/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

This is the only thread on 4chan that seemed relevant. We Love Fine's Bleach shirt contest results were supposed to be announced today, they sent out an email, but the page is completely blank and I've forced refreshed the cache and everything. I was asked to send in finalist materials so I'd kind of like to know what's going on. This is my first WLF contest so do they do this shit a lot?

http://contest.welovefine.com/contest/79-bleach-design-contest-winners

So I always see people have AA booths set up with these grids or PVC pipes. Can we get posts of different displays?

I feel like following the samey-same of everyone else just blends you in. What are some things you can do to stand out?

>>7640837
I understand, I hope to bring less grid boxes or something but I still gotta find a way to carry the items since I don't drive. I just try to keep an eye out for possible display stands that would be somewhat light, durable and portable.

This table idea is cute.

Cosmetic bag tutorial. Might try this next con

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BrtcXAzeBU

>>7640865
Neat tutorial

Speaking of, these are neat to make.

>>7640903

>>7640808
those squid things are hella cute and I probably would buy one, but a pony is 160$? Not into mlp at all, but even I think that's kinda high

>>7640903
The little coin purse ones look awesome

Posting some ideas for things to sell at cons. I'll stop if requested.

>>7640921

>>7640923

>>7640924
Has anyone ever sold props before? How'd it go? I also have tutorial for props, but that might belong in a different thread

>>7640865
I'm happy to see someone else planning to make their own cosmetic bags. Someone in the last thread says considering the time to make these, it's not as profitable as using arts.cow.

I've really wanted to get in to making glowing things like pic related but they keep their items a secret on what they use for such intense and long lasting glowing tools.

I also would love to do more things like this woman's store https://www.etsy.com/shop/Papillon9 but again, I'm not sure the materials they use for their glowing products and they seem to keep them under lock and key.

So far, the only thing I've come close to considering is glow in the dark enamel for the jewelry but I'm still at a loss for the rocks.

I've tried getting some of those resin "stones" used for walkways and smashing them up and while they do glow bright after just a few minutes in the sun or under a UV, they fade rather quickly. And I've love to try things in different colors.

Any advice?

>>7641067
reminds me of that glow gravel.

http://www.coregravel.ca/shop/core-glow-stone-1-pink-glows-purple-1-lb/

has purple but I can't say for sure this is what it is. Looks like whatever is in those lockets is smaller. But you could probably crush these stone things if you need smaller.. That is if they actually glow that bright

>>7641088
That's what I used as the resin base stone ones or "plastic" I think they called it.

Powering them up, they glow really bright and are really gorgeous but they just fade so fast and the stores usually market their stuff by saying it glows brightly for hours.

>>7641088
or basically any fishtank glow gravel. theres one on ebay that looks more purple.

I think the images are pretty fancy and its not like they actually glow like that without some help of a black light.

I heard back yesterday! I am officially doing a AA table for the first time this year. I'm actually way more nervous than I thought I would be. I spent all last night wrestling getting my permits in order.

Here's my sketch of what I'm going to try to do with my table... I like the idea of having straw or that crinkled paper that looks like straw, since the wire cubes lend themselves perfectly to a cage thing but I'm worried about the mess it may make. Perhaps if I glue it to mats in the wire cubes?

>>7641067
Looks like glow in the dark plastic pellets. The photos are probably touched up to make the glow look more... glowey.

>>7641322
I'd go for paper because straw or hay can set off peoples allergies

god knows nerds have so many allergies.

>>7641322
...Fuck I didn't even think of that. You're totally right, thanks anon. It'll probably be easier to get the paper stuff anyway.

My other idea is to offer stickers to people who like my Facebook page on their smartphones. Has anyone tried that, or is it too much of a gimmick?

>>7641378
Giving away stickers is a good idea, but make sure you have a back up plan in case your local con doesn't allow stickers.

My friend used to give away homemade scratch off cards with every purchase as a promotion kind of thing. You can either win an item or a coupon code for her online store.

Hi there /cgl/, I'm not sure if anyone remembers me but a couple threads back I posted a needle felted charm, some people were interested, and I said I'd report back when I opened my shop.

If anyone is interested, http://heartfeltcrafts.storenvy.com/

>>7641322
Cute setup! Just make sure those random critters you plan to pin on to the table cloth are secured in place. You don't want them dropping and someone taking one when you're not looking.

>>7641850
Looking good so far, anon. I suggest putting dimensions/measurements for all the products so your buyers know the exact sizes and aren't surprised if something is smaller than expected.

>>7641890
Thanks!

I want to do that but sometimes the sizes can vary by about half a cm, which could be a lot for these things. Still working on getting the sizes consistent. Is it acceptable to write something like "About X by Y cm"?

>>7641910
I'd say so. Mention that the sizes can vary a little. I doubt anyone will mind unless specified.

