all "yes totally, we believe in you uwu" but no one is telling them the reality that they'll probably hate it. It's loud, VERY crowded, if it's a gamer con or just in summer time people are often stinky and sweaty, you may not be able to get "safe" foods, people will talk to you to buy stuff and you have to look somewhat competent and social. All of your senses will get offended and there's nothing you can do about it! And this goes on for many hours, usually for multiple days. It's just not suited for everyone.
No. 2128034
>>2121526>Do people still sell a decent amount of prints?I kind of don't trust people who don't sell any prints. It could just be postcard sized prints and we're good, that's all it takes. It just rubs me the wrong way and feels incredibly un-artistic to not just sell "pure art" like prints, if that makes any sense. If they just sell keyrings and pins of popular characters I know they're just in it for the money and don't care about the art aspect, so that makes me not care to support them as an artist.
I also find if a display is made up of like 200 small keyrings and pins it looks super messy and overwhelming so I'm not drawn in to look at anything. Artists need big prints so you can actually see their art.
No. 2128075
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I'll bite and post some con drama from the biggest Scandinavian con Närcon, held in Sweden. It's been posted about in other threads so I hope nonas don't mind! Their discord has been buzzing with some upset artists who think staff are insufficient at enforcing 18+ rules or who fail at judging what is actually too sexual to be sold to kids. Currently it seems they only judge things to be any level of sexual if they depict actual sex acts, OR have "female presenting nipples". Squeezing a girls boobs covered only by a tiny meat bikini as she drools, fetish gear on sexually posed butts or loli-material sold to actual pedos is all ok.
Not pictured is another staff member publicly replying (in Swedish, hence why I left it out)
>"NärCon is guaranteed to have people to have pedophilic thoughts, just like society at large. There's no way to get around that."
and concluding that just because some people might get sexually turned on by drawings of children doesn't mean EVERYONE is, so that means it's ok to sell the loli bodypillows because potentially a non-pedo could want it too, and that selling body pillows likely doesn't create new pedos so they might as well keep selling loli stuff to the pedos… Also this staff member called themself "academic" before writing all this shit.
The convention also openly encourages kids to walk around alone without parents or aults, for them to meet "friends" they've only talked to online but never met before, and was founded by a questionable polysexual they/them man named Sam Anlér.
Overall artists express they don't feel safe expressing their own real opinion of NärCon, and the staff is like "but we're all sooooo nice and safe uwu" and defend each other while openly shooting down criticism like that squeezing boobs could possibly be seen as sexual.
No. 2128089
>>2128083>Time for Uppdrag Granskning to get involved?God I fucking wish!!! Also forgot to mention there is no lower age limit on their volunteers and they encourage kids to join and work for them. I've seen people say they know 11-12 year olds who worked there, and I've had friends who worked in their mid teens.
Sorry to be a a bit too bloggy and possibly OT, I've also been one of the kids walking around alone as a teen, since it was so "safe" according to them. I was approached by adult men (one at a time, but on several occasions) who "felt bad" for me since I was alone so they invited me to come play games with them and convinced me that we should exchange phone numbers to keep in contact afterwards. I've also been openly sexually molested by older teen girls (who I did not know, we were literal strangers). This all happened in front of people, including adults, and no one reacted at all and I guess just assumed it's ok and we must know each other or something because again "närcon is so safe, go explore your sexuality kids uwu". Kids are NOT safe at NärCon.
No. 2128203
>>2128114närcon:
>is run by a poly troon moid>said moid tells parents to send their young kids to the con alone>con happily makes 11 year olds work there away from parents>con admits there are guaranteed to be pedos there>con admits they choose to cater to the pedos instead of at least trying to limit them>con regularly allows questionable sexual content for/depicting kidsnonas:
>nona admits she has been approached by pedos/predators at said con>other nona casually thinks an investigation should be done since the con is skimping out on kids safetyyou:
>"omg fucking stupid THOUGHT POLICE!!!11!!!!"literally what are you on mate, are you the artist who made the titty-mousepad or what?
No. 2128264
>>2127957In the US I usually find at least a couple zines, though artists tend to make them more like art books with just illustrations and full color etc.
I see booths selling imported doujin sometimes too but I feel like that's become less common the normier the cons have gotten.
Wish artists would do comics more often, I have a whole little rant about the way AA people do zines but I don't want to make a long post nobody will care about…
No. 2128461
>>2128225oops sorry, yes i agree with you other nonas and i meant
>>2128093 was stupid of course
No. 2128470
>>2128252They shat on purpose? As gross as it is some people do have medical issues or eat shitty food at cons that give them instant diarrhea or something so I try not to judge before I know what actually happened
>>2128264I usually don't see zines but recently a few here and there have popped up at cons here which is nice as I enjoy them.
>but I don't want to make a long post nobody will care about…nona sweetie please do it I would absolutely care, please rant about it! And same also to other nonas who have spergy con things to rant about I fucking love reading that shit
No. 2128499
>>2128203You know, as soon as I saw the mousepad and pedo pillow, I had this strange feeling that troons were involved. Is Sweden showing any signs of peaking at all? This is insane, encouraging 11 year olds to attend alone should be enough to get the police involved, never mind the pedo shit.
>>2128264Please write your rant! I love that shit, and it's useful to see someone else's opinions on zines. I've been thinking of getting into them myself.
No. 2128507
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>>2128264Nona please talk I'm all ears
Anyway I'm from Italy and here the situation is tragic. Every fucking year the prices go up for no fucking reason (around 300€) and the people who can afford a table at Lucca are seen as some nepo babies/con organization whores for having those spots, artists are now becoming too many and the market is oversaturated with the same 2-3 fandoms and when you try to have your idea about them being boring, they accuse you of being a hater and hating small businesses in general but then they always go "Well, we don't even like the fandoms but we have to eat!" get a fucking job then. It's a race for the bottom and less about actual creativity, every 2 months artist open preorders for FOTM merch and cry when they barely manage 400€ at month because a good portion (not all of them, thankfully) also claim to be too disabled to work or the work environment are too hateful because they're gendies and will not be believed/respected at work (this is true lol I can give them that but if your enby bogus entity is more important than rent and food get a fucking grip). I rarely see this thing in other eu countries because they're more brainrotted than us but since we aren't still a bit conservative, like we don't even have official gay marriages, most zoomer AA girlies are using hatecrimes on the job as an excuse to bitch and moan and act like royalty in AAs. You have no idea how bad this is and I hate to speak like this because I'm a bit older than these zoomers and it's been more than 10 years that I do cons as an artist and seeing all of these micro communities who mask themselves as safe spaces only to be little bitches piss me off, I also remember that one time one of these newbies tried to gift me a pronoun pin telling me to choose, when I told her, a typical gendie, that I don't feel comfortable with those exposed despite being pretty fucking obvious, she replied "well, everyone in AA is exposing their pronouns, so everyone can feel welcome at their booth!" what the fuck, do I look like a kindergarten? I'm here to do business, fuck off.
No. 2128512
>>2116909>What's something you cannot stand in a con/market?>Vendors greeting me. To me, it means 'I want your money' and that's fine by me, but I decide if you get my money, by perusing your merchandise.Oh wow I'm the opposite, I can NOT deal with vendors who just sit there looking down at their phone, lap, book, or drawing… As a customer I do NOT want to have to "bother" the seller to get their attention, that's poor customer service. Even worse when you go "um excuse me" and they don't even hear you, when that happens they lose out on selling to me.
I don't need them to greet me or speak to me, though if it's an artist I follow I like it and it makes me feel special that they "noticed me". But if it's a frankly bad/mediocre artist it just feels awkward so I totally get not liking it then because it feels rude to immediately walk away when you see their shitty art kek But even then I still find the inattentive vendors to be the absolute worst. Like
>>2128028 said if you're an introvert selling isn't really for you.
No. 2128513
>>2128500KEK
But you know even scoffing at a pronoun would 100% definitely get you kicked out. They have full tolerance for pedos, but transphobia is where they drawn the line…
No. 2128518
>>2128507>and cry when they barely manage 400€ at month because a good portion (not all of them, thankfully) also claim to be too disabled to work or the work environment are too hateful because they're gendiesSomehow that's always the case. Too disabled to work, until it's con season and suddenly all the disability is put on hold and they manage everything just fine.
>one of these newbies tried to gift me a pronoun pin telling me to choose, when I told her, a typical gendie, that I don't feel comfortable with those exposed despite being pretty fucking obvious, she replied "well, everyone in AA is exposing their pronouns, so everyone can feel welcome at their booth!" That's how they try to recruit to their religion. Good on you for turning it down!
No. 2128528
>>2128517I'm scandinavian (missed out on selling at this years NärCon
>>2128075 though)
>they come to my booth and say shit like "this is so cute!" where "cute" is the only eng word like holy shit please, no.You know what's funny the same people who say that shit will shit on weebs inserting Japanese in the exact same way. If someone goes "omg so kawaii" they'll roll their eyes in cringe. But you're doing the same thing! How do you not see it?!
No. 2128665
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>>2128490>For the love of kami-sama before you start selling please compare your goods to what other people sell and see if it's on the same level artistically. Rule of thumb is to consider if you yourself would have bought your own art if somebody else had made it. Especially if it's a popular character you've seen others sell, is yours honestly better than or on the same level as theirs? Does yours bring anything new to the table that makes it a unique must-have to buyers? I've seen newbies think selling their mediocre pencil copies of kpop stars is gonna sell like hotcakes.Absolutely fucking this, even a different finish will work. I don't make epoxy charms because I know it's overused and my merch will eventually blend with other merch so I make my charms all clean cut.
Broken holo is trendy? I use rainbow laser/glitter holo.
Colore clasps are trendy? I focus more on the designs by adding a little pop of color as background and I make all my clasp silver.
Most of all, I don't sell anything that I wouldn't buy/make for a friend as a gift. Also less designs but better placed on grids/frames makes the whole setting less overwhelmed and more pleasing.
Now if some nonna could be kind enough to answer this it could be very useful, help an autistic nonna which doesn't have much experience:
I consider myself shy but at cons I act out my fakeish seller personality. It's not a fake, just something that I try to put on. I smile at people who look at me/wave them hi (I don't say it out loud because con noise will cover my voice anyway and I don't like to scream) when I see that they're interested and if they get closer, I say "I'm here if you need something!"
I keep my business cards first thing on the table and all my merch is on average eye level, free to the touch so people can feel the texture/craftmanship, sometimes (not always) I will draw on my ipad directly on the table so people can look at in real time drawing sessions, esp. when there's less people around, so I can also unwind for a little moment.
My next con will be a con in the open, I got myself a little fan both for me and for the booth so people will not suffer from the heat so much while checking out my stuff and I was thinking about offering a small jar of candies, because sugar drops it's a thing during our humid summers in here it sucks.
Is that a bad idea? Ofc all the candies will be sealed and wrapped individually, high tier, store bought.
Care to share some advice, nonnas? What you would do, in my case, or what have you done that improved your con experience?
Will you accept my candy, nona…?
No. 2128737
>>2128534>horror stories about zines that went horribly wrongAll of them, pretty much? It's gotten to the point where everyone I know refuses to pre order them and just buy the b-grades when they go on sale. We need to go back to the glory days of Deviantart weebs painstakingly putting a zine together on their dad's computer and printing that shit out at home to sell at cons.
>>2128665That's so kind of you but no, you'd get in trouble for that, and it'd attract bugs.
I love your approach to merch. Even little things like the clasp and finish make a difference, buyers might not be able to put their finger on it but something about your merch will stand out.
No. 2129494
>>2128536>why would you be ever be hostile FIRST to the people who want to give you money?nta, but some of people selling are neets, autists or mentally ill in a myriad of ways. They have little to no social skills or common sense. In their eyes they're not really trying to sell you something - you are coming to get their unique special magical item that only they have, so they are above you.
One thing I tend to notice is how well groomed/dressed the person selling is. If they look like a mess I automatically trust them a bit less than if they got dressed up nice and made an effort. They don't have to look like an instathot or anything, but to me it's common sense you would at least put in minimum effort to look ok before facing customers. It lets customers know you're serious about your art and selling it, so it makes it easier to support them because I know they're more likely in it for the long term.
No. 2129505
>>2128665>I consider myself shy but at cons I act out my fakeish seller personality. It's not a fake, just something that I try to put on. I smile at people who look at me/wave them hi (I don't say it out loud because con noise will cover my voice anyway and I don't like to scream) when I see that they're interested and if they get closer, I say "I'm here if you need something!"This is pretty much exactly how you should be acting! Saying hi when/if they look at you is a very good strategy. You can leave the shy ones or people who are just browsing and let them casually move on without feeling awkward, and the ones who seek eye-contact get a greeting.
