howtobeaconartist

[howtobeaconartist]

#artist alley #supplies

[howtobeaconartist]

Hello! I wanna ask about how should I set my canvas resolution for printing 5x5cm acrylic keychains. Some said I should keep it to the original keychain size, and some said it's a good practice to always make it bigger like twice the size so I'm not sure which one I should follow lol. Though I do understand that I should make the DPI to 300/350 for printings and preferably draw it in CMYK (not a fan tho.) Thank you!

Kiriska: In general, it doesn't hurt to go bigger, though this is mostly so you can repurpose the art for various applications. If you don't know what you plan to use the art for when you make it, it's better to err on the side of bigger.

However, if you do know what product the art is for, it may be better to just work at 300 dpi at your final dimensions.

The one downside of working bigger than you need is that you may end up putting in detail that won't really show up in the product. If you tend to work at 100% canvas size, but your canvas size is significantly bigger than your end product, a lot of that 100% detail won't show up when it gets printed.

Which is better may end up being dependent on your style though. If you tend towards fine details, it's probably better to just work at your final size. If your style is simpler and made of big solid shapes, it probably won't hurt to work a bit bigger, and then if you later decide you want to use the art on something bigger, your art may already be able to accommodate that.

#file size #artist alley

[howtobeaconartist]

do you think its worth it to buy a cricut in order to make vinyl stickers vs ordering from vograce or some other retailer? I am interested but I also like the different finished vograce offers (holo,glitter,rainbow glass, brushed gold, ect.) and i havent found any way to do it at home... I kep on searching for the paper and finding nothing! sorry if this sounds silly, im very new to this!

Kiriska: Different finishes on stickers are typically a laminate that goes over a sheet of stickers prior to their being cut, rather than paper the stickers are being printed on -- like this. Also see: #holographic film.

As for whether it's "worth it" to DIY or outsource, here's how you can calculate that for yourself. Also see: #cost benefit analysis.

#stickers #vinyl stickers #artist alley

[howtobeaconartist]

Hello, I'm selling at my first con in December. I'm planning on getting a Square card reader bc theyre marketed as "easy", but signing up for it confuses me. Do I have to create a business name? Or can I sell under my own name? Can purhcases be sorted by type? What if Im selling with another person; how would I separate purchases from tips? What about fees, banking, & tax info? And how do taxes even work 🤯 This is a lot, but I'm hoping at the very least you can point me in the right direction for resources to learn this stuff 😅

Kiriska: Okay, so,

You can create a business name or sell under your own name. Either is fine. The Business Name/DBA (Doing Business As) name you use in Square may show up on customer receipts and bank statements. If you're registering your business with your city/state/feds/bank/whatever, it may be helpful for your DBA in Square to match, but you can also update/change your Square DBA later.

You can create item categories and variants in Square to help categorise sales. For example, you can have a Prints category and put all your prints in that category. Within each print, you can have variants for different sizes, if you offer the same print in different sizes. Most general Square questions can probably be answered via Square's documentation for Square POS (Point of Sale).

If you are selling with another person, I would highly recommend they have their own Square account, device, and hardware, tbh.

Square automatically separates tips out from normal sales in its reports.

#legal stuff, #sales tax, #income tax, #taxes, #permits and licenses, talk to an accountant. :) You can also try to find a small business association in your area that may do free consultations.

#artist alley #your first show #your first con #beginner #square

[howtobeaconartist]

Hello! Sorry if this has been asked; I used the search function but I couldn't find quite what I was looking for. I'm really interested in contributing to a zine. Not creating one for myself, but contributing to a group collective style zine where multiple artists are contributing to it. I'm having a hard time finding any, though. All of the ones I've found through searching have already been completed. Any suggestions on how to find open ones?

Kiriska: Being active on social media and in artist communities is the best way to keep abreast of open calls of various sorts.

There have been various Twitter (or similar) and Instagram accounts dedicated to reposting and sharing open calls for zines and other projects over the years, but I'm not aware of any at the moment (followers, please feel free to sound off in comments!).

Large artist communities like the AANI Discord can also be a good way to get open call news, or to ask about more resources. If you're interested in fandom zines, being active in the fandom and a part of fandom communities can also help.

Overall, I think actively looking for zine calls is a difficult way to go about it... you have to be a part of a community that does zines, so you'll already be around when the call comes.