This probably gets asked every thread, but what's popular right now? All I can think up is Avengers, and I don't even know if that's still big or it might have died down by now.

>>7640980
I've been wanting to make design some spoonflower fabric and just thinking of things I can make with it.

>>7642254
I feel like kill la kill will be really popular this summer. Also maybe sailor moon with theach reboot soon

>>7642254
Kill la Kill, Avengers, Free, Hannibal, Space Dandy, BBC stuff, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Madoka Magical is still pretty strong.
Korra will probably make a combat since.

>>7641322
If you wanted to use something straw like, I suggest raffia. If wrinkly paper, crepe paper as pic related. Ahh that's gonna be cute I can imagine it.

>>7641850
>tfw made something similar
These are way cuter and precious! And your other charms too.

>>7642254
Besides what's been suggested so far: LoL stuff, maybe Kuroko no Basket, and DMMD.

Only sort of relevant but I'm so shocked and happy. I went to my local lolita comm's monthly swap as I always do and managed to make enough money to pay for my AX hotel! In an hour and a half I made $120. That's probably more than I made in a whole day when I tabled for the first time 2-3 years ago. It gives me hope that when I apply for AA at my local con I should do way better.

>>7643196
Congrats anon! What were you selling?

I'm doing my first convention this summer. I'm going in as an artist selling prints and buttons (hopefully next con I'll have enough time to get stickers printed.) Any advice? I'm going in selling mostly video gaming things, is this a bad move?

Would stuff like Black Butler and Ouran be popular? I feel like almost everyone I've talked to has seen Ouran and with the new season, Black Butler would begin to rise in popularity again as well.

>>7643668

I've never seen Black Butler so I'm unsure. But I've seen Ouran and personally if I'd saw it. I'd likely buy it.

>>7643668
Black Butler would be popular for the yaoi crowd if nothing else.

>>7643437
Thanks!
If you've seen me, I'm KiguAnon. Sold some crochet goodies like bats, bunny ice-cream, necklaces.
>>7643668
I don't know about the average crowd, but Ouran will always have a place in my heart and I really liked Black Butler.

>>7643737
This, a lot of weebs are into it too. It's a pretty mainstream series.

>>7642423
I was thinking of the crimped paper easter grass (pic related).
Ordered all my table stuff today! I got some giftcards for my birthday that wound up covering most of the stuff so I didn't have to dip into my funds.
Now it's just crunch time getting enough product ready.

>>7643932
Of course, dropped my pic.

>>7643932
Oh geez I forgot about those, great idea! Easy to store and display, and won't stick to anything like bits of hay would.

Hopefully in the last week I'll get to sort out the table display for my things and my friend's prints. I want to make a lot of things for just the display like a banner/garland and table cloth (at least something nicer than this huge dark navy fabric), and hopefully less wire cubes or at least decorated so they don't look so plain.

I'd love to have something like the house in pic related, but dang I'm better off making something more travel friendly and light.

>>7643944
That's been my big consideration, particularly since I want to start traveling to further away cons in the future. I'm just lucky that the wire cubes=cages works out.
You could totally make something like that house and have it fit together with pegs, that way it could be dismantled and packed flat. The weight could be an issue, but as long as you're not putting really heavy items on it you could use super light wood and just stain/paint it to make it look nicer.

I ordered a nice printed vinyl banner, but I'm thinking of spicing it up with an origami garland. I won't make any decisions on that until after I've put it together for a test.

>>7643961
Thankfully I have some woodworking experience, who knows if I'll get to build one or just play around with wire parts I saw at Daiso.

Wire displays are so prominent at AAs since you can dismantle and put them together, and okay for transportation without lugging anything too hefty. I almost want to cut off most of the inner mesh and recover the sides with something lighter to help cut down the weight.

Then again there are such things like pic related available online, no idea of physical stores though. It's no wonder that I'm seeing more people using these instead of the full mesh ones... I'd love to venture to other cons, it'd be such a thrill I'm sure.

>>7641850
These are super cute, anon!

>>7640921
this would make a good shopping bag, but... it's newspaper. I wouldn't want it for anything more rugged than that.

I've got a question for those of you who use zapcreatives/inkitlabs acrylic charms.
Where do you buy your charm straps? I have a bunch leftover from when I made shrinky dink charms, but they don't fit on the sample charms I got from zapcreatives.

I could probably solve this with a hoop link, but that sounds like more effort than its worth if I can find a place to buy straps that fit.

>>7645498
I think most people use the lobster claw hooks don't they? I've used those but for shrinky dinks since I haven't tried Zap just yet.

Ebay has them for bulk though if those strike your interest. http://www.ebay.com/itm/500x-Bulk-Lots-Cell-Phone-Strap-Cords-Lariat-Lanyards-With-Lobster-Clasp-130041-/180868706836?pt=US_Cell_Phone_Straps_Charms&hash=item2a1c9d7214

Other than that, probably best to use the ball rod hoop links.