Like other nona said, most people will take candy and leave - however if it's a place you will be returning to with only a moderate amount of sellers there IS a likelihood that they'll remember "oh that's the brand/seller that had candy" so they get a positive image associated with you. There's a reason companies do it at big events, because it does work as advertising. It CAN pull in people to buy as well - but the risk is always that they just grab the candy and leave. One thing you could do is that with every purchase you go "thank you for buying, you also get a bonus candy, and I see that you have kids with you, would they like a piece each too?" so they get rewarded with a bonus IF they buy something. People like feeling like they got extra or got special treatment.
No. 2129541
>>2129498Maybe I went to the wrong cons growing up but as a teen the artist/dealer rooms were filled with resellers or those selling bootleg items with the only artists being either absolute shit and/or selling shitty laminated chibi art. Small artist I feel like is also kind of a misused word these days, same for small business. Overall there never has been this magical time where the only artist there were there out of passion while also selling something word the paper it was printed on.
This is more of a tangent, but there also isn't a way to "fix" it. Tables are more expensive these days, sure, but in my experience that's arguably the smallest part of the costs of going to a bigger convention. Hotel costs, material costs and overall travel costs add up to significantly more. And sure you could technically do the age old method of rooming with 5 other people and road tripping etc. but at some point you have too much items to bring and also aren't 16 anymore. When you make long AA days you want to have rest and not have to bother with 5 other people walking around when you're trying to sleep.
No. 2129653
>>2129541>Maybe I went to the wrong cons growing upIt probably depends on location but yeah that is NOT the norm at all. Resellers typically get kicked out on sight. A lot of cons go by portfolio so it would be difficult to get in without being an artist to begin with.
>Overall there never has been this magical time where the only artist there were there out of passionThat's not true imo, and it's not in conflict with wanting to earn money for your art. Being passionate about your art can absolutely mean you want to make a career out of it, however only making the latest popular thing typically doesn't come with that passion for art. If the artist doesn't even make any kind of personal art ever it's clear they're not in it for art but for the selling.
No. 2130650
>>2129971Haven't sold them myself but I've bought originals at cons, like I would any print. But before cons and the online world my art-fan parents would take me to real life galleries and I strongly think that's the world you should focus on with traditional art.
People online do NOT value landscapes. They can be breathtakingly pretty and they'll love looking at it but it will translate to 0 sales. You can pretty much only sell them in person to people who go to art galleries who value traditional art. I think having a personal website, not etsy or anything like that, is the way to go. Sell them ready to hang, so framed and looking exclusive.
Get in touch with your local galleries. Visit them regularly and get a feel of what they're like, talk to the people who run it and show an interest in the art. See if you can get a foot in to show your own paintings there. If you do, take lots of photos! It makes you look like a proper artist if you can prove people come just to look at your paintings. You can pose your parents or friends in front of them and pretend they're strangers, people won't know kek. You can also sell small postcards of your art, or calendars and such.
No. 2131107
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With cons becoming more competitive and harder to get into, I'm seeing more art markets at boba shops and bars. Do you do these? I did a couple of shows in cafés but sales were pretty abysmal. Yet I still see more and more events happening every weekend. How do they keep finding artists willing to spend 5 hours to make 50 bucks at best? Do any anons here have any personal experience with these markets?
No. 2132244
>>2129541Did you get into cons in the mid 2010s? That's when Aliexpress and Taobao started to become really popular among sellers, and when ordering stuff on Vograce (and other Chinese manufacturers) became way more accessible. You got kids who spent a couple hundred on cheap samey trinkets and fakes from Taobao and made bank selling them to other kids who only cared about the price. I remember a lot of salt about that. It's also the era when anime was starting to become cool and everyone was churning out merch for the same few shows. You'd get people on /cgl/ making massive group orders from Taobao and buying tons of lolita, cosplays, props, wigs, accessories, stationery, craft supplies, home goods like cute rugs and blankets, and of course knockoffs, and selling them for an insane markup on Etsy and at cons. The market became saturated pretty fast.
>>2129971What kind of still lifes and landscapes do you do? There's absolutely a market for them online if your work is really atmospheric. Stick a witch or some pumpkins in a gloomy landscape, do some WIP videos, repeat, and you'll get an audience who's more than happy to throw money at you.
But if you like traditional landscapes your market is boomers, and you'll make more money taking your work to small galleries in areas populated by rich retirees than you ever will online. The trick of adding Kirby to landscapes exists for a reason, unfortunately.
>>2131107Honestly they're best for advertising your stuff, especially if you have an appealing or unique style and do commissions.
No. 2132913
File: 1723492447959.jpeg (177.82 KB, 736x736, IMG_2603.jpeg)
>>2132244I miss the 2010s AAs kek I feel like now with tiktok the market is even more over saturated than it was ever before. Getting into cons is brutal and I see some big artists who have a decent variety of merch just get upgrade to a seller booth instead if a table in the AA. I don’t know if it’s just me but recently the con booths have been looking same-y for me too. Like everyone kinda makes similar merch with a cute set character holding a knife or making them buff or making them a clown. I am impressed with booths that have a single type of merch like pins and sell nothing else.
No. 2132944
File: 1723494084605.jpeg (4.1 MB, 4032x3024, IMG_2395.jpeg)
This was at too many games 2024. Conventions aren’t like how they used to be that’s for sure.
No. 2132955
>>2132944eewwww, that is so yucky and the fact that's pandering to normies is even worse
>>2132913Yeah I know right? I feel that every country has their meyoco copy cat with cute sparkly pokemon and pastel tones, the same cute but edgy sticker like "talk shit get hit" and gendie stuff. Tiring.
No. 2132969
File: 1723495169495.jpg (161.23 KB, 1079x661, 1716931435485.jpg)
>>2132944Solid snake has a cameltoe…
No. 2132978
>>2132961I thought the zombie chunko pops were kinda neat because this is the first time I've seen anything like them, but the reselling of other people's art and straight up porn is disgusting.
>>2132969That's his ballsack seam.
No. 2133118
>>2128075It gets worse, the mod now singled out the person who asked 'Is this really SFW' by telling that person to not post explicit images on the AA discord.
The context here is that the person asked 'Is this image really ok?' in a channel directed towards the mod team called 'Admin Questions'.
The mod did this in a way that singled out the person asking, in a very accusatory tone.
(integrate) No. 2133140
>>2133137spare your time, it's an old, xbox game with irl models, one of the models lied about her age and she said she was 18 when she was actually 17. It's a trashy, shovelware tier game that got sold for a load just because OMG ILLEGAL!!
Indeed it is but yeah, you know, there's worse around
No. 2133720
>>2132244>There's absolutely a market for them online if your work is really atmospheric.This honestly not true sadly. I follow landscape artists, truly fucking amazing ones, and they're all complaining about how even when people say they'd totally buy something as a print they never do and sales are abyssal. Your best bet is to throw in a few popular character and have them be the focus. But if you're able to do that your chances are higher.
>>2132913>I miss the 2010s AAs kekHonestly the local artist were so shit back then that the current art is SO much better in comparison and I can't complain kek but that pic you posted is SO common, pastel pink + white grid + hearts. You'd think artists would know to make themselves stand out more
No. 2133723
>>2133118Just saw this, some shit is going down. The mods are directly threatening that person by name but also saying anyone else who posts "nsfw content" will get muted or banned. All she (I assume) did was post an image she was upset about being shown to kids (under a spoiler) and staff argued wasn't sexual or 18+, and now staff is like "shut the fuck up and stop posting nsfw shit again or we'll ban you"
NärCon is such a fucking mess lmao it's run by pedo clowns
No. 2133792
>>2128507>"Well, we don't even like the fandoms but we have to eat!" get a fucking job thenThis seems to be a more common opinion here, and I agree. It's a hot button topic in the local con scene meanwhile, like how dare you think it's unsustainable to rely on teenagers in fandoms and fellow artists to buy my fotm merch I'm not passionate about for sustainable income!
>>2128534My friend who has been in a lot of gacha zines have a 50/50 experience ratio on getting burned.
No. 2133986
>>2133140nta but was it that beach quiz game? iirc for context, they filmed the fmv sections during a spring break event and as a "reward" for getting questions right some girls will flash their boobs.
>>2133792not saying a lot aren't just whining, but it's a chicken and egg situation is it not? the reasons JP events thrive with books etc. is because it's dirt cheap to get a booth at most events and the events are usually just for the artists and some cosplayers here and there. Same goes for printing the books, even outside of them not having much if any profit margin, the risks are also lower in losing money outright because you don't need to spend hundreds to get anything but the shittiest quality 30 page book together.
No. 2134045
>>2133792This shit is so annoying. When normie artists at like farmer's/flea markets and festivals sell their shit at high prices and say they have to pay bills I'm forgiving about it because it's clearly what they're passionate about and there's clear skill and experience put into the pieces. On top of them usually having a day job and selling the pieces that high to break even or buy more supplies to continue their art on top of having jobs. When it's at a con I'm just livid because if it isn't soulless fotm that just feels one step away from Hot Topic in terms of trend chasing. It's someone selling niche weirdo porn in the middle of the day with kids around, or artist's who are delulu about their skill level/style being appealing to the point of cultivating an income. idk why AA artists never consider they may have to keep a day job.
>>2133986Thanks
nonnie. Now I'm imaginning a Comiket populated by annoying Artist's who draw souless fotm and pronoun pins and it is terrible. kek
That being said a AA like the one Emrichu went to seems really cool. I wish the one's at con's could get back to this energy but doesn't seem doable.
No. 2134315
>>2134304I don't think I have a lot of prints in total, some of them are the size of postcards which I like because I put them in a photo album recently, and others are bigger. I got rid of the only two big prints/posters I bought because they got damaged when moving from one place to another at some point. I'm not putting anything on my walls anymore, I just put all my prints in binders or big envelops until I get something with the right size.
>I personally like the idea of small prints, sized like baseball cards, that could fit into pre-existing pocket binders to collect like a coffee table book, but I've never seen something like this.I'd love things like that too but I've never seen anything like this in a con either. I have official cards like this from events like collab cafes or exhibitions for manga, anime or video games in Japan, they're random cards that you buy during the event and you can trade with others if you want one card that you didn't get, or if you have the same card twice. I wonder if that could work in the West, I assume most people who buy prints want to put them on their walls? And randomized physical merchs wouldn't work in general here I assume.
No. 2134332
>>2134315For this to take off you need a sufficient amount of artists to start selling this kind of merch all around the same time. Standardized sizes so the prints can fit into standard pocket binders. So I could see this taking off if a group of friends who were working a con collaborated to sell mini-prints so would be buyers could see that they'd have options to buy from. You could maybe sell an 'aesthetic' binder as well so people know how they are supposed to organize and display the print cards. And once they've started filling in the organizer they will want to completely fill it.
Just an idea. I like the idea of prints I just cant justify buying them when I have so little wall space.
No. 2134375
File: 1723578080598.jpg (54.5 KB, 500x500, santino-sacro-cuore-di-gesu-10…)
>>2134304I considered the ideas of doing "photocards" because they're popoular anyway and zoomers put those bitches in those "i love my girlfriend" toploaders and since I'm from a latin based country (not latino as in south america, ex latin countries) and we have this weird saint cards culture that usually go in your wallet or in little altars in our house, I think that it could be seen as fun but also convenient for storage space. Ngl I would buy a pretty card of my husbando to keep in my wallet/keychain for motivation.
No. 2136924
File: 1723712446155.png (156.21 KB, 710x803, narcmod.png)
>>2128075Update to this since it mostly moved to the närcon thread, but a 35 year old moid mod named "svalan" (real name is thomas dynesius-svanberg) decided go apeshit on users and made threats about banning them for breaking non-existing rules that he made up. When rightfully called out he banned those users to silence them, he even admitted to doing it in public and then taunted people into silence. Svalan is also dating a 21 year old girl who started working at närcon at age 15 so that's likely when they first met, meaning he's likely a pedo. Other närcon mods saw when he went on his power trip banning-spree and did or said nothing at all so they're likely apeshit crazy too. Picrel from the närcon thread
No. 2136966
>>2136924Also the loli body pillow apparently came from a vender he was overseeing I believe? C-husset or something. Dude is so
sus how tf is he allowed to be around kids unsupervised???
