Do you doodle for fun and wonder if you can turn your drawings into illustrated products? Imagine the possibilities: Stickers, stationery supplies, enamel pins, clothes, fashion accessories, and toys, to name a few. You can create and promote your own illustrated prints and merchandise. Art merchandising is one of the foolproof ways to build an art business online and earn extra income. We’ve sourced ten ideas on how to start and grow an art business from CLASS101 instructors who are artists and entrepreneurs. You’ll learn why selling merchandise online is one of the best ways to make money as an artist and how to monetize your talent.
Launching your art merchandise business comes in four steps: Make art, turn your creations into products, sell on e-commerce platforms, and promote on your social media. CLASS101 instructors will cover different styles of art to sell, ranging from character illustrations to T-shirt design patterns. Some of them zero in on a specific topic, such as selling stickers on Etsy, while others cover multiple merchandises and business models. If you’re unsure about merchandising, monetize your talent as part of your art business. Freelance illustrator Ella Lama suggests offering services to clients, and webcomic artist Ray (Refrainbow) will walk you through generating advertising revenue with your published works.
Since these art business ideas come from CLASS101 creators and their courses, this list also serves as an excellent overview of art business-oriented classes on CLASS101. We encourage you to check out the lessons that speak to you.
Jump to Section
1. Adorable Illustrations to Grow Your Instagram Audience
2. Cute Illustrated Stickers
3. Cute Character Goods in Fun Colors
4. Etsy Sticker Shop
5. Customized Clothes and Accessories
6. Freelance Illustration Projects
7. Webcomic Publishing
8. Enamel Pin Business with GachaPins
9. Beginner-Level Enamel Pin Making
10. Merchandising for Young Entrepreneurs
1. Grow Your Instagram Audience With Cute, Simple Illustrations
Lay the groundwork for your art business with Karen’s (@cremechii) course on Adorable Illustrations and Instagram. You’ll learn Chii’s simple and adorable art style in this class and practice drawing soft, cuddly animals (primarily cats) on an iPad using Procreate. Afterward, you’ll learn the ins and outs of sharing your artwork on social media: what to post, where to find the relevant hashtags, how to schedule posts, what to track to meet your business goals, and which online art communities to join. Chii will guide you through multiple social platforms to build a following, setting you up for a successful art merchandising business in the creator economy.
2. Build Social Media Presence to Share Cute Merchandise
You can create art that sells as long as you design for your audience. Soo (@made.bysoo), in her class Growing Social Media Presence & Selling Your Art, discusses how to create simple, adorable characters and turn them into stickers. Like Chii, Soo draws animals and imaginative creatures doing cute things like bathing in a cup of tea. The warm undertones and light colors in Soo’s illustrations elevate the mood and accentuate the lightheartedness of her adorable subjects.
In terms of what to draw, original characters are always a better idea than fan art. Soo advises branding your illustrations on social media to create meaningful interactions with followers around your work. You’ll find Soo’s chapter on intellectual property rights and plagiarism a helpful reminder as you launch your first art business.
Stickers are a great product to merchandise your original character art. The essential elements to consider in the production stage are materials, file setup, and cut (hand-cut versus machine-cut stickers). When your products are ready, take great product photos, price your merchandise in a competitive range, choose the right platform to sell, and plan for packaging and shipping to kickstart your business.
3. Design Stationery Supplies, Accessories and Toys
Nicole (@munespice) has an art therapy background, and we think it shows in her use of fun colors. Case in point: The rose frog on Kickstarter. Nicole’s class Starting Your Creative Business: Turn Ideas and Passions into Cute Merchandise is ideal if you want to design multiple products for your shop. She will teach you how to produce die-cut stickers, sticker sheets, washi tapes, notepads, charms, and enamel pins. Plus, she’ll walk you through creating concept sheets for plushies and three-dimensional gift items.
Another great takeaway from this class is Nicole’s practical tips. She shares valuable resources on merchandise production, such as her list of manufacturers. She also stresses the importance of running your standalone shop, outlining the big e-commerce platforms Etsy, Shopify and Big Cartel for your reference. Get ready to own your work and play to your strengths as you launch your illustration business with Nicole.
4. Sell Stickers on Etsy
Vica Lew (@yayitsvica), in her Sticker Business 101 class, shares Etsy selling tips, giving out practical advice on selling your original stickers, such as outsourcing printing and marketing your unique designs as a brand. She dedicates about half of the class to discuss the logistics of the art business, and here are the key takeaways. First, analyze yourself as a creator before entering the market using SWOT analysis, target audience research, and value proposition. Second, use Cricut Design Space and Cricut software to print the stickers. She’ll guide you through importing your work, setting up the printer for matte and glossy papers, cutting the stickers, and troubleshooting. Third, outsource the sticker production. Choose a supplier and set up the files ready for production. Fourth, promote your designs on social media. Build social proof and trust to maximize your channels’ touchpoints, and create a content plan to automate the promotion process.
