Society6 - Selling Art on T-Shirts, Ipod Cases and more

Have you ever thought about putting some of your art on t-shirts, ipod cases, greeting cards and more? What about specifically designing things for these and similar products. There are a host of new sites that provide such a service, and allow artists to make a little profit from the items on the products. The sites do the work of creating the product, packaging, shipping and customer service. All the artist has to do is post their creations and promote them.

 

For artists, the main advantage of these sites is not the selling of art (although this would be great), but the fact that using these sites to promote and brand yourself can be extremely effective. Of course, that would depend on the genre or style of art you create… and how many you sell.

Think of the advertising and viral potential of even one person having one of your artworks on their ipod or t-shirt. That artwork could possibly be seen and your name could come up in casual conversations many times. Sell many of these and you could notice a steady (even exponential) increase in your popularity.

One such site I recently browsed through and joined is Society6. I’ve considered designing t-shirts many times, especially for selling some of my illustrative graphite drawings. I am finally taking the plunge and seeing how this turns out. There are of course other websites which perform the same or similar service. I may explore these at a later time depending on my experience with Society6. If you have experience with selling art on print on demand products, you are welcome to offer me any advice you may have on the subject.

When visiting Society6, the first thing you will see is the main categories of products listed at the top… art prints, t-shirts, iphone cases, framed prints, canvases, pillows, totes, skins, hoodies, and cards. The front page also displays a collage of some of the more popular products at Society6 that day. Take a look through come of the products and categories to see if your art is suitable here. This site is geared toward designers, illustrators and artists.

Joining Society6

Click the Join link at the top. Fill in your name and other info. to signup.

Next, go to your personal Society6 page, which is http://society6.com/USERNAME

There are a few things you should do here right away.

1. Edit display name – If you prefer a different name than what you chose when you signed up, you may change this here.
   
    
2. Change profile photo – Find an image from your computer to use as your profile picture. Ideally, it could be an artwork, or an image you use often around the web to identify yourself.
   
   
3. Add about page – Give some background information about yourself. Keep it friendly, short and interesting.
   
   
4. Add image header – Use something original and which will differentiate yourself from other Society6 shops
   
   
5. Get verified – Before listing any items, click the Get verified now link. Verification is done through Paypal and costs only a dollar. (this is to keep the site free from spammers) Make sure it is the same Paypal account you will be using for payments. You will not have to go through this verification process again.

 

Posting and Selling at Society6

Click Post/Sell at the top. Fill in a title and description and follow instructions for uploading your file. Don’t forget to set your desired profit before publishing.

I will be busy uploading some of my open edition paintings and drawings to Society6. (Please subscribe) I will be back soon with an update, and tell you more about Society6, how to promote,  and show you some of my products.

Until then, you can take a look at my Society6 shop here: Graham Matthews at Society6

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!! :)