No. 2139679
File: 1723854478749.jpg (115.27 KB, 736x736, d71caf3b604556fde480a232a6277c…)
I hate that I actually love to create and do my stuff, getting my art known around here and there and I also got serious job deals with that as a cartoonist for books and events but I hate the current "community". Everytime I log up into facebook in which I organize work and I have my artist alley neighbours there's always the argument of the day, the cancellation of a person of a day, the witch hunt for no-no merch of the day (I saw someone blasting someone else for using the outdated lesbian flag instead of the orange one), the personal drama of the day, the burn out of the day, the fotm fandom drama of the day…. I think zoomers are too focused on the community aspect than the actual selling aspect and almost all of them sell only to their friends and their art struggles to get out there because they don't bother to know their costumers. They only care about fotm fanarts and drama so much that they also don't develop a seller attitude, that's why most of them claim autism but in reality they never actually sat down and thought about a neutral-friendly approach to make people interested and then cry if at the end of the day they got no sales like bitch! Raise your eyes from your yaoi filled ipad while you're at the booth! And yes, the burnout is real, I saw people going after Genshin the second a new character was out and then horribly quitting after a year or two, because the stress was too much and the money was getting less and less. I wish they could stop thinking like their fanart is a rare and important and someone is frothing to buy it and hyping up mid shit and shift their focus on actually building their brand, I personally think that the only living way of being a merch artist is the one where you actually work under a company for merch, otherwise it's a constant stress from chasing the latest and hottest trends and most importantly, idk if I'm getting older but the more I go at AAs at con I don't recognize artists, I recognize only fandoms, I wish I could say this on a post without getting jumped at but also as a costumer of AAs, I rarely remember artists or names and that's bad because ofc if you search up the "kawaii artist" or the "hazbin artist" there are like a gazillion out there. People should brand themselves, not be a brand slave like sure, you do you, but you need to your eyecatcher, your touch somewhere…
No. 2140020
>>2139735Yes, the best people I know are artists who aren't regulars, that do 2-3 cons per year, drop their merch and fuck off. Being relaxed also helps selling. Doing cons it's s a fun side job and should never be someone's main income (unless someone has no bills and rent, in that case good for you), because youngsters love to act out this noble work ethic of getting paid for your time, which is right, but watching anime or playing games, or watching recaps, drawing in character/in fandom jokes merch (I remember the Aoba cake, I was there….), designing the merch, supervising the manufacturing and then opening preorders it's all unpaid time, hell, it's even so little money even if the tables were free at cons. It's like
>Make merch of fandom >Watch a 12/24 anime season >Keep up with popular characters>Open preorders, lets say that they are 500$ not counting manifacturing>Con table is 300$, plus hotel plus food plus living for 3 days>Even if someone sells 1k at con it's, counting all the expenses, 700$>You're supposed to to live out of those 700$ to the next conIt's awful and it's not for everyone. Either you become a keychain/print machine, you have to have a backup plan but of course no one considers that, they also believe that every piece they will do it's gonna sell and they end up with dead fandom merch… sometimes I see outlet/sale boxes being bigger than the rest of the fresh stock….
No. 2140075
File: 1723884214410.jpg (198.44 KB, 768x960, 1000002492.jpg)
>>2139679Branding helps a lot but it makes me kek when everyones just the kawaii pink anime artist or the self deprecating relatable doodle artist.
>>2140020You're correct about the masochism some younger creators have about struggling in conventions. And I know of a few artists that went the keychain of EVERY anime character route and her art is so mid.
No. 2140078
>>2139679While those people can be annoying it's great for us who are more mature in our branding and acting because it gives us an advantage when they don't do the same.
I rarely buy fanart unless it's from my long time favorite media, and even then it has to be great and unique. I really wish more people would make their own thing rather than chase trends. If you only have genshin shit I have no idea who you are as a person (other than a weeb who plays a lame gatcha game) and I won't ever remember you.
No. 2141095
>>2140864hard agree on the last two,
nonnie. the cutesy cat memes about getting a sweet treat or no talk me etc are just so grating at this point. the mental health ones also kinda extend to pride merch beyond lgb because people make flags for damn near everything nowadays and in order to not be shelved as a bigot they cater to every tranny/genderspecial's whims
No. 2141593
>>2140258>That art is so uglyI honestly don't mind "ugly" or imperfect art if it's clear it comes from passion and they still have a unique view. The shit you posted is just so soulless.
Idk if you nonas feel the same, but I've noticed the more franchises/areas an artist sells art of the less I care. For example if all they sell is Sailor Moon and magical girl anime art then I can tell it's likely a true passion of theirs. It gives me an inside to them as a person and I know if I support them they'll produce more sailor moon art in the future.
If they sell characters of every currently popular anime I know they're just a shallow fan and I lose all interest even if the art is really good. It ends up feeling like a corporation. Even if I personally love something currently popular like jujutsu kaisen (I've literally never seen the show lol) and I want to support jjk artists I know these people will have stopped drawing and selling it within a year or two when the next show is popular. So there's no point in supporting them for me.
No. 2141605
>>2140864>AAnonnies, what are currrent merch trends that you dislike? >Broken holoI agree with this one. I don't like holo/glitter merch in general as it nearly always just makes the art harder to see. I only like it if it's thematically suitable for the art.
>nsfw artUnless it's a nsfw market, don't even bring that shit. Don't even put up "borderline" art, it's still gross. I refuse to buy from anyone who sells any type of coomer art in public. I don't want to know what your personal sexual preferences and fetishes are and if you force them upon me I will never support you, it's as simple as that. It really feels like the equivalent a stranger coming up to you saying "hi I'm turned on by bdsm and fat men in drag" like ew fuck off this is sexual harassment.
>Mental health awarenessJesus christ do I agree with this one. I have as much autism as your average farmer kek but I wouldn't be caught dead in that shit. Actually I probably would get caught dead if I wore it as it would literally put a target on me that tells predators I'm an easy
victim.
>Trans flag in neutral objectThere are SO much cute art ruined by the artist not believing in the art itself so they instead force in pride flags. It's already so hard to find "neutral" art that isn't fanart! I think it would be cute to have a little potion bottle or a cute teacup, but they ALWAYS come in troon and pride flag colors only. I do not support your evil cult pandering.
No. 2146995
File: 1724230762162.jpg (101.29 KB, 736x736, soulless-pins.jpg)
Nonas where's your line of when NOT to buy from someone?
For me it's like
>>2141605 said when there's an abundance of trans flag/pronoun art like picrel. It feels so soulless and like they don't care about art, they just want to virtue signal. And it also makes me feel bad because older people (frankly most normal people) like my mom loves art and art markets so she might want to buy what she thinks is a cute flower pot pin… only for it to be a weird-sexuality flag colors artwork that she doesn't know about so she's unknowingly walking around signalling she's a genderqueer polysexual. Same with little kids who don't know either. It's fucked up to "trick" people into buying sexual symbols so I don't want to support anyone who sells it.
No. 2147005
File: 1724233275907.jpg (91.17 KB, 1140x641, flags.jpg)
>>2146996it's the genderqueer flag apparently
No. 2147020
File: 1724234423810.jpg (245.9 KB, 1024x768, IMG_7795.jpg)
>>2147005Either genderists have no clue about women's history or they want to erase feminist legacy.
No. 2147030
>>2146995I don't think it's "tricking LITTLE CHILDREN into buying SEXUAL DEBAUCHERY" because conflating sexuality with perversion and child grooming is actual conservatoid fearmongering and let's be real their clientele is most likely people old enough to know what these symbols are. But I
Do think that they're soulless cash grabs with no real goodwill and thought behind them and they're kind of kitschy mass produced slop generative AI would produce. I've seen so many artists do these "cute animals next to identity flags" that I have to wonder if they're at all embarrassed to peddle something so lacking of value, but then again the people making these tend to lack artistic integrity to some degree and can be best described as merchants, not artists.
No. 2147040
>>2140864I have yet to see an article that actually looks nice with broken holo, especially on charms it looks horrible because you can barely make out the art underneath. You can get away with it with bigger prints, but anything smaller is ruined by it.
>Cutesy creature paired with 2013-2017 humor>I'm tired of seeing kawaii cats with "No bitches" or "Talk shit get hit" over themI hate this shit more than any generic FOTM merch. People produce badges of a flash in the pan meme from a year ago because it took them 6 months to get over procrastination phase to actually draw it and then they ordered a stock of like 200 they can't get rid of now. I've seen some creative takes on online memes but they're usually derivative to some degree, not just a cute cat saying "no bitches?".
No. 2147041
>>2147030>I don't think it's "tricking LITTLE CHILDREN into buying SEXUAL DEBAUCHERY" because conflating sexuality with perversion and child grooming is actual conservatoid fearmongering It's ridiculous to think being against woke ideology is somehow "conservatoid fearmongering".
It's not about "reee homosexuals are ebil, praise jesus" it's that they're selling a harmful ideology mostly to 10-20 year olds when that ideology is homophobic, literally cutting up and castrating children and mentally ill people and erasing women's and children's rights - quite literally for the benefit of sexually deviant men. You're the one who should stop conflating gay and queer.
If a pedo sees 2 kids, only one is wearing a pansexual pin, which one do you think is the easier
victim? Which one is signalling they're in the know and have thought a lot about sexuality and therefore sex, that they're already comfortable talking about and signalling out their own sexuality? Which one can be easily talked into "age is just a number, just like love is about the person and not about the little bit between their legs"? Which one gives the pedo a convenient opening segue to talk to the kid about their own sexuality?
No. 2147128
File: 1724244029654.jpg (209.12 KB, 570x879, 1000006863.jpg)
I've just ordered a bunch of stuff to start DIYing my clothes because the styles I like are saturated with overpriced garbage. I'm thinking of turning it into a side hustle maybe.
>>2140864> Mental health awarenessMost of this is on par with the "hang in there" kitten posters, OR it's literally just the menhera aesthetic with a pretense of self awareness/education. I don't even care if they think stuff like picrel is cute or whatever, but the fact it's usually made by smug PC types who think they're doing "activism" makes me kek.
No. 2147271
>>2146995The thing is, this crap is guaranteed to sell. Anything gender or mento helf related attracts gendie customers, who have notoriously poor impulse control, and it's a way for the more online artists to avoid cancellation for whatever hot topic is circulating Twitter these days. I hate them with a passion, but there's a reason they're everywhere. Genuinely cannot wait for this shit to die out and for AAs to go back to being places to buy cute, fun and creative art that doesn't have social justice or politics shoehorned in.
>>2147128Sounds fun, what did you get? If you want to do a clothing side hustle my advice is to not do that, you're going to be bombarded by idiots asking why you charge more than Shein and even bigger idiots demanding that you make them a size XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXL tent and charge the same as you would for a normal outfit. Neither set of idiots will actually buy anything from you but they will be mad at you anyway.
Accessories, plushies and doll clothes do sell, though.
No. 2148808
File: 1724350689238.jpg (1.06 MB, 1017x1879, Batshitcrazy.jpg)
My friend and I had a good laugh over these batshit crazy pins being sold next to pronoun pins, very on the nose
No. 2155511
>>2155476Vograce fucked my pins up at one point. They sent replacements for the pins tho, so that was dope.
PawPrint's basic acrylics have relief markings, which is really cool and makes up for the lack of options. They also sent people extras that 'went wrong', so they can be made into cheaper, B-grade charms.
No. 2157011
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In our country our artist alley taxes are used to pay porn actors, scammers and ai "artists" to come, what's the situation in your cons? I want to end it all, personally.
No. 2157027
File: 1724796115707.webp (80.3 KB, 1080x1080, wanna-marchi-firenze-comics-os…)
>>2157017personal theory: since our cons are stagnant because all the booths are selling aliexpress crap and people stopped coming for a while, the only demographic of cons were only fans cosplayers and their drooling "fans" so they started inviting porn actors to capitalize on the phenomenon. Worry not, there are also scammers, search up this lovely person's name, it was a known scammers of the 90s who also got jail time and she's in con "for the lulz xD", I'm tired.
No. 2157425
File: 1724824419386.jpg (56.93 KB, 400x329, Julius declares his verdict.jp…)
>>2157011the italian scene at big cons is so sad, I got a table at Luccacomics once and the organization was soooo bad, not to talk of Romics eugh. Then the small con at my region was free, the tables were cheap, gave us snacks and water for free and had a beautiful spot that wasn't a warehouse for once. You don't make big cash but you save up so much on headaches
No. 2157614
>>2155476I used pawprint once because people told me buying from within the EU would be cheaper, but I'm honestly not sure it was cheaper in the end with all the shipping added.
I try to use local places (in my country) for all smaller prints, they're very hit or miss. Some pack their stuff so cheaply the package gets here looking like it's been hit by a truck…
The problem for me with buying locally instead of like China is typically that they refuse to sell anything less than 500-1000 items per order. If someone in my country opened up a shop for small orders for typical con items like charms etc they'd make bank but the people who work with it don't even realize the market exists
No. 2157623
>>2157431The most obvious tip that 90% of my local cons ignores: Look nice!
Dress nicely and wear makeup. Doesn't matter if you usually don't wear it, still wear it while you're selling. You wouldn't believe (actually you probably would) how many ugly stinky troony crotch goblins sell at artist alleys and they don't get how off-putting they look.
