hihi corina, hope you are well!
i'm a huge fan of your work and just wanted to ask a bit about your merch making materials if that's alright ><
recently, i started up an online shop for my art, and i've been printing stickers at home for a bit, but i'm not super happy with the sticker paper i'm using. a friend of mine picked up some of your artwork for me last year at anime north, and i really liked the stickers and print quality of yours (namely the jjk character stickers and postcards!)
if you don't mind sharing, what type of sticker and prints paper do you use for your artwork? and would you have any tips for someone just starting out in making physical merch? :0
thank you in advance for the help!! love love love all your work <3
hihi there friend!!
thank you so much for the kind words and support!! i missed this inbox during my break so this is really nice to come back to, thank you again! and i'm happy to answer any questions!! -
firstly, congratulations on starting your online shop! i would love to check it out and support you as well!
here are the products I use for my store:
Making merch at home (I mainly make my own stickers at home because outsourcing can get a bit pricey)
Epson Ecotank ET-2800 printer
Koala vinyl sticker paper for inkjet - matte
Sticker paper - matte
Holographic Lamination sheets - various holo designs
Clear Lamination sheets
I got recommended to buy a circuit but I'm still hesitant so I hand cut my stickers lol but please do some research on your end if you're interested !
Outsourcing (some sticker sheets/mainly prints/posters)
Vistaprint, they're kind of a mixed bag in the art community but I've had nothing but good products from them. They also have great deals and some variety in paper material
Jukebox, these guys are local and I go to them for sticker sheets and sometimes die cut stickers. I recently ordered posters from them and they turned out really great with accurate colours! Their customer service is also really friendly. Sometimes they give a few extra sheets in your order too!
StickerCanada, I've also ordered from them a few times, no complaints!
StickerApp, I've only used them once and they are quite a bit expensive but their quality is good!
General tips for starting a store:
build your audience and know them, this goes without saying- but those who follow your art are usually in the same headspace as you meaning they also are in the same fandoms OR they just love your style and vibe- so continue to put a bit of yourself into every merch you make
have a good balance in creating what is in trend and what youre passionate, bonus points if the two of them hit those criteria. for example, some movies or shows/memes become super popular very fast because it blows up on the internet, and its totally fine to feed off from the popularity because itlll gain some attraction but be careful that most of those trends tend to die out pretty quickly too. so if you want to create something that is following a trend, make the decision to produce it in a good quantity amount instead of ordering hundreds and you just have dead stock in the end :(
following that, if youre into niche things and afraid that nobody will buy it- i'd say still make it for yourself and product a little bit. who knows, all those fans will go to you cause only you have it! i had these run ins a lot from others because they told me that theyve never seen "insert fandom" at any event and it leaves an impression and a fun interaction!
stickers are always the safest thing to start, people love stickers then slowly stretch to other materials such as prints, keychains, etc
I hope that helped!! Thank you again for dropping by! I hope you like the stickers and prints your friend got you! Thanks for giving my art a new home!