ETA: Folks are recommending the Zinetown Discord server. :o

#zines #fan zines

[howtobeaconartist]

Hey there, thanks so much for the advice you’ve posted, I’ve relied on it a lot prepping for the first con I’ll be tabling at! It occurred to me I’ve got some figures and stuff I could raffle off, do you have any tips on running a raffle at my table/whether or not that’s a good idea at all? (It’s a franchise specific con, so there’s no worry that attendees won’t be familiar with the fandom of the items I’m raffling)

Kiriska: Do note that raffles can be considered a form of gambling and is illegal in some states, except by permit.

Double check with both the state and the convention itself if raffles are permitted before going forward with one!

Aside from that, setting clear expectations on raffle guidelines, especially when the raffle will be decided, is most important, imo. I would make a point to inform everyone about raffle results, even if they don't win, and to do it in way that doesn't require them check up on results themselves (e.g. emailing everyone instead of telling them to check social later), but that's my own preference.

Think of what you'd want out of a raffle experience personally, and do that!

#artist alley #raffles

[howtobeaconartist]

Hi! Sorry if this has been asked already, but I want to get into tabling at cons and I've seen people mention needing a liscense to sell merch with some saying that they're fine without.

Do I have to have a business/sellers license to sell art merch at a con or is it dependent on the convention and where I live?

Thank you!

Kiriska: Like the previous ask, it's highly dependent on the specific con and your region (some states don't require sales tax and I don't know how anything works outside of the US).

Further reading: #sales tax, #taxes, #permits and licenses

#legal stuff #artist alley #permits and licenses

[howtobeaconartist]

Do all cons in the US require I get a sales tax permit? Also can I use one permit for all states?

Kiriska: Most major conventions will require a sales tax permit. Some even require the permit just to apply to the con. Some may not, but you should always check specific cons for their requirements. I'd recommend being permitted even if the con doesn't require it.

Every state has its own sales tax system, so you need to get an individual permit for every state that has a sales tax. Yes, it's a pain, but that's the reality of doing business across state lines. (States without sales tax don't require sales tax permits, but may require other paperwork.)

I highly recommend also having regional sales tax programmed into your POS and setting a reminder to switch/update them between shows. Sales tax can vary between cities and counties, in addition to state, and you're likely going to need to report the amount for each region.

For example, I mostly just vend in Washington state these days, but I still have individual tax rates in Square for Seattle, Tacoma, Unincorporated King County, Bellevue, Lake Forest Park, Olympia, etc... When I report sales tax annually, I separate out and report the sales per region, because they all have different tax rates.

✨Small biz lyfe ✨

Further reading: #sales tax, #taxes, #permits and licenses

#artist alley #sales tax #taxes #permits and licenses #legal stuff

[howtobeaconartist]

#artist alley #atlanta comic con #vlog #video #Youtube

[howtobeaconartist]

Hi there! I’m a small artists looking to try and get into a rather large con (20000 people!) this fall. I was wondering if you had any tips for a first-time seller, including

How much inventory I should be preparing?

About how many designs I should have available?

Any advice a long-time con artist would know, but a first-timer may not know about?

Thank your for your time!

Kiriska:

5-10 per item. Err towards fewer if you're unsure. If you're very confident in a piece, it's in a popular fandom, or you're sure you're not gonna be sick of it -- sure, you can make more than 10, but especially when you're first starting out, it's good to see how things actually sell before you go overboard with production.

Enough to fill your table, and enough such that if you sell everything you have, you'll have covered your costs and have some bonus.

Start small. The number one mistake I think newcomers make is making too much of something or investing a lot in something before they have any sales or customer data. Especially with so many manufacturing options available these days, people want to come out of the gate with like a full run of enamel pins or embroidered hats or whatever. There are certainly some success stories, but naturally, those get more attention than the ones who aren't able to ever sell off that first pin design they did with no feedback. It's better to start small and easy. It's okay to start with just some prints and stickers and other things that are easy to produce and with lower price points. Especially when you first start out, your work is likely to change and improve quickly, so you don't want to be stuck with stock you'll hate in a year. See what subjects and styles work for you. Figure out who your customers are, and also what your end goals are. Is it to do this as a hobby? Are you trying to start a brand? Are you trying to make a living out of this? You don't need to know these things to start, but you should at least seek to answer them with your first few events. How you proceed in AA after your first few shows should be informed by those answers. Further reading: #your first show.