Should also be obvious but apparently isn't to dress in a way that matches your brand. You wanna look like the artist who draws their passion, not like a salesman standing in for the real artist. If you draw dark tattoo inspired stuff don't dress like a sweet lolita, and if you draw pastel kawaii stuff don't dress like you're a emo metalhead in all black. It doesn't have to be a costume or be fancy, just try to match the tone of your art.
Only consider wearing a cosplay if the con is very cosplay heavy and it's relevant to the brand, regular people can get scared if you're not a "normal person".
No. 2157742
>>2157698When I say wear makeup I'm not saying "look like an e-thot" I'm saying ALL people do judge you based on looks whether you like it or not, so you better make an effort. Which, as I also said, people where I live do not so they look visibly filthy and it absolutely puts people off to have a greasy sweaty person touch the wares they want to buy. It's not new knowledge that people prefer good looking people, even subconsciously. But feel free to look sweaty if you want.
A sweet lolita selling gothic items may not be unusual especially because gothic is literally also a lolia style, but looking like that will attract fellow lolitas and potentially put off people who aren't into lolita styles. So if her art is actually mostly violent depictions of cute animals getting slaughtered the right crowd will struggle to find her while the lolita people looking for lolita art are put off and won't buy. Would you buy apples from a fisherman? Maybe, but you'd be expecting fish.
It's really just super basic sales knowledge that any and every store uses, but con artists for some reason think they're above such "superficial" things. That surely their customers are all pure hearted and good people who wouldn't be so shallow as to judge their appearance. But they are just people.
No. 2157807
File: 1724863414141.webp (67.83 KB, 800x800, Sf8920d23797d4732950eadded132d…)
>>2157431>Don't stand next to your booth/space. Standing up intimidates people and makes you look like a leaflet girl/boy and people HATE that. Stand behind your table and just greet or tell people that if they need you, they can ask. Talk again only if they ask something. The majority of con people are autistic/have hard time with socializing and that can make them uncomfortable.>Put your business card first thing on the table or eye levelAnd print at least 100/day of those motherfuckers, they go away/fly/fall down etc.
>Get a cute mirror, decorate it with stickers or plushies, put in on the booth.Capitalize on those instagirlies/cosplayers that want cute selfies
>Get a bluetooth speaker, put some instrumental, cutesy or music that matches your vibe in a very low volume, like some "background"Creates a nice atmosphere and makes people that recognize that tune turn around if close enough, it also improves your mood
>Get a load of water/drinksYou can deal with hunger more or less, you cannot with thirst and you will sweat a lot anyway. If you fancy it, a couple of energy drinks
>Wear a particular, small, attention catching piece of clothingMine is picrel, looks cute, attracts attention, makes people look at you without locking on eye contact.
>Build your booth as if it's some sort of themed store in videogamesThis is a bit tricky to explain but do you know in videogames that you can get a hint about what a store sells by aesthetic/vibe? This is kinda obvious but you sell cutesy stuff? Pastel colors and round lines. You sell fantasy stuff? Wood colors, beiges and greens, some clear and colorful decorations like suncatchers to recall potions or some shit
You sell goth stuff? Long drapes, roses, wisterias, ofc black runners, dye your displays etc etc
And match the aesthetic of the booth, like think about being a pokemon gym leader, that always gives out their "type".
These are not absolute, just my opinion, but I saw that more or less this stuff works
No. 2157861
File: 1724866711379.jpg (125.33 KB, 736x682, 0072657c73610205a0a1161bce7116…)
>>2157774Nta but you sound gross if "look nice and shower" sounds like having a "superiority complex" to you. I also avoid buying from obvious smelly tifs who are rampant at my local conventions and art markets, and it kinda creeps me out to see males do kawaii art so I avoid them too
>>2157807>>Get a bluetooth speaker, put some instrumental, cutesy or music that matches your vibe in a very low volume, like some "background"I think this would be difficult at most cons where your table is pretty small and the volume gets loud from so many people talking at the same time? At least the cons I go too feel very cramped
>Build your booth as if it's some sort of themed store in videogamesI do this and I find it has helped A LOT, it really attracts people if you have a cohesive theme both for the booth and how you dress up. Using picrel as an example even tho it looks like a furfag, it was just the first example that actually looked like a literal game shop kek
No. 2158693
>>2157742Not everyone has oily skin and acne like you do
nonnie. Maybe if you stopped caking your face in makeup your skin wouldn't react by producing excess oil.
No. 2158728
Can you please stop with the makeup sperg
It was obvious that makeup wasn't intended as e-thot makeup but looking clean/fun paired up with the aesthetic of the booth, of course people can do skin care but there are a lot of people who go to cons with heavy dark circles and look beaten, an average con artist doesn't have that much time for 10 steps glass skin skincare holy shit and people can also get heat/cold rashes from sensitive skin. Personally I wear graphic fun liner and gems under my eyes to match my booth of the day, that's also makeup but no one is forcing no one, only a retard would take stuff written on the internet as a mandatory step
>>2157861Yes the bt speaker in loud/closed cons is useless but in open cons and there are a lot where I leave, it works but it has to be like "Oh this is the tune of your shop!" you don't have to blast it, just something you hear in the background
>>2157865Also this. Gachas work wonders. Everything that goes out the vendor experience.
No. 2158761
>>2158746nta, I'm just tired of the derailing because I want to talk about con stuff. You sound like a kid, move the fuck on if you don't like a post, retard.
And people judging you at a con is a thing and image, in general, is everything to a vendor a nd some powder to reduce shininess is a staple in cons even for pictures. Don't post if you only cherrypick parts of a bigger topic.
Btw it's saddening how the current AA scene is filled with tifs and I mean, filled, to the very brim. Random merchant girls who do pronoun pins/pride stuff is a mere cashgrab and can you blame them? But tifs make the cons so uncomfortable. They also bring those weirdly specific/out of character icky merch about the same old men yaoi or twink jokes and their booths attract only other tifs and they don't know where to stop with sexual jokes or talk because of course their personality point is something about sex and it reminds me of late 2000s fujos who walked around with the yaoi paddle but at least they knew, more or less, how to act, tifs play on the inclusivity card to be excused for being weird and creepy at cons. Why can't I draw artistic nudity (I usually draw or make merch of fantasy creatures like of course they're gonna be topless) because of muh kids where the con isn't restricted but tifs can draw cocks - and even worse, cutesy cocks - and get no shit? I don't want to be next to a tif drawing leaking cocks on a lollipop stick to joke with other gay bois, this needs to be regulated
No. 2158763
>>2158728Seconding this, I really don't get why anons are sperging out over "look nice". But I think it proves why the advice was needed when the response has been "ew no makeup bad!!!" from anons who I assume sell stuff themselves…
>>2158746>You're the only one sperging anonI'm another anon than OP so there's at least 2 of us, not everyone thinks you need to be a heckin
valid makeup-hating radfem just because we're on lc. The person who said makeup is stupid is the one who said she doesn't want it literally because she gets too sweaty.
>>2157623>You wouldn't believe (actually you probably would) how many ugly stinky troony crotch goblins sell at artist alleys and they don't get how off-putting they look.This was the type of people OP anon was dissing, if you feel hit by that description… we can't help you, but you do you.
No. 2158764
>>2158763Lmfao just
wash your face retard
(infighting) No. 2158903
>>2157865Absolutely do this! Anything that creates an experience creates sales. The more you lean into it, the more money you'll make.
>>2158761TIFs flock to cons because they can't make heckin' dick jokes in normal places. There's nothing you can do about it except remain polite and professional. And report them to staff, if you can find anyone who isn't a gendie who thinks that dicks are perfectly acceptable in public.
No. 2162813
>>2159330bold of you to imply that con artists wear e-thot instabaddie level of makeup and don't go crazy with colors, graphic eyeliners etc.
Honestly if a vendor matches the aesthetic of her booth with makeup I tend to stare at her (I dont' buy from moids) and her booth more, it works as a selling tactic.
No. 2162924
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Found this in the wild, next to the pride pins, I absolutely hate when fanmerch gets mixed with performative activism because it's gonna look so awkward when there's the new and fresh big world conflict and it will get trashed.
I know that I also contribute to the pollution by making acrylic charms but I want to make them as versatile and plain as possible (without in fandom jokes) so they're gonna last more than your average struggle of the month
No. 2181013
>>2180917I'm quitting after next year because of these invaders, and I've been doing artist alley for longer than I care to admit, I feel you.
Answering your actual question, vtubers are pretty much here to stay, hololive being the most reliable sellers, for anime checking the top shows of a given season on myanimelist with 100k+ followers is also pretty guaranteed. If you know that your target conventions have older audiences then you can get away with more nostalgic shows, and shows that are on bigger streaming platforms (e.g. netflix) will also have more heat.
The difficult thing to predict now is how much hype carries over from the summer con peak into the remainder of the year/upcoming year.
No. 2181124
>>2180917I only do my favorite series out of love and personal art so I don't know what actually sells. I assume the most popular anime of the season sells, but unless you sell out you'll be stuck with leftovers once the hype has died down. I'm not planning on going full time for selling art at cons so I don't bother with chasing the popular shows, to me it's not worth the extra money to draw something I don't care about. In that case I'd take commissions instead.
One tip for you though is to have a little mascot of a popular character as decor. Try to find something that matches the core of your own art, if your style is close to "generic anime" then you could get a Hatsune Miku plush or figurine to draw in attention, if you make kawaii animals maybe a Hello Kitty toy. It can have the same effect as selling popular character art to draw in customers for your personal art.
No. 2182367
>>2181013People often talk about tims ruining hobbies and jobs but also tifs are very hard to deal with.
They're not obnoxious as tims but tifs will waddle to you, leave a business card and what can you do? Smile while thinking that you have a
victim in front of your eyes. Then you walk to their booth and they have some technique but the mutilation scars are there and then you realize than it's not about creativity at all but virtue signaling and circlejerking, hell, an angsty early 2000s on deviantart with linkin park lyrics was far more creative than them. Once I decided to play with them: in our country and language, neutral pronouns don't exist, so I said, in the group chat, to use any pronouns, they don't matter to me.
They all called me "she/her" and no, I'm not that feminine and no, they didn't see me irl before, confirming in their head that yes, gender is not how you feel but how you are.
I hate this, all of this. I started cons in 2011, slowly made my way up with my art, love for fandoms, love for media and entertaining only to be asked why I didn't partecipate in zines for Gaza and charity zines for trans care, but fuck women shelters and animal shelters. They said that as a senior, I should be aware that art has always been political.
No, the fuck? And how is me making gaza or pride flags merch helping, if neither me as a seller and you as a buyer only display those? Awareness? People damn know and come to cons to engage in hobbies, not to have that shit leaking in hobbies, like
>>2162924 , what the fuck is that.
The problem with zoomers and tifs is that they use media and mold it into their interests when in reality it's the other way around, mostly fueled by autism and bad understanding about how media works. The only thing that's different from activism booths and artist alley booths rigth now are the anime characters. Bleak. If I was the creator of a popular piece of media and zoomers were making pride or activism merch of it I will say "yeah why not doing some volunteering and actually help instead of capitalizing on struggles and autism you dumb bitches". It only makes them feel good. It doesn't serve a purpose to anyone.
No. 2188164
File: 1727725846690.png (1.29 MB, 792x791, Screenshot_2.png)
>>2187763There is no "worst real woke" merch because it's either pride shit or troon shit like "Hit a
Terf", just search
terf/swerf on etsy
No. 2191180
>>2187763There are lots of accusations that the troons making the really vile shit are akshually terfs who want to make the pr widdle troons look bad. Make sure you pick merch from a shop that has a lot of troon pride stuff as well, and ideally a photo of the seller.
As well as looking for the 'punch a
terf' shit like
>>2188164 said, look for JKR ones, letting men into rape shelters, anything like that.
No. 2191734
>>2191722>"i dont want to overwhelm my manu or be responsible if your products dont come out like mine" Is a retarded mindset. Everyone knows you're not personally responsible for the manufacturers work, and adding "your experience could be different than mine due to xyz" allows event the idiots to have been warned. People who sink money into making that big of an investment to get a manufacturer aren't going to be spoiled teenagers who reee at you, they'll be adults.
Wtf does "overwhelm" them even mean? Boohoo they got so many clients they have to pick and choose whose money to take, might even lead to them getting to expand and develop their business, such horror, poor manus!
