Artists Alley Information Thread

Selling at Cons is best during the...

Spring	11.5%	[ 117 ]
Summer	29.4%	[ 300 ]
Fall	7.2%	[ 73 ]
Winter	5.5%	[ 56 ]
Any time!	46.5%	[ 474 ]
Total Votes:			[ 1020 ]

[LavenderMintRose]

I have a question regarding the asymmetrical thing.

My table partner and I set up our display to try it out. The frame of it is symmetrical (we're using the wire cubes). The problem with making it asymmetrical is that we're splitting it right down the middle. One side will have my partner's prints, one side will have my prints and jewelry. I don't want to give either of us more space than the other one (and I also think it would be less stable if I were to add or take away anything).

So... is having the stuff on the frame asymmetrical enough? Or should the frame be asymmetrical? The stuff on it will be asymmetrical just due to the fact that I'm selling both jewelry and prints and my table partner is just selling prints. There's also the way that in one of the columns on the side there's a shelf, and on the other side there's a panel of grid to put a print over. But I don't think that's enough, it's still really symmetrical.

[MrsMica]

I don't think the 'big picture" asymmetrical is as important as i s for the little groupings you have on your table. I think for the overall display it is most important to have some sort of vertical stands, such as pegboard or even elevated boxes hidden under cloth. This draws people's eyes when they are scanning the various tables, sets apart certain pieces, and bonus if you can get something near customer's eye level. But don't block off your line of sight of course.

Asymmetrical matters for whether or not people will pick something up. For instance, if I have a set of 5 coasters, believe it or not I don't want to fan them out all perfect looking near the back of the table. If it's something that I want people to touch, it shouldn't be in neat rows or lines that people feel they can't replicate when they put the item back. Things that you don't want touched, like large display pieces, can go out of reach on peg board behind you. You want people to want to touch something on your table to draw them there and keep them there a few minutes. When people hold items they can start envisioning themselves owning it...

ANY WAY what I'm saying is that you should be able to split the table down the middle just fine. If you want the split to be clear to customers you can use two different colored table drapes. That might be good if you have some sort of company/website name thing going for each of you.

[Vicemage]

I'm intrigued by these ideas... you don't happen to have any pictures of your actual displays, do you?

[Seijaku_Ishida]

This is an interesting thing to consider if you have an I-Phone or Droid.

[Vicemage]

Wow, that's actually pretty nice... makes me wish even more that my contract had expired a few months later and I'd gotten a Droid instead of what I have.

[Seijaku_Ishida]

My contract is set to expire soon, so I'm seriously considering getting a Droid. X3

[Frosted Muffin Cakes]

I'm gonna get an iPhone as soon as my contract expires. :3

I've also got a question for y'all. How do you deal with sets of things? ..I might have already asked this. I've currently got a set of Firefly bookmarks, and a set of Dr. Horrible bookmarks. I'm planning on making Left 4 Dead ones for the next con I do. I want to offer a discount for buying the whole set, but I'm not sure how much I should do. I mean, from where I go, it costs me 50 cents for 8 bookmarks, so I'm not gonna lose money on them. I'm just not sure what to do.

[Kyousouka]

I wish they had something for other types of phones D: I am definitely not going to be buying an iPhone or Droid any time soon (or ever, really...).

Speaking of smartphones, however... if you have a data plan, look into JoikuSpot. It's something like $15-20 and creates a wifi access point out of your phone, so you can have internet access wherever you get a signal. This is very useful for conventions, and like suggested in the Squareup article, you could use it to set up a Paypal page instead of using a CC reader. Of course, an actual reader is way better, but still xP Being independent of hotel wifi is really great.


Muffin: Sets are a double-edged sword. Keep your sets small (5 or less), unless the items are VERY cheap. People tend to be intimidated if getting the whole set will cost them a lot, so they just don't buy anything. Try to keep the set to under 5 items. Buttons and stickers can be larger sets (4-8), but bookmarks, keychains, etc should probably be 3-ish since those are usually not items that people want a lot of.

Discounts are tough and the optimal discount (if there is such a thing) changes based on a lot of factors, some of which change depending on the convention xP
Remember: the goal of the discount is to get people to spend more money. So if people tend to buy 1-2 bookmarks from you at a time, then make a set of 4 and have a "buy 3 of the same set, get the 4th free" sort of deal.
There is no magic number, you really just have to look at how things sell and adjust accordingly. This is why it's a bad idea to print out price lists, deal signs, etc. You must be able to change things on the fly.

[LavenderMintRose]

I don't have an iPhone or a Droid, but I do have an iPod Touch, and the card reader things works with that. I'll try it out.

Ughhh my computer has been running so slow today, I'm hoping I can fix it soon, since I still have a lot of work to do on Photoshop...

[Vicemage]

I agree with changing on the fly... I do actually do this at cons with new items, where I'll decide on a price, and then change it to adjust how fast the product is moving.

I had a chance to play with the Droid belonging to one of my hotel roommates at the last con I attended... the thing is drool-worthy, to be sure, and I use the internet ALL THE TIME on my enV, so I really would be all over the functionality of that thing. (It's a bit of a crippled version of the internet on my phone, doesn't stop me.)

[Kyousouka]

Any tips on printing porn images? My PG-13 "porn" (suggestive but no real nudity) is easy enough to print since I can just take it to any printing place, but what about "proper" porn with boobies and dicks and all that fun stuff? Most services do not allow it. I've seen people get away with porn on very large sites like Lulu since everything is automated, but are there services where 18+ works aren't against the ToS?

Vicemage suggested doing copybooks by using an out-of-the-way copier at Kinko's or a similar place, but what if I want proper binding?

What about prints? I would really rather not have to use a home printer for printing porn, the quality is so-so and it costs a lot more.

I've been asked to put my PG-13 porn in a separate folder for 18+ stuff, and it'd be a shame to leave it all by its lonesome, so I want to get more porn printed up...

[Seijaku_Ishida]

Kyousouka

Any tips on printing porn images? My PG-13 "porn" (suggestive but no real nudity) is easy enough to print since I can just take it to any printing place, but what about "proper" porn with boobies and dicks and all that fun stuff?

Vicemage suggested doing copybooks by using an out-of-the-way copier at Kinko's or a similar place, but what if I want proper binding?

What about prints? I would really rather not have to use a home printer for printing porn, the quality is so-so and it costs a lot more.

I've been asked to put my PG-13 porn in a separate folder for 18 stuff, and it'd be a shame to leave it all by its lonesome, so I want to get more porn printed up...

Most online printers don't do porn images, but this one does, as well as one that's primarily a furry printer, but does do any kind. I can't recall the name of it, though.

[Kyousouka]

Whoo, thanks for the link! I'll definitely keep them in mind for my comic needs.

Sadly, I completely forgot about the one 18+ image until today and now I don't have time to make more ~_~; ...unless I find a way to get things printed locally, blah.

[Vicemage]

Oh, thanks for the link, Sei! I don't have any porn myself, but one of my friends has been looking for a printer for her hardcore yaoi book, and this will be a good help to her (and looking at the listing, a good resource anyway in the future for me).