#artist alley #your first show

[howtobeaconartist]

So I'm vending at a convention. I know I need to bring cash to make change but I never know what's a good amount of each bill to bring. I know it varies based on a lot of factors.

Kiriska: I personally bring $150 in change. I sometimes hear people say they default to $200.

In my $150, there's:

50 x $1 10 x $5 5 x $10

Previously, I only brought $100 in change and it was something like 30 x $1, 10 x $5, 2 x $10. That worked fine for a long time.

I had to increase the number of 1's in my till when I changed prices to be $6 and $12 and $18 for some items, instead of $5, $10, and $15. I mostly increased the number of 10's to make it an even number, lol, but really all I needed was to add more 1's.

So if your items tend to end on 5's, you'll probably need fewer one dollar bills. If lots of your items end in weird numbers, more ones.

Also good to factor in demographics. You'll probably need more change if your audience is younger. I've swapped out a lot of cons for pop-up market-type things now, and I don't worry as much about change there, because 90% of customers are using a card or equivalent, etc.

#artist alley

[howtobeaconartist]

Hi so i'll be going to my first artist alley and i was wondering how do most artist take food/bathroom breaks?Because i don't have the money to pay anyone to come with me to help. Also how do they keep their merch secured if they leave for said reasons?

Thank you. ♡

See previously in #tabling alone, but feel free to re-ask if there's something not covered.

#artist alley

[howtobeaconartist]

Hi! I often see artists put at stacks of merch — like stickers, prints (sealed in envelope or not), and or having shirts on racks, or whatever — at cons. I know people say this allows for customers to freely and openly browse and shop without feeling awkward or shy around the artist, so this is obviously a good tactic to do. But what about the chance that someone steals something? I saw an artist once say they put their stickers in a tray, but doesn’t this make it more likely for people to steal?

Kiriska: Yes, and that's the trade off.

Personally, I'd rather optimise for sales than for theft prevention, because I think the former is more likely anyway, but also some amount of product loss from damage and theft should be factored in as the cost of doing business.

It is also the case that most of my items are pretty low cost from a production stand point. It's not a huge deal if a few prints or stickers walk. I'd be more wary of having higher ticket items loose on the table though.

If I carried acrylic charms or enamel pins with lots of fancy adornments or add-ons -- I'd probably just have a display copy out that was pinned down or clipped to something that would make removing it harder/more obvious, and keep stock behind the table.

Some shirts (and definitely other types of apparel) have high production costs too, but because size and fit is important for those, you may want to hand over something for someone to try before they commit to buying anyway, which is also a theft opportunity, I suppose. But I think theft of physically large items are also less likely to happen since they're more obvious?

There are also ways to deter theft other than locking everything down. Being attentive and greeting every customer helps, etc. You can learn to keep an eye on things without being overbearing.

But in the end, you really just need to decide for yourself what you value more. Do you want to prevent a potential theft more than you want to score potential sales? There isn't just one right answer! Whatever you decide for yourself is totally valid, and can also vary by item, con, con demographic, etc. Try a few setups and see what works for you!

#artist alley #table display #theft prevention

[howtobeaconartist]

Hello! Bit of an strange question but I recently went to a convention where I noticed an artist had fan art prints for sale with art they had traced. (I recognised the composition from the original artist and cross referenced it with the tracer’s version- it was very clearly not original) I was wondering if you’ve ever heard of conventions having anti plagiarism policies and if so, have they ever been enforced?

I looked around on the conventions home page to see if anything was mentioned about it but I couldn’t find anything. Wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this before!

Kiriska: Most Artist Alley contracts have anti-plaglarism clauses somewhere, though there are probably still some that don't prohibit it explicitly.

Regardless, whether or not it's enforced can depend on a lot of factors, including whether staff were alerted and how comfortable any specific staff person might be with confronting an artist about it.

I've definitely seen artists removed or banned from cons for tracing art or using trademarked logos, but it's not consistent, and usually, they'll just pop up at some other con.

#artist alley #plaglarism

[howtobeaconartist]

When is the best time of the year to check for booth applications?

Kiriska: Depends on the show.