>>7645546
Yeah, those are exactly the kind I use. The issue is that zap's acrylic is so thick the claw can't connect.

I think it might just be because this sample's made the ring around the hole really thick maybe?

>>7645573
Put the string part in the hole and make one of these loop knot things. Sorry for the bad pic but you get what I mean.
Or will that not fit either?

>>7645573
You really should put a jump ring through the hole. That's how most charms are, putting a lobster clasp through it just looks dumb.

>>7645590
oh wait ignore this I just realized how it won't help.
Just get a jump ring. It's minimal effort.

>>7645498

Running off from this question from anon, for those of you who make acrylic charms do you prefer zap or do you prefer inkitlabs?

>>7645573
>>7645594
>>7645613
Like others have said, you need a jump ring, and this does look silly.

Okay, does anyone know how to have a holographic sort of sparkle effect on stickers/bookmarks/keychains/etc? I've been searching all night and I've seen some people with stickers that have that effect, and I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to do it that didn't involve selling an organ.

>>7645767
JiMi Agency comes to mind, but if you want to do it yourself, maybe you get some iridescent film, cut it up, place on artwork, and run it through a laminator (with laminator sheets or whatever they're called). IDK if that would work, but that's all I could come up with.

>>7645867

I don't think they offer it on stickers, but I'm gonna email them and ask if they can. I'm still open to other suggestions though.

I realize this gets asked every thread, but what's the recommended number of plushes to make for a largish convention? My prices range from $10 to $50.

>friend of fiance asks if I need an extra set of hands sewing
>immediately tell her 'no thanks' without even thinking about it because sewing is 'me time.'
>tfw introverted

>>7646279
which con are you going to? i love your work

>>7646279
Convolution 2014. It's a local sci-fi/general geekery con (California) that's been growing fairly rapidly as people get tired of Baycon and Fanime.
I'm pretty psyched.

>>7646373
Meant to reply to >>7646366
My bad.

>>7646279
I can't say I've been to a large convention, usually around or under 1k attendance I think, but here's my breakdown for my plushies from a few years ago and doing the math of what sold:
>$8-12: 10-15
>$13-20: 6-10
>$20-35: 4-8
>$35+: 3-6
Of course it depends on the item, some things sold better than others so I'd have more of that. Those numbers lasted me fine during a 3-day con, and I sold out certain items but I wasn't cleaned out too soon into the con. This year I'm making and selling a lot more new things so it's kinda tricky to gauge again, but mostly I'm looking at anywhere from 4 to 15 in quantities per item for a 1-day event.

Your greentext reminded me when I was in a similar situation. I remember in the past when I had a hefty sewing crunch time (my first year I booked two tables that were a week apart, I learned my lesson since), I sewed most of the parts up and let my sibling and friends stuff them since it was easy to teach them to do that. My mom sews so she offered to close the stuffing holes for me. I did pretty much the same thing at the con itself by premaking the plushies that just needed stuffing and to be sewn closed. It helped!

And to throw a related question out there, how many of one button style do people print?

I know these threads are mostly artist alley, but has anyone sold in dealer's rooms before? I'd like to start into selling doujinshi but I'm really nervous about it.

I've noticed most prices for books at conventions tend to be about $20-30, with a few outliers around $10-15 if they are trying to clear out stock, and $50+ if it's some magical special kissed by god himself piece.

To those of you that buy doujinshi at conventions, what do you look for in a vendor, what is most important? Is it the pairing/series, a very specific artist you already know you are looking for, or is price the biggest factor?

I know there's a bit of competition for groups that go to comiket, but I thought maybe my niche could be more affordable books. I've got a setup where I can grab large collections for really cheap from collectors who are moving on. That means I can pick the series and sometimes pairing I get, but I get it in bulk and don't have great control over the artist and the releases would be at least six months old or so. The advantage to this is I get the books cheaper, so I can sell them consistently for $10-15 a pop.

What is the etiquette for declining a commission after you've already accepted a number of them?
I like to take my sign down if I have a line of them to work on, but I've still gotten people asking.

>>7647517
Just politely inform them that you have so many requests that it wouldn't be fair to them to take another, as you likely will not finish before the end of the convention. If they press further you can tell them you aren't comfortable taking money and mailing the commission later.

If they really super have their heart set on art from you, maybe give them a card or contact information so they can try again when you aren't so busy.

>>7647479
Pairing/series, with price as a close second. Like, "Omygoshthisisperfect...oh shit, it's $50."

Of course there's a few that I WOULD spend a little bit more on, but that's dependent on the pairing/series, so yeah.

Do you guys make your own buttons, or order them? I've been looking to get into them for a bit, but was wondering if there were any good sites for it etc etc.