Also it's like… calm down Karen you're not a Kardashian, people won't rush in millions to buy just because a no-name like you mentioned it. But these people are scared that:
>manu will be too busy to take on their jobs anymore (even though they'd usually favour returning clients)>other people will get access the manu and become their competitor in sales for the same item (even though just because you both make for example a plush doesn't mean your audience is the same or overlap at all)>the more people who can make X product easily, the less novel your X item is to sell (as if plushies, pins, toys and bags and everything else isn't already literally mass-produced everywhere)>people will find out your specific manu is morally bad and has underpaid child workers and such (if you knew that yourself it's sus that you chose to work with them so that's on you)And to quote what you said anon
>"I've sunk thousands of dollars and months of production time into this, so you should too"They don't want to be the only one to have wasted time and money. But you can't really pretend you want to help people AND also gatekeep your manufacturer under false pretences. They very much want the appearance of being helpful and "a good person" but they don't actually want to see anyone else succeed, that's the problem. You can't pretend to help AND gatekeep important "secrets". They're banking on no one actually following their advice.
No. 2192035
>>2191722As someone who once did some research into it, several influencers like tiktokers and youtubers will literally straight up tell you they're not telling you their manu because they want you to also suffer and lose money the way they did. They'll excuse it with "I think it's part of the process" or "you really have to go through it to learn" like bitch excuse me if I wanted to learn the hard money-wasting way I wouldn't be looking for advice from someone who has already been through it.
Obviously it's one thing to not answer when asked about it, that's fine and people are not entitled to you teaching them something on their whims. But influencers who take the time to make videos and pose themselves as helpful ans still gatekeep are dumbasses. I've even seen videos of youtubers who start out by proudly saying that unlike other youtubers they won't gatekeep their manu… and in the same video they still refuse to say who they work with. They're still gatekeeping lmao it's so ridiculous
>>2191818>That's why I say that modern artist alleys are shit, there are barely creative people there, it's all insecure little shits that want to do their "dream job" without actually getting invested They really are insecure. If they believed in their own ability and designs they wouldn't be gatekeeping in the first place. I personally think there's never enough art, and it never gets old to support artists. Just because I bought a plush from artist 1 doesn't mean I won't also buy a plush from artist 2. And it's not like they're gonna release on the same exact date and look exactly the same… or perhaps that IS the issue. That they all make the same shitty fanart devoid of any creativity and they know that's what everyone else makes too.
No. 2192352
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>picrel for illustration
To anyone who did a stamp rally at your cons, how many prizes did you give away? I’m hosting one this year and trying to figure out how many prizes to prepare.
No. 2192358
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Anyone else really bothered when an artist says how bad they’re doing when they’re trying to sell their art? Like “buy this and maybe I can afford rent this month” or even “a single commission will let me buy something other than ramen” or pity partying stuff like that. I bought a sketch commission just because I felt bad for them, but I won’t be doing that again.
No. 2192668
>>2192352Prepare as many prizes as you can, with the knowledge that you're going to sell the remainders off separately at a later date. It's always better to have extra prizes on hand than to run out and deal with screaming shitfits from 13 year olds. I normally give away blind bag items, or a whole blind bag, as prizes, so it's easy to sell on the remaining prizes without customers finding out and getting mad that they're paying for items that you were giving away months ago at a con in a country they don't live in and have never visited.
>>2192358I don't feel bad because we're in a global recession and nobody has money. Internet artists were never a particularly rich niche to begin with and I don't see anything wrong with opening comms to make enough money to pay bills, it's better than spamming paypal links or guilting strangers into donating to a gofundme.
It's different when it's in person like your picrel. That's incredibly offputting and manipulative. I stay away from anyone who does that at a con. 9 times out of 10 their art is terrible too, which does sort of explain why they can't pay rent with the money they make from cons.
No. 2193184
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>>2192662>picrel in the theme to the fandom that the artist draws and sellsPromotion/group merch and reduced price (like 1 for 8$, three for 24$) OR Freebies are key! Stickers or small prints or anything that didn't sold at all at previous conventions for example. Everyone loves free/on sale stuff, and it gives them a reason to stop by without feeling like they’re on the hook to buy. Go for cute, eye-catching designs or popular characters (or niches ones, 100% that niche fandoms get sold fast). Grab their attention, and they’ll likely browse more. (TIP ! Really helpful when people just grab your business card and leave without staying)
Thanks to this, there will be a small crowd in front of you, and people LOVES to know what do you sell when they see a a crowd = good quality, it worked for me !
Interactive stuff is where it’s at. Set up a small game or a “spin-the-wheel” for a chance to snag some prizes. While they’re playing, you can chat them up about your work without being pushy.
If you have your iPad or some paper and pencils, work live at your booth, because I noticed that people dig seeing the creation processt seeing u busy lol) it’s a nice convo starter
Also, consider cosplaying or wearing something themed (people complimented my outfit, i was just wearing a cat beanie and an anime t-shirt and jeans kek, be outstanding or not too much, depends on you nona) Some con artists (sometimes) dress up as a character related to their art—it’ll totally attract attention and make the booth pop in the AA.
And don’t skimp on the booth display. Keep it colorful/color harmonised/outstanding and organized, but not cluttered. Use vertical space to make your art stand out. A cute setup can make a huge difference!
No. 2193449
>>2192358I would never buy over emotional blackmail or a "cute/funny" message. If someone is honest and posts "taking more commissions to pay for my rent/new costs, I appreciate all your support" I'll consider it. Though I have to admit, when someone posts that they need money it sounds a bit like "I can't handle my finances and not a stable adult" and it makes me less interested in them as an artist I want to support as they're "failing" already.
If it's at a con, then no. If you have the luxury to go to a big convention and pay your way in I'm not giving you charity money. I will support the artists I like. I'll give my charity money to the homeless beggar outside instead.
No. 2193461
>>2193184Just want to add that you shouldn't have too many reduced price items. It makes it look like you couldn't sell anything and are desperate to get rid of them, and that you will just discount everything that is full-priced soon anyway so there's no point in buying anything now.
Imo deals are much better than reduced price. "3 for the price of 2" is a good deal, while "50% off" means it's an old unwanted item. You don't want to advertise that you've got unwanted items you couldn't sell at a full price.
No. 2194437
>>2192662Amazon sells small gacha and claw machines that are worth their weight in gold. Make sure that everyone who plays gets a prize, not really an issue for gachas but you might need to adjust the items in claw machines. Make sure the customers know exactly what they might get to avoid any unpleasantness. I like to add a couple of stickers to each capsule as well as a freebie. If you can, get gold or silver capsules and give them an extra freebie as a reward. You can put old unsold merch in there, b-grade stuff, anything you're trying to get rid of.
If gambling laws allow it, have a raffle! Again, make sure everyone wins something. Write the prizes on the paper slips and let the customer choose what they want from the prize category, or have a ton of little blind bags ready to hand out at random.
And decorate your booth! Don't clutter it with a million little bits of decoration, you want a few large pieces that customers can see from a distance, like a canopy.
No. 2194464
I seriously despise artist alley grifters who create merch of the FotM to sell as cheap charms and stickers with absolutely no investment in the actual series. It's their callousness to exploit something they didn't even create themselves as just a paycheck that really strikes a nerve and I really have to hold myself back from a-logging whenever someone asks what series to make merch of just to make a quick buck or farm for more followers on social media. Even if they're making something I'm a fan of, I'm not giving them my money.
>>2193578That's exactly because nobody is a fan of the stuff they draw so they're only doing what everyone else is doing. The money isn't even that good, it just barely covers the costs (including hotels, traveling etc.), it's mainly to lure people into following you by dangling popular things in front of their faces.
No. 2194700
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>>2125520For anyone using Etsy, do you need a business number to sell? I want to sell 5 or 6 sticker designs, but I’m a non-professional artist (just a regular person with a non-art job)
No. 2195918
>>2195841Not really a story but one of the few cons I went to was an anime con in HS.
>>All the scrotes/neckbeards whining loudly about how the AA is trash this year and anime cons should be anime only and that only the Dealer's Hall has good shit.>>Go to the AA. Most artists are selling fanart of Batman. Specifically the grown up robins and batfamily and some marvel properties.>>I'm on a Jason Todd kick so I'm thrilled. >>Realize all the art even the anime art is by women with women in mind and kinda husbando centric and the scrotes were whining because no hot waifu coomer fanart. I'm still laughing about this to this day.
No. 2196170
>>2195841Let's start by saying that a lot of artist alley artists are sheltered tifs with zero clue about what's acceptable in public and it makes sense for them to be that way since to survive on merch you have to be a million follower account and actually be a good vendor, so they don't bother to learn about how to actually act in AAs. I don't have
the cringy thing to tell you about but imagine a lot of tifs doing nsfw shit but being painfully shy irl and struggle to explain what they are selling then acting like coomers when they see the FotM yaoi-able cosplay walking in front of them. They believe they live in some sort of bubble where everyone engages in their weird fetish/roleplay but since they lack the aggression of moids it comes off as 12yo-reading-about-sex-on-teen-magazine vibes and it's weird as fuck when they're 20+.
Keep in mind I'm a younger millennial/elder zoomer (mid '90s) and this type of cringe usually got slapped out of you when you were 14-15, in these latest years now everything is bullying and rude and it won't be a problem if they wouldn't fill the AAs with their fetish content, top scars included and instead of getting some awareness, when the con closes, they usually cry that that type of merch doesn't sell so it's always cringy when I'm about to put my stand and stock back in my suitcases and hear them cry about the leftovers because what the fuck, did you expect your weird fetish in fandom joke to sell numbers? Weird, girl.
My wholesome story is about a girl who silently walked over my booth around 4-5 times with a strange expression, a very judgy one if I could explain it that way and then when I was about to close down, she ran to me saying "I'm glad I got you in time! Sorry for not stopping before, my lenses were stinging my eyes and I had to keep them for pictures, are you the artist who drew [niche yuri fanart]??"
As I replied yes she squealed saying that it's hard to find good yuri content in AAs and she was so happy to see that I did, she bought a print and a charm and said "I can finally see them better! They are so cute! Thank you for giving love to the series!". She was genuinely happy and ran to me after her shooting sessions, for something so little, and walked all the day squinting her eyes because she couldn't fucking see lmao what a sweetheart hope her day is good
No. 2196320
>>2195841Cringe/gross:
Adult men squealing over seeing their favorite child/loli character… just ew.
Adult women loudly squealing over seeing a yaoi pairing they like and then loudly having a conversation about yaoi. Kids are always around.
In general the fact that 70% of artists in artist alley here (anime con) seem to be sexual deviants who happily showcase their fetish and they will bully anyone who dares to express discomfort over their weird porn fetish. Going into artist alley as someone with a low interest in sexual things feels like going into the men's changing room as a female. It's genuinely super uncomfortable, I do not feel safe, I have to worry about unwanted sexual harassment and no matter what bad things happens to me I know people will say it was my own fault for being there and that I should have expected it.
No. 2197110
Real talk about nsfw themes in AAs: How do you genuinely feel about that? I'll start.
I don't mind nsfw at all, them being sex or violence, as long it's in character or still in the canon zone, for ex. for violent media I don't mind seeing some gore here and there or seeing sexual scenes/character in pinup nsfw poses but the thing that weirds me out and it's difficult to put it off without sounding like a hater in gendie/twittard spaces is how nsfw is treated, in fact I saw these patterns:
>Males (including troons) often draw weird cartoony gimmick porny stuff, it's pure fetish and it disgust me because for them anatomy, color theory or harmony isn't important as long there's their favourite mommy dommy with a 20inch dick in shiny finish a la shadbase, so it gives off flash porn game from the early 00s.
>TIFs of course are full of yaoi and I heard them saying that they can't draw female bodies which is total bullshit, the female body it's easier with their curves and fat patterns, they just don't bother but are so horny they can only channel it into weird genshin style men and then draw on titchop. Also funny how they claim difficulties with female bodies and are uncomfortables but have no problem drawing the most disgusting pussies you have ever seen, which is it.
In both case, rarely this type of people has sex so you can feel? Sense? How idealize their view of sex is, often with shitty poses, shitty dialogue that could only work in cringy ao3 fics and overall, weird shit.
I like my nsfw to feel real, like it has come from a woman (I don't buy from men or "nb" men) who knows how stuff feels, how people talk during sex, how they act and how they interact. If you see most nsfw closely, it's always rapey or one of them is clearly the object of the other. This is very rare but when I find it, it's the best thing.
For violence, same thing. Men are violent and that's it, TIF' violence is often medical trauma based (kek) or a shitty metaphor for love like cannibalism or vampirism, which I like but they get stale after a while, while again, violence for women feels real because they can convey the emotion and not the shock value.
Idk this is my experience, my luck is living in a place where the 18+ areas are separated and regulated but idk, let me know your thoughts!
About merch and prints, of course I would never go around with a nsfw joke, idk why people think that's a good idea. I don't display nsfw prints in my house like a moid but I like to look at them from time to time on my binder.
