Call me vain, but I like the idea of having my artwork printed on just about any surface or product. I am still waiting for that incredibly lucrative deal where a major brand is going to approach me, but in the meantime this has been my experience.
I haven't cracked the code when it comes to marketing and selling merchandise. Rather, I’ve been amazingly unsuccessful and would give myself an F grade so far 😊
My first venture into the ‘merch’ world was printing my artwork onto tea towels. There were a few problems, with this initial idea. Firstly, I sold zero despite marketing like crazy. I think they call that failure to launch, and so I gave them all away as gifts - mercifully it was limited to 50 pieces. I guess there were a few quality problems with them too, like the fabric was non-absorbent, kind of tricky when drying the dishes. We ordered directly from China where it's cheaper but not always easy. All I can say is make sure you get samples, and be very specific about what exactly you’re after. Accurate colour replication is difficult, and overall quality can be a challenge. Sadly, my range of tea-towels looked like they had been bronzed with fake tan (all the colours had an odd orange tinge to them). I was horrified, as I recalled a similar experience when at 15, spraying my hair with “Sun-In” to create streaky highlights. Instead I got brassy orange highlights and damaged hair instead (anyone relate).😂
As if I hadn’t had enough punishment, I thought I’d head back to the same supplier and try tote bags – different design, different product, what could go wrong? Plenty as it turns out! Unfortunately, this batch looked like they had been plagued with leprosy, featuring little white dots all over the print – winning again. You know the drill, gifted again as they were not sellable. I also tried a local company to do another batch of tote bags - a slight improvement but unremarkable.
So yeah, when it comes to merchandising, I’m still learning and have a lot of work to do. Will I have another go, of course I will, I’m like a moth to a flame with this.
Anyhow, love to know of your epic fails or wins when it comes to merchandising!