5. Design & Sell Clothes, Fashion Accessories and More
Turn your ideas into products, whether clothes, fashion accessories or adorable knickknacks. Freelance illustrator Arisa Chibara (@arisa_chibara) in Design to Business: From Concept to Merchandising covers the technical production and the post-production sides of the work to set you up for success.
The technical aspects you must consider are:
- Reviewing your fan base on social media for market and demand research
- Refining and rendering your concept sketch for merchandise such as T-shirts
- Inking techniques, vectoring tips, coloring, and using rotation sheets for the entire perspective and stylization
- Product templates for colors and sizes (canvas size, CMYK, Pantones)
- Searching for manufacturers, making a list of things to look out for, optimizing the line of communication, and requesting product samples
For post-production, consider Arisa’s three big questions to kickstart your business.
- How to start an online shop
- How to set up pre-order sales on crowdfunding platforms to fund my business
- How to join or start a convention to share my products and sell in person
6. Become a Freelance Illustrator
Becoming a freelance illustrator is another way to start an art business online that’s not merchandise-oriented. In her class Make Art Work, Ella Lama (@ella_lama) approaches her freelance illustration business from both the service and the product sides, walking you through how she provides the illustration services to clients and creates merchandise for fans based on her original artworks.
She discusses building a business based on your strengths, diversifying income streams, promoting your business, and taking care of yourself. Take a look at the truncated curriculum below for more information.
Selling Products
- Mini exercise: Your merch role models
- A look at different product types
- Things to consider: production methods, inventory, and logistics
- Pricing basics: calculating your base rate
- Where to sell your products
Offering Services
- Mini exercise: Your favorite personal project
- Your list of services
- Things to consider: Clients, usage rights, and pricing methods
- Pricing services
- Where to look for clients: Individuals, small businesses, and brands
Another way to monetize is by sharing your experience as an artist.
Monetizing Your Expertise
- Mini exercise: Your advice column
- Get paid for sharing your expertise
- Things to consider: experience level, commitment, demand
- Pricing
7. Build a Business Around Original Characters and Webcomics
If your goal is to create compelling storylines, characters and ultimately, a webcomic that sells, let us introduce you to webcomic artist Ray (@refrainbow). Ray shares tips and tricks for monetizing your original webcomics in his class Build Your Own Business with Original Characters and Compelling Webcomics.
His overview of webcomic sites will be helpful as you decide on which platforms to share your work. In the chapter titled “Profiting Off Your Work,” Ray lists all possible ideas to generate income and discusses ways to create value and make money as an artist — similar to how YouTubers generate revenue.
To improve the visibility of your webcomics, Ray suggests creating extra assets to help users identify with your comics on social media, branding your comics as the whole package. Ray approaches merchandising similarly, listing the types of merchandise ideal for webcomic creators.
8. Create and Sell Enamel Pins with GachaPins
The possibilities to get creative with enamel pins are endless, from Sailor Moon and Pokemon fan arts to original characters.
In her class Creating Enamel Pins: A Step By Step with GachaPins, Nicole (@gachapins), the creator of GachaPins, teaches all about the enamel pins and their limitations and possibilities. She gives tips on the technical aspects of pin-making, such as transforming your drawing into a pin-ready proof, to the logistical aspects, such as finding a supplier. Nicole shares her thought process behind making compromises when choosing suppliers and encourages her students to create their enamel pin shops. Learn to understand your audience from the get-go, define your order fulfillment standards, and grow your art business with a sharp vision to succeed with Nicole.
9. Produce Enamel Pins with Yozora Studios
Produce your first batch of enamel pins with confidence with Yozora Studios. Yozora Studios (@yozora.studios), in their class Enamel Pin Making Class for beginners, will walk you through their complete pin-making process. Sam shares tips on preparing the files for an enamel pin, sourcing your production partner, communicating your vision, checking samples and final products for quality, and using the pin effects in your final product.
10. Launch a Small Business with Custom Merchandise
Milky (@milkytrickster), a college student from France, developed an interest in merchandising when her parents gave her a button maker for her 16th birthday. She started making merchandise in 2018 and has recently launched a class on Making Merch: How to Get Started for Small Businesses.
Milky teaches the basics of designing and making simple products such as stickers, prints, buttons, acrylic charms, and more complex goods like acrylic standees and enamel pins. Milky will share her mistakes over the years and tips on avoiding them, such as identifying the proper manufacturer for your products on Alibaba, reviewing the options manufacturers offer, and branding your merchandise through packaging and freebies.
Words by Angela Son
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