No. 2197587
>>2197110>nsfw themes in AAs: How do you genuinely feel about that?I personally find nsfw (sexual) stuff gross in 99% of cases. At best I find it boring an unappealing. I'd still say I actually have a pretty high tolerance for cute but "slutty" outfits and curvy characters but if it's obviously meant to be sexual through context and poses I can't help but find it gross. It's a natural reaction*, I can't help it.
I still accept it existing in AA, but time and place is everything.
At events that targets/partly targets kids: Nah, literally fuck off.
At events with kids allowed but mainly aimed at adults: Sure, if it's hidden properly from view (as in normal society, this is literally how the rest of the world does it, just do this, it is literally not hard)
At adult only events: Sure, I'd personally still want it hidden or sectioned off though because I still find it gross but I understand others don't care lol
*This is perhaps a bit tinfoily, but I theorize as a woman sexual things are often naturally interpreted as a "threat" because in most cases historically and biologically sexual stuff IS a literal threat to you, your wellbeing and your life. I just don't think it's all from some kind of "purity culture", if so I should be perfectly fine with it all as I grew up in hyper woke "sex work is work, don't slutshame" circles but I really do have a natural aversion to it and that seems to exist within every culture on earth and especially in women.
No. 2204280
I haven’t been to an anime con since the pandemic and probably never will again but I’m curious - does anyone there ever sell yarn crafts or fiber arts? I remember when needle felting was popular for five seconds and I’d see stalls selling needle felting kits which were just a needle + some wool + basic instructions on how to make a blob with a :3 face, but they practically never sold finished pieces. I’m guessing those just take too much time to make per individual item and selling them isn’t worth it.
I felt and knit nerdy shit and dream about having my own little booth one day, just as a hobby to get out of the house. I’ve seen women with stalls at farmers markets successfully selling literal fabric scraps for €2 a pop as “accessories” so I feel like it should be possible, but I’d prefer to sell stuff I like to make rather than the generic stuff ‘normies’ like to buy, you know?
Though realistically I’d never survive a nerd convention because half the shit I make is Harry Potter themed lmao>>2197587I don’t think it’s all that tinfoily. Any woman who’s lived anywhere with a red light district can tell you that female locals avoid those areas like the plague, because they feel unsafe and just plain grimy to be in even as a non-prostituted woman. Of course drawn porn isn’t on the same level as actual sex trafficking but the meat market vibe is there all the same.
No. 2204315
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>>2204280I can only speak for the local conventions, but there's always a few knitted and crocheted sellers. I have no idea how popular they are but I've bought from some before.
I think you'd be ok selling HP stuff, if anyone mentions "JKR bad hurr durr" you can politely go into how it's always been a special interest for you and how it feels empowering to profit from her "property" without any of the benefits going to her, but that you understand if they don't see it the same way and that's ok too. To be safe I would make sure you don't sell just HP stuff though, there should be a few other things thrown into the mix.
No. 2206095
File: 1728859127276.png (206.15 KB, 590x635, methinkingimsmart.png)
Anons I thought of a booth idea (I have literally never been to a con/alley)
>Bring nothing with you except a stack of paper and pens/pencils and mayyybe colored pencils or something
>Offer sketches/art of any fandom, any character(s), right there at the table
>Charge a lot (especially if they give you hassle), profit??
Am I the next Einstein or a genuine retard because this could go so wrong but also so right
No. 2206286
File: 1728867111337.jpg (73.08 KB, 564x564, 3fb0af54654671c8274e7994642720…)
So nonners, what do you use to decorate your booth? Self made displays or those cube things? Do you make your own graphic elements (not counting drawing mascots)?
I use Canva for quick and easy, cute enough price tags and display backgrounds, plus I also have my personalized runner but idk how to display prints because I hate when they flap around but they take too much space when I glue/tape them down. Can a binder on the table work?
No. 2206754
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>>2206095You will end up drawing like this. Taking commissions in con is a retarded move and you will be knows as the caricaturist. People don't care about fandom sketches, they see you drawing and go "Can you draw me??"
Do you think that people didn't already think about that lol
No. 2206777
>>2206286Tall displays get lights and fake flowers/leaves wrapped around them to make them more attention catching, I have a few tablecloths to match the theme of what I'm selling, and sometimes I use a standee of a FOTM character to help advertise the items I most want to move. Blind bags get their own completely separate section to make them stand out from the rest of my stuff. I use a bunch of different boxes and racks for display, for racks like the ones in your picrel I put something in to separate the sections, like strips of card or glitter foam, and pin the prices on the sides to prevent confusion.
>>2206095Don't do this. Nobody is going to stop at your booth, for a start. Make some prints and sell those instead. If you also want to do commissions on the spot and charge out the ass, have a heat gun and watercolors to make them seem more worth the price. Do your on the spot commissions in the style of the prints you have on display. Even then, you might not get many or any sales. You also need to think about how you're going to sell. Do you have a card reader? Do you have enough cash to give as change? How are you going to package the commissions? Do you have business cards and a website/social media where you showcase your work? Remember, you're essentially advertising your services by painting/drawing in person. Many potential customers will try to find you online if they're interested in buying from you but don't have the cash at the moment, or they might share your info with friends who like your style.
No. 2207643
>>2206095At minimum you'd need to have at least one sample of the artwork in your chosen medium completed so that people know what they're buying. The ceiling for what you can charge for the art is very low if you don't have any other artwork samples to prove your skill level though. The higher cost commissions I've seen all have fully fleshed out tables to support their pricing. As a standalone offering, I've done something similar a very long time ago and could make table back and a bit more, but given how much tables cost now as well as the level of competition in the alley it's not really feasible anymore.
>>2206754>>2206777Generally not wrong, but I disagree with a couple of points. There are always fandoms and characters that aren't popular enough or are too new to have extensive prints or other merch of, and this is what commissioners will typically ask for. Out of the 30-40 commissions I can get during a convention weekend, maybe 1 is of themselves or a friend? It's extremely rare in anime and gaming conventions from my experience and I've been doing commissions at cons since I started over a decade ago.
No. 2210944
>>2210726Hello fellow lovely nona.
What do you mean as helpers? Like actual, physical helpers, helping with the booth etc? In my case, I want to be alone. Maybe it's the autism in me, but I don't like when people who are not into this hobby/side job touch or move my stuff, sure, my nigel and my friends can help me lift but that's it, I don't want them to to anything to my stuff. I have to know where stuff exactly is and I need to check on it constantly. I used to ask for help but then the anxiety of them fucking up was too much so I do this alone and alone I can focus better, be calmer thinking that I'm the only one touching my shit, making up sales, briefing, doing inventory relaxes me so I guess it's how you view it. The only thing that I ask for whoever is there near me is watching my booth while I go to the toilet and that's it. Don't feel bad about it, in the long run you will also feel endlessly satisfied
No. 2212274
>>2212238Thank you for clarifying, I thought you meant 'without any outside support' before clarification.
My country is very much about being solo, I don't think I've ever seen anyone use a family member as a table partner. I've seen people use their partners, but only if said partner is also part of the Artist Alley life.
Naturally, I've tabled alone for the events I've been to so far, but the AA is very intimate, and at the biggest event, I was smushed in with other people manning the other stalls.
I tend to debrief with my friends, many of whom are not in the AA.
This year, I'll be splitting a table with someone for the first time. She seems nice, so here's hoping it'll go well.
No. 2217448
File: 1729555661068.png (3.4 MB, 1242x2688, IMG_1116.png)
crafty contraptions couldn’t find a work
around for the little guy i guess
No. 2217902
Sometimes I hate how some people depend so much on con money, it warps their views and gives them biases. Recently in my country a popular con changed staff, the new staff wanted:
-More money for the booth (+tax for every chair)
-Wanted artists to do free sketches to hangout to random people
-Shitty security, everyone is squashed to the wall, if a fire breaks out good luck!!
-You have to draw, everytime. You have limited breaks.
A lot of people are boycotting but ofc some artists are there saying that boycotting isn't fair for those who applied for the con and will get less customers, bitch, just cancel your application too. These people will not work a normal job and will fire themselves day one for not making 10 dollars/hour or will not apply if salary is not listed, which is fair, but will kiss the ass of shitty con staff to keep making pocket change in cons, just because they don't want to find a job and totally depend on display booths. It sounds lunatic and anxiety inducing to me, cons, unless you make at least 5 to 6 grand/month, should never be a person's main income, it stresses people so much it puts them into a shitty artsy Skinner Box.
No. 2224064
>>2217902AAs have always depended on retarded impulse purchases. Every shiny keychain and Genshin print instills FOMO in 15 year olds with their first McDonalds paycheck burning a hole in their pocket, they buy all the random shit they can find, and then do it all again next year. That's the only reason why shitty art and repetitive uninspired merch managed to carry so many otherwise unemployed sellers through the year.
We are now in a global recession. The amount of newly employed retards has plummeted, and few adults are willing to pay fair prices for ugly tat they don't need. The cost of tables, creating and importing merch, and hotels, have skyrocketed, while the number of attendees has plummeted. Even big cons that cater to adults with spending money aren't turning as big a profit for vendors as they used to.
What gets me is that this is by no means a new situation. Why the everloving fuck would any completely broke AUDHD LGBTABCQ+- permachild think that they alone can turn a profit in a sinking ship? AAs aren't a full time job, even getting a shitty part time weekend job would provide some stable-ish income. And it's always the most thin skinned, sheltered assholes who get butthurt about their mediocre art no longer paying their rent. Idk if it's sheer stubbornness, genuine idiocy, or the sunken cost that's making them cling to this pie in the sky dream of selling enough FOTM junk to keep a roof over their heads. All the normal sellers have other sources of income, whether it's an actual job, or Etsy, Youtube, whatever. Anime and fantasy and booktok BL are normie shit now! It's pure retardation to not sell on normie platforms, just sell at a normal market if online selling is too scary. I really don't understand their need to attend the shittiest cons imaginable instead of using a tiny bit of common sense. And yet somehow we get AAs full of TIFs sobbing about not being able to pay bills because they spent all their rent money on making a million AU shipping keychains that nobody outside of their immediate friend group was willing to buy.
No. 2224455
>>2224064>AUDHD LGBTABCQ+- permachild think that they alone can turn a profit in a sinking ship? AAs aren't a full time job, even getting a shitty part time weekend job would provide some stable-ish incomeThey don't want that! Artists with a little of common sense and who actually studied how the art field works know that art doesn't pay a living unless you are a million artist or in a studio. Sheltered tifs are sheltered tifs, that's it. They see people online making money with yaoi ships and go "Oh, I like yaoi too!" but cannot grasp the idea of merch or actually making art to sell, they draw their yaoi bois standing next to each other and then cry because they fail to understand that that's not the yaoi per se that sells but how marketable the piece is and they lack self reflection so instead of improving their art and selling skills, they cry "hater!" and play pity. Anyone with a bit of common sense knows how nightmarish is to keep up with FOTM merch and the best way to sell shit is being original and survive on your own brand but they're not creative so they don't do that. They attend every shitty con for exposure but don't realize that you can have it too if you're consistent with your art and posting it online, getting to actually know and engage with other people. They think that claiming themselves to be disabled due to anxiety and some fybro that magically dissolves in con (and thus failing to realize that anxious people don't go to cons or even show their faces), people will feel more inclined to buy to "support" them when it's just feeding into their delusion. I know a lot of normal sellers who use their regular paycheck to pay for a little stock merch con but it's all extra income, they won't go bankrupt or get eager to do discounts the day after the con to get back the money spent and they are chill about it, meanwhile these tifs and autistic fandom girlies are constantly and chronically online to catch the waves of the FOTM anime, sad. I saw a tif I know speedrunning Dandadan merch lol. They could use the hotel + con money to advertise themselves on social media if they really want that sweet exposure, minus getting out of home or do shitty merch that will get trashed in a month. They don't think long time and they most likely do merch that they will never use or wear in the first place and that's one of the biggest errors you can make. I make stuff that I would wear and won't look awkward in ten years when the next big fandom will come, they just pollute the planet with their stuff.
No. 2226580
File: 1730054536657.jpg (1.24 MB, 3000x2003, tamagotchi.jpg)
I know we all hate FOTM, but is there any kind of merch you've seen that have made you want to shamelessly rip it off because it was so good? And on the same note, some overrated art trend you actually find really cute?
I really loved tamagotchi as a kid so when tamagotchi art became popular I was damn wish I had thought of that first lol
No. 2226897
File: 1730068659679.jpg (36.38 KB, 564x451, 614ef64c2b6c9616a2a72221811641…)
>>2226580I love love love merch that looks like videogame items like cute food, potions and weapons, little fairies etc. I usually browse for original merch and if something catches my attention I try to replicate the topic but not the style.
For the overrated cute trend, I also like gotchis but og gotchis, not gotchi+random fandom. I also love anything cyber tribal and funky cute gore (I only wear it on my free days/in theme outfit ofc). I wish people made some catholic aesthetic stuff like angels and crosses in pastel blue instead of bblack and blue because I like that jpn trend with blue and white kawaii angels, idk how to call it.