I'd recommend specifically researching the typical application time for each con you want to apply to. Some shows have apps open really early. Some have them really late. Some fluctuate a lot between years. Ask around or see if the con's website has app dates from prior years, or an estimate for the upcoming year.

If you've got your eyes on a lot of shows, I recommend making a spreadsheet with all of the pertinent info and setting reminders as necessary, especially if you know it's a competitive show.

Some cons are notoriously bad about announcing when applications are open and require you constantly stalk their website or social media updates. It's a pain!

For years I had recurring calendar reminders to check Specific Con's website every week from basically October and onward, because they never announced apps on social and they historically opened apps sometime between October and December. I think these days, most shows try a little harder to keep artists informed, but some still aren't great!

#artist alley #applications

[howtobeaconartist]

How would you personally define the sizes of conventions? Like by attendance? When does something go from small to medium to large to massive?

Kiriska: My personal classifications are roughly, for total weekend attendance:

Sub-1,000: Very small

1,001-5,000: Small

5,001-10,000: Medium

10,001-20,000: Medium-large

20,001+: Large

50,001+: Huge

I've noticed that conventions have been more reluctant to give attendance figures over the last few years though, and many comic conventions have gone (back?) to turnstile counting (which counts a 3-day badge as 3 attendees) instead of warm body count (total badges sold), and it's basically impossible to get answers on whether staff/volunteers, vendors, artists, panelists, etc, are counted in the total attendance numbers.

Plenty of shows straddle the line between size classifications or fluctuate from year to year. I don't necessarily think that size is a big factor in whether a show is "worth it" though. It's just one factor that goes into the complex calculus of revenue projections.

There was one year where I made 80% the gross revenue of a huge 4-day show at a 1-day small show. The former cost way more to attend, had way more competition (both in terms of other vendors & other events/signings), and wasn't quite my crowd. So yeah.

#artist alley #conventions

[howtobeaconartist]

Can someone pleeeeease let artists know that it's so incredibly frustrating when I buy prints and they're in weird sizes?

It hard to find frames for them.

I've got prints that are 15cm x 21cm (6"x8.2"). Juuuust oversized where I need to get a frame up with a matte.

But then I've got another poster that's 19.6cm x 28cm (7.8"x11"). Like, I can get a frame that fits, of course because it's undersized A4. But damnit it's got an ugly gap which doesn't feel right.

Please please please! I bought these things to be on display but my walls are bare because I need to spend several hours to find a solution and fit them right.

Please just stick to the international A4 A3 A2 format, or the photo size formats 6"x8", 8"x10" etc.

I want to support people, but I'm left with buyers regret when I need to problem solve purchases and don't want to "just tack it to the wall, it'll be fine".

Kiriska: This is an understandable frustration!

I've had plenty of customers ask me what sizes prints are prior to purchasing -- a totally fair thing to do if you know you want to frame it. Size has been a deal-breaker for some people.

That said, for perspective, it's often more affordable for artists to print at other sizes. For example, in the US, letter (8.5"x11") and tabloid (11"x17") are both extremely common print sizes in Artist Alley, but while frames of these sizes exist, they aren't common.

Artists still prefer these sizes though because these are sizes that are easy to print at at office supply stores or personal printers, which is what many have access to when starting out. If anything, the infuriating thing is that standard printer paper sizes are not the same as standard photo sizes.

8"x10" is close to 8.5"x11" but requires trimming, which is either extra work or extra cost.

Depending on the convention, the demographics may skew younger. If that's the case, a majority of attendees won't intend to frame their print purchases. They are being pinned or taped to dorm room walls, etc. The art is meant to be affordable -- for both the artist and the buyer. ($10 prints are pretty rare at most pop-up art fairs and farmer's market-type settings, because standard size giclee prints probably cost double that to print.)

Still, I agree -- artists should strive for more standard sizes when possible, especially if they're going to shows with an older demographic of people who are more likely to want to frame things.

That said, I've been wanting to transition my 8.5"x11" prints to 8"x10" for years and still haven't gotten around to it because all of my packaging supplies are for the former, and putting prints of the latter size in oversized packaging looks Bad, but stock levels of packaging and prints never line up that I'm not gonna be stuck with some mismatch... at some point I'm sure I'm just gonna have some prints in one size and some in the other, but that sounds like a nightmare...

#artist alley #prints #printing #posters