No. 2228245
File: 1730145447245.png (64.14 KB, 215x233, kittye.png)
>>2226458omg kek, nonna I’m going to apply too, but you have to hurry! It’s first come, first served for the limited spots, and then the remaining tables are assigned randomly to artists. Please let me know if you get accepted (or not) maybe we can say hi at our booth!"
No. 2235852
File: 1730562871681.jpg (603.41 KB, 1200x1200, 7cc2ba9a4587f1b653782defbd07bf…)
Anyone got any original/more unusual ideas of what to make and sell? Pretty sure lc is small and unknown enough that even if everyone itt used the same ideas it wouldn't negatively impact any of us here.
I'm just so tired of keychains. I use 1-2 at most, the rest are useless trinkets that are hard to even display. I don't particularly care about pins either. Remove those 2 + prints/stickers and 90% of artist alley is gone.
So my ideas so far (idk if I'll be able to pull it off or not) are matchstick boxes, switch joycon grips, magnets, bookends, scarves… I've seen 2 people sell their own tea blends which I'd be scared to do since it's a consumable item, but it's a cute idea.
No. 2236095
>>2235852Jewellery, pouches that are a useful size, notebooks, notepads, maaaaybe diaries/calendars but if you have leftover stock you're fucked, stationery, acrylic standees that have a function.
I love the switch joycon grips and magnets, I'm sure they'd sell well. Bookends might be hard to store and display, scarves could be great if the design is subtle enough to make them wearable.
No. 2236329
>>2235852Fridge magnets, trading card sized prints (see
>>2134304), temporary tattoos, car decals/accessories, vinyl peel-and-stick wall stickers
No. 2238379
>>2237280I think you have to let it happen with certain items, have the dedicated display items and let them pick them/one up to look at them and when they ask to pay you go "I'll grab a fresh one for you".
For examples, if you have pen holders, stack a few up to make a little tower and have one in front with a sticker that says something like "demo", "tester" or "pick me up!". That's your dedicated one to be touched. You can still put a little note next to the other stack that says "don't touch the display, only the tester". People will likely still pick them up a few times, but hopefully it makes it happen less often.
Magnets need BIG signs. Maybe even a little tag that says "I'm a magnet!" next to every single one. Otherwise people really don't get it because they're dumb and magnets are still a bit unusual to see there. This is true for everything that looks like it could be one of the most common items sold like stickers and pins. People don't see the whole board/display they're on, they will only look at the specific small item they're interested in because taking it all in at once (and doing so 50 times over at every table) is too overwhelming.
No. 2245920
File: 1730917963029.jpg (27.35 KB, 360x360, raf,360x360,075,t,fafafa_ca443…)
Let's do a reverse advice thing: what lie would you tell your worst enemy who just started selling in artist alley to make sure they fail? Bonus points if it's something you've been told for real by someone else!
I'll go first! Sell your stuff really cheap, make sure you're always the cheapest because selling in quantity is always better than selling quality.
No. 2246076
>>2245920I would say some shit like
"Bring your ocs! And don't do anything creative with them, just stock oc references/headshots and print lots!
Bring fandoms that were big and now look awkward (ex. bnha, yaoi spokons) and always do fotm merch only, don't ever think about expanding your views. Use a random, forgettable name (ex. Names that include shit like "Name+Kawaii" "name+chu" "name+arts") and only get your ideas from other big creators."
I didn't pull these out my ass, they're all patterns I saw in sinking AArtists that now cry in poor.
No. 2246916
>>2245920Listen to everything your online hugbox tells you! Your personal style is super marketable no matter what and all criticism is from jelly haters who want you to cry! Never do any anatomy studies or backgrounds! Your OCs are incredible and you're so famous that everyone knows who they are and wants to buy them! Don't bring cash to a con, everyone uses card all the time and the wifi never goes haywire. Don't bring bags either, or water, or snacks that aren't aesthetic! You can make 500 of one charm and be OK. You can also make two of 500 designs and be OK! Price them however you want, you don't have to remember how much you paid per item or count shipping and import taxes or anything. No, you don't need a display for them, just stick them on the table and you're fine. Feel free to stay on your phone all day, ignore customers, be a rude bitch to anyone who mentions one of your ten thousand
triggers that you clearly listed on your carrd, get mad at other artists who are selling more than you, and don't bring anyone along to watch your table while you go to the bathroom.
No. 2247720
>>2245920I'd tell them that their time and work is valuable, that to calculate what to sell for they need to take into account how much time it took. You spent 20h making that piece? Then you need 20h worth of payment for it! Never mind that the quality is dogshit and a better artist could make a better artwork in just 1h. That just means that other person should get paid for 1h, and you for 20h! Effort is all that matters!
The amount of times I've seen this being said to literal newbie artists… they're just being set up for failure and disappointment.
No. 2248490
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https://x.com/peterokii/status/1854285625869934848They don't have shame, don't they.
Of course she's a bnha fan.
Imho cons shouldn't include parents, like yeah of course you have to be 18+ to have a table but why would you bring your parents? Unless they're not interested in con or offered their help, I just know they're gonna sit there and there's a high chance of them fucking up assembling the booth/packing, it's unnecessary stress. I'm envious of people who have parents who truly help them and know what they're doing but most of the times, they just sit there and you can't even ask them for help because they will go "Uh?? Where?? Where is it?"
"If I don't find a friend" yeah ask yourself while you're friendless. If I had the power to set con rules, I'll ban non active helpers (friends or family that help for one thing and then sit there), it's also annoying for the customers seeing old men behind the counter, and dogs. One time I saw an artist bringing her dog that barked at everyone who got close and she said "She's overprotective of me!! Teehee!" like ok? Leave your dog home. No I don't buy the service dog bullshit, if you can handle a 3-day con, where it's expected that you stand up a lot, the anxiety of selling and such, you can cope without a service dog.
>B-but what about people in a wheelchairBring a person that actually helps, not a fucking dog.
No. 2250271
I'm often so close to posting cringe things I see in the AA discords I'm in, the only thing stopping me is the fear of them finding out it's me and that they'll kick me out kek. I hate how they're all wholesome uwu ass kissers to each others, and even just acting and talking like a normal human being makes people think you're cold and asocial (especially if you're female). It would be fine if they were genuinely just being nice, but they're the kind that
>>2246916 described
>Listen to everything your online hugbox tells you! Your personal style is super marketable no matter what and all criticism is from jelly haters who want you to cry! Never do any anatomy studies or backgrounds! Your OCs are incredible and you're so famous that everyone knows who they are and wants to buy them!Their racially mixed muslim kawaii wheelchair OC just isn't going to sell well, just because virtue signalers like the post on tumblr doesn't mean people actually like it as a art, or that it translates to sales.
No. 2250336
>>2250271as long you're not esl (where aas are smaller) blur out names and post kek
>>2250316Yeah, "lost parent" is what I hate in cons. It's already hard as it is, with cons getting filled with people with no etiquette, I don't want to buy from a booth where an old man is asking where is my cosplay from (they don't know the source nor they're interested so it's always a useless question), if I did all by myself, "this is all handmade!" bitch I know.
One time I made this error from buying from a tif with her mom and she went "He does this all by himself! So you like the same anime? What's your favourite character?" Ma'am please I've left this stuff in early 2010s deviantart and I'm almost 30, please don't make it harder than it is.
No. 2251244
>>2251226I disagree, go them
Men aren't expected to share resources all the time, and they don't get attacked for keeping things secret in the same way. Finding a correct manufacturer takes trial and error. I don't make AA merch anymore but I am personally so fed up of children who ask me dumb questions about art online and then call me a gatekeeper just because I recommend they can find a better tutorial online than I can advise them in under 150 characters.
It's stupid to gatekeep that you order from Vograce and I am eternally grateful to people who write guides and share resources, but nobody is owed it
No. 2251592
>>2251244I'm sorry some kids who admire you tweeted you for help and you weren't willing to babysit them, that's fine, but it's not at all what I'm talking about. I'm quite literally talking about the people who make long video tutorials about that exact topic, some who even directly claim in the video they're going to share their manufacturer. And then they fucking don't. They go "actually I had to lose time and money, so you gotta lose time and money too" or give some other vague self-righteous excuse. These women literally go out of their way to pose themselves as a helpful authority only to then gatekeep the manufacturer out of fear and insecurity that it will affect their own sales negatively to share it. It's quite ridiculous. If you want to gatekeep, then just fucking gatekeep and don't pretend you're trying to help people.
Maybe the men don't get attacked for keeping secrets simply because… they don't keep them in this scenario? And even IF the men are also secretly keeping their top secret best manufacturer, they weren't 1) dumb enough to mention it and 2) instead gave an alternative trusted manufacturer for people to use. They went straight to facts instead of playing some dumb "it builds character to fail and waste money uwu" game with people. I also like how the men gave exact numbers like "this costs exactly this much, and I'd have to sell them at this price to make profit" while the women were like "it can be quite expensive… so you know, just be ready for that" without even giving you an actual framework. Is "quite expensive" $10? Or $100? $1000??? We may never know. Men ain't shit, but if you can use them to your advantage then fucking use them.
No. 2251788
>>2191722I really hate it. Do they gatekeep because they don't want potential competition in their fandom? I've seen a lot of interesting, high quality merchandise pieces over the years and it's sparked inspiration for my own product design and manufacturing. If I happen to contact the same manu as them that does NOT mean I'm going to be making the exact same product for the same fandom as them.
>Ummmm well, it took me years to build a relationship with this manu, and and and-I don't fucking care, and they don't care either. What type of slop manufacturer would turn away a few new clients? Come on.
No. 2253898
>>2253720It's an idiot move. A Stacy would talk to their manufacturer and ask if they wanna sponsor/partner with her. She could get paid for doing a sponsorship ad/video/post, or just get cheaper prices herself for recommending them to other artists, thus they both profit. Stacy has now turned herself into a higher value client.
The only time I can think of when it's genuinely better to shut up is when you know for sure the people you use use slave/child labour or dump
toxic waste trash straight into the ocean. But if that's easily accessible information for you then idk why you'd chose to work with them in the first place.
No. 2259047
>>2226458Best of luck, nonna. It has become standard that you apply at 8PM sharp the day Dokomi open their applications. (In hopes that you get in through FCFS. Chances for that to happen might be low, though. Apparently, they got over 2k applications on Day 1).
Based on what fellow artists have told me, Dokomi is a great but overwhelming experience (simply due to the sheer amount of visitors inside the hall). I've been told that it's tough to get noticed by visitors if you don't get a favorable spot.
There was a story related to spiked food getting passed around a couple of years ago (from a cosplay group, IIRC).
No. 2260274
>>2258821it heavily depends what country you're in. A friend of mine for example does cons in Italy, and their table partner had to take away their Lupin the 3rd prints off their table because a tv network in Italy owns the rights in the country and imposes copyright much heavier than the og owners in japan do.
Nintendo and Disney seem to be the most risky in America, but mostly if you draw nsfw/riskè/offensive fanart of their ips.
No. 2260302
File: 1731584342236.jpeg (78.58 KB, 450x475, IMG_7033.jpeg)
>>2258821>>2258842It’s never really been clear to me where the line is between technically illegal fanart and imagery that’s obviously inspired by an IP but still in the clear. Is there somewhere I can read more about this, or even look it up for specific IPs? I understand that characters are pretty much guaranteed to be protected but I’m wondering about other types of iconic imagery from media. Could I get in trouble with WB for selling merch of an owl holding a letter in its beak, even if it’s not a snowy owl (so not Hedwig)? What about clearly recognisable scenery, like a Hobbit hole or the Argonath? Does it make a difference if architectural elements (statues, stained glass) depict named characters? I’m guessing it does, but is that where the line is drawn?
And what about recreating a garment that a character wears and selling the pattern? I’m a knitter and it’s not unheard of for people to recreate iconic pieces of clothing from artwork or films. I’ve never of heard anyone getting in trouble for that, but the market for it is so small that it’s probably easy to fly under the radar. Even big sewing pattern companies like Simplicity or McCall’s often release patterns off the back of popular IPs to capitalise on them, without being official collaborations. Pic related for example. It’s not screen accurate and isn’t explicitly called a Merida costume, but it’s very obviously meant to evoke Brave. Is this a case of Disney turning a blind eye, or does it not count as infringement? I’m guessing McCall’s employs lawyers to deal with this exact issue but I can’t afford that, so here I am.
No. 2260378
>>2260302>It’s never really been clear to me where the line is between technically illegal fanart and imagery that’s obviously inspired by an IP but still in the clear.While the rules and laws are going to be different in every country, here's two rules of thumb:
Is the product being sold? If so, it's illegal.
Is the product using the official brand or names? If so it's illegal.
If you draw Mickey Mouse to put on your own wall, that's fine. If you show your Mickey on social media going "hey look at this Mickey Mouse I drew!" and you get a lot of traction from it, that's still fine. But if you then go "buy a print of my Mickey drawing" that's illegal, because you don't own Mickey Mouse. The second you try to earn money on their intellectual property it's no longer legal.
If you draw a different looking mouse and call it "Mickey Mouse" to sell it that's illegal because the name itself is also copyrighted.
If you draw your own Rodney Rodent character who looks nothing like Mickey Mouse, but you say it's a Disney mouse character that's illegal because you're trying to use the brand name Disney to sell it.
However if you draw a Disney style inspired Rodney Rodent but never actually use any of their brand names that should be fine.
And usually parodies (such as a fake Mickey Mouse appearing in some TV show like Family Guy or The Simpsons) and educational content (documentaries, commentary videos) are legal. That's not really part of the art scene, but still worth mentioning.
>I’m wondering about other types of iconic imagery from media. Could I get in trouble with WB for selling merch of an owl holding a letter in its beak, even if it’s not a snowy owl (so not Hedwig)?>Does it make a difference if architectural elements (statues, stained glass) depict named characters? Unless you actually call the owl something like "Hedwig from Hogwarts", or directly copy their existing merch designs so that they could argue that you are affecting their sales or confusing consumers into thinking you're selling official merch - that should be fine. They can't typically copyright something as generic as all owl imagery, or birds holding a letter.
>What about clearly recognisable scenery, like a Hobbit hole or the Argonath?I think that's safe as long as you don't use copyrighted names, words or images. For example the word "hobbit" is copyrighted, so you can't call it a "hobbit hole". You can't sell a screenshot from the movie, but if you redraw the screenshot in your own style it's legal because now it's art made by you.
>what about recreating a garment that a character wears and selling the pattern? Think of halloween costumes. You can sell "Wizard school boy costume" that looks like Harry Potter, but you can't sell "Harry Potter costume". As long as you can argue it's a distinct design it's legal. Like for your picrel, that's not actually what Merida's dress looks like - it's clearly different. Disney doesn't own "any green dress and red hair design" they just own that specific Merida character design.
If you're selling locally at artist alley you can honestly use the character names as you see fit, the chances of a disney lawyer being there on duty are virtually non-existent. They've got big Chinese companies who make fake merch to take out, you're an ant in comparison. It would likely take more time and money suing you for copyright infringement than it would just leaving you alone. Putting up "Disney's Cinderella costume" would be fine because you just won't get caught anyway lol but if you then sell it online I'd change the name to be more generic like "princess costume".
No. 2264940
>>2263275>Maybe I'm petty and a haterWell I for one always encourage this kek. I mean good for them that they get to try it out together but we're not obliged to buy from mediocre artists who couldn't get a table on their own merits.
>What about you nonnas, are you going to a con?I'm going to one pretty soon, but I'm going for the petty reason to take sneaky pics of bad woke art to share with my friends in private. I wouldn't shame someone just for being a newbie or bad at art, but if you choose to draw titchop characters with pride flags it's all fair game! Supporting mutilation of women and children justifies us making fun of their art.
No. 2274065
>>2273995I do this all the time, to me it's about cons being one of the rare occasions when I can go out and meet other nerds and do fun nerd stuff.
Tabling with a buddy means:
-Being able to sell more while still enjoying the con.
-Having a buddy around to hang out with during slow moments.
-Not going to a con alone.
No. 2274630
>>2273984nonna I'm an eurofag too and travelling to other eu countries is not that expensive lol, if I get in at dokomi I'm spending 400€ at max, 500€ if I go overboard with food just for a chance to expand my audience, local artists are much richer kek, esp. those who only do fotm merch. You should support if they don't do fotm merch, I'd rather give my money to a creator that does niche stuff from the outside rather than a genshin/hazbin local that lives on fomo
>>2273545I'm a con veteran
I went to cons for getting deals on comics and discovering new series/getting figures
Now it's all ali crap and there are no more comics around. What's the point, besides the AAs…
No. 2287941
How do you feel about gifting fanmerch to famous people? Lately I've been to an event where there was a famous actor and yeah I can understand getting a gift for them, I can understand gifting self made merch but everytime I see people gifting joke merch or porny, even if ironic, shit, my skin crawls.
If I had to meet a person that I really admire, gifting nsfw shit wouldn't be even on my mind, I would do a piece that I would hang myself on my walls/carry with me and I don't get how people can walk to them, straight face, with gross printed stuff and handing them to them, like for what? A momentary satisfaction? Idk how people think that famous people are chronically online as them to understand in fandom jokes or how are they ok projecting horniness. It's more accepted for males, I mean getting a male actor/dubber/artist to sign a nsfw print is seen as innocent teenage-y act, meanwhile a guy that brings a printed porn image is being seen as creepy, I think that they're both equally gross.
I don't mind person-to-person nsfw merch, to each their own, even if cringy/weird like hyper niche in fandom joke but I guess you do you if you feel comfortable with an alien dick pic on your bag, but the moment it includes a third person who is just doing their job, that's when it icks me. I was at that even and wandering around the artist alley before my turn and there was this artist who had a big section at her booth that said "Bring these to [actor] so they can sign them!" and it was all borderline porn shit because ahah funny, right.
Ew.
No. 2287959
>>2287941>How do you feel about gifting fanmerch to famous people? If you made it yourself, cool! Though my honest expectation is that they'll throw it in the garbage as soon as the event is over. Still a nice gesture, people just don't need more clutter forced upon them.
>people gifting joke merch or porny, even if ironic, shit, my skin crawls.Fuck no to that. Unless the person has publicly directly stated they want that I wouldn't ever put them in that position. I don't care if it's a female fan gifting a male famous person a sexy piece of art of themselves - it is still just cringe at best. I know this is LC but I don't think those men should have to deal with thinly veiled sexual harassment from fans either. If for no other reason it's kinda disrespectful to his wife/gf to be openly "flirting" with him.
No. 2311500
I recently came back from a two day con in my country and it was almost funny to see that, in less than a year, Hazbin shit is now put on sale. Fandoms are so short lived right now, it's an ouroboros of wasting both money and resources, aside making trash. I feel that big fandom merch, you know the ones that are big for a moment but rarely make an impact (for ex. Nana having a comeback despite not having new shit for 15 years), will eventually become the buck, passing it people to people until the final buyer will throw it away and the thought makes me cringe. I'm a bit of an hypocrite myself, I make plastic trinkets, but at least make it so they don't look cringe in a year, no? That's why that I plan for my next restock to do more unfandom merch with less plastic, stuff that you can also gift to relatives and such.
For other artists: is there any merch that you don't like to see and/or do?
I think that Genshin was boring but at least somehow pretty, like I get the appeal but Hazbin is absolutely terrible because their design is terrible and reeks of 2012 tumblr, all that red and purple mixing together is hideous, with those edgy and smug pointy smiles. I get that some people need to jump on the bandwagon to make some coin but it looks horrible, fotm artists how do you cope when you have to make merch but the latest big trend isn't really something of your taste?
No. 2314154
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I have the somewhat controversial opinion that if you're at a convention you're in a public space and I'm allowed to take pictures/film you without asking for permission. Not in a creepy way or singling out people, but if I'm filming a "walk around" video I'm not going to ask for permission from the hundreds of people walking by. If I take a general area photo and you're in a scantily clad bikini cosplay in the background that's on you for turning up looking like that. I like taking random photos like picrel of people just browsing or walking around because it's just a nice vibe and captures natural moments.
And I also frankly ignore "no photos" signs on artist alley tables. It just makes me think they sell stolen artworks and don't want people to find out if I post anything online. It's not that I go up to them and take a picture just to spite them. I just naturally take photos and videos to share as I've always done and occasionally (after I've taken the photo) see that there was a sign telling you not to take pics. If I see it before there's a possibility I won't take pics, if I missed it I just keep the pics I already took and won't go out of my way to delete. Sometimes I sneakily take them just because I suspect they have stolen art or AI they're trying to hide. Maybe I'm being an asshole for it, I'd like to hear you other nonas opinion on it? Do you mind having your table/items on camera? How evil am I for not asking first? What are the reasons you'd put a "no photos" sign on your table?
No. 2314387
>>2314173>Some of them have a huge following online and have been harassed by retards who sometimes threaten to show up in cons to harass them irl.That doesn't add up for me. If you have a huge following you can't just sneak into a con unnoticed and pretend to be a nobody, people will know who you are. (And the people I've seen with signs like that have most certainly not been huge artists) What realistically does not taking pictures actually do for them? What's the point in the harasser paying a bunch of money to get into the con just to be immediately escorted out when 50 people other saw them harass someone in person?
>Some are selling fanservicey art of fanzines and don't want someone they know irl to see that online and associate that with their real identity. Just to clarify, the signs are saying "don't take a photo of the items" and are not about the person (I'm not from an English speaking country btw). Honestly if they're so embarrassed to sell porny stuff… then just don't fucking sell it lmao and again, I've never seen it at a table that sells that. It's always been sort of normal mediocre handcrafted stuff. I've never seen a highly skilled/full time/professional artist with such a sign.
>I went to a con once with friends, one of them took a picture of us as a souvenir which is totally fine, she then posted it on fb and tagged me without permission and my siblings started asking a shit ton of questions about where and when that was, who was with me, etc. That was your friends and siblings though so it sounds like a unique experience, you should have clearly told your friends to not post it anywhere. Or if you did and if she posted it anyway, stop being friends with her!
>>2314201>The no photos signs are to deter people who take photos of prints instead of buying them, which is so rude and happens all the time. Almost makes sense I guess? I've never heard of it happening here, I mean it's not 2004, at that point just go to their social media pages and download the image and get better quality. The thing that doesn't make sense is those signs tend to be not at print artists but at other crafters. At best I'm guessing they don't want a design stolen, but like come on. You want people to hide the things they bought from you and never show it to anyone ever? The mindset seems odd to me. You can't have your cake and eat it too
No. 2314440
>>2314154I pretty much agree with your first paragraph. As for the second one, idk, I’ve never spoken extensively with anyone who has a sign like that so I didn’t really get the opportunity to ask what lead to that decision.
>>2314173If it’s unsafe for your siblings to see pictures of you doing things, you might want to consider blocking them on Facebook, nona. sorry that happened to you.
No. 2314449
>>2314154Sometimes the no photos sign also works to protect the artist. For example, in my country which is right leaning, a girl got in trouble for selling lgbt shit and her parents found out. I get it, that's shit merch, but let's not throw out girls in the streets because dad can't get over a colorful pin.
Anyway nonnas, how do you display prints? Do you use a display or hang them? I'm thinking about my new booth setup and I'm stuck in between hanging them for better view or display them on a display so people can touch them and turn them around.
Better view with less wasted spaces vs better sales…please give me some advice
Also what are your behind the booth essentials? I'm going to a con on the other part of the country and idk if I should bring some life saver items? I get it that if I don't think I need it then I don't need it but I want to be at peace, for ex. I got an under table shelf so I can store my ipad/wallet away from the people but any small stuff that I should be aware of?
No. 2314928
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>>2314449>n my country which is right leaning, a girl got in trouble for selling lgbt shit and her parents found out. ayrt, my country is literally safe and woke/progressive as fuck but I see how that could be a problem in other places. Though the photos I take rarely if ever show a clear image of the seller. It's closer to picrel, basically just "vibe" pictures so I still can't see them get anyone in trouble over it
No. 2314939
>>2314449>Better view with less wasted spaces vs better salesEasy! Better sales. That's always the better option!
Or just do both! Hang some for better visibility, while also having some they can touch.
Bring non-messy food, drinks and napkins to clean up. Bring extra snacks for when your blood sugar gets a bit low. Something soft to sit on can help too. Wear layers so you're ready for any temperature.
No. 2315385
>>2314387All the people I know who use no photos signs are print artists, but I agree it's a bit strange to have something like that when the image can be found online. I don't post any of my prints online either on socmed or otherwise, but I also don't use no photos signs. But to the point the other anon made, I still see dozens of people take pictures of individual prints at my table and walk off at any given convention. A majority of people are polite and ask before doing so (and I always give permission) but yeah, that sort of rude behavior absolutely still happens in 2024.
>>2314449Massive print wall. I've switched off methods of hanging here and there but the final result is always the same. I always have scissors, extra tape, pens/pencils, zip ties, etc. situated somewhere in my setup that's within quick reach. It'd be nice to have a tablecloth that has pockets set up for all of this but I can't be arsed to make it.
A surprise month of Hellmas is now in effect. For the rest of the month of December, VPN posting will be banned.