Excuse me if this is the worlds stupidest question!

>>7649026
I'm thinking of ordering mine from a local shop (sixcentpress) to test the waters. I'm not really a print artist but I think it'd be nice to have the option of buttons at my table.

Hey I'm planning on selling these (and more) original art cards at a convention I'm tabling at. They are only 2.5x3.5 inches in dimension.

I have no idea what to price them at. Thoughts?

>>7649340
Are you going to have other stuff? Because these, even if there were a lot of them, don't have a 'wow' factor. You need something eye catching to sell, and then some of these on the side.

To answer your question though, between $3 and $5. They aren't super detailed and look more like convention commissions or sketch cards than art cards.

>>7649340
Don't sell original copies.

>>7649599
THIS. With small art, just make prints. No one will see value in a unique piece of art that small, unless you're doing on-the-spot commissions maybe. They are cute though.

>>7649340
from what i ve found art cards only really do any well if you re more known for not selling original work, and at comic cons.
never at anime cons

>>7649596
>>7649599
>>7649605


Um yeah. I have other stuff. I have 7 prints I'm selling along with 12 button designs. I just wanted to have something a little extra at my table.

>>7648067
I'll try and have a decent selection for popular series.

What do you are the absolute essentials for doujinshi right now?

I was thinking at least ~50 books for the following:
-T&B
-SnK
-Free!
-Hetalia
-Kuroko no Basket
-Touhou

Any thing else absolutely essential? I've also got decent amounts of Gundam 00, Blue Exorcist, and Geass too. What else are people looking for in doujinshi?

>>7649682
That's a pretty good lineup IMO, I wanna say Dangan Ronpa/SDR2 but I'm biased cuz it's my fave. Snk & Free! (especially with Free! coming back on) should do well, best of luck!

However I'll ask some of my friends that buy doujinshi (and don't have a "main" fandom) what they're into buying/reading/etc

>>7649340
I'd say do card-sized prints, (With a few more designs. idk) unless maybe you did sketch card commissions and hung those up as examples. I dunno, I'm not an expert here at all.

>>7649752
There's not really much Dangan Ronpa for cheap, sadly. It was popular, but not to the point that there is a huge glut of doujinshi floating around like the other series I mentioned. Same with a couple other series sort of on the fringe of popularity. If only western fujos were as nuts for Nintama Rantarou, I can get that shit like 100 volumes for $5.

SnK and Free! are definitely on the upper end of what I'm willing to spend but I also predict them being the best sellers. I might have to charge $15 per book on those series because of it. I still think that's pretty cheap though, I'm hoping fangirls agree.

Thanks for the input though, it's really helpful. Ever since fujos departed from Live Journal it's been a lot harder to get a read on what series are the hottest, as you can't just look at the community for each series and see how active they are. Please let me know what your friends say!

Also, I know Yu-Gi-Oh!, Oofuri, and Prince of Tennis were pretty big and are still hot in Japan, but I haven't heard much from their English speaking counterparts in ages. Should I bother getting a little selection for them do you think, or no?

>>7649682
Just letting you know. Most 2hu fans tend to steer away from people who sell a lot of popular stuff. They have a 'by fans for fans' mentality that makes them dislike buying stuff from people who are only doing it because it's popular.

>>7649849
It's also not fujoshit like the rest of the stuff I had in mind. Honestly, it's only there because I have a bunch left over from when I bought it for myself and as long as I'm going to try running a doujin booth, it seemed like a good time to try and offload it. I can't really do anything about their perception of me and my business, but if I can draw 'em in close enough to speak to, I can hold a conversation about why Patchouli is the best girl and their opinions are objectively wrong.

>>7649682
Sports animes rake in the fujoshis
I'd try stocking some Yowapeda and Haikyuu

>>7649907
Huh, I didn't know either of these were popular in the west. I really like both of them, but I've never seen anyone cosplay them at conventions or talk much about them. Same with the other recent sports shows like Ace of Diamond. I can certainly grab a little stock for both. HQ I think I can guess, but what pairings are even popular for Yowamushi Pedal? Onoda is super cute and girly, but the series didn't strike me as particularly shippy material.

>>7649843
Yeah aha, I'm pretty sure it's expensive on both the buyers/sellers ends cuz there isn't a shitload of it and yeah, not ULTRASUPEROMGPOPULAR. (Outside of like, last years Tumblr crowd. Which I'm pretty sure doesn't spend money on doujinshis anyways)

I have two friends just confirm SnK & Free! as things they have bought & would buy again, however I'm gunna keep asking as long as this thread is up because some of them have REALLY varied taste. I also got the suggestion of DMMD...I'm eh but I'll let y'all judge that. (Does DMMD need doujinshi?? Didn't y'all get to fuck the dog enough??)

& I haven't heard anyyyyything from any of those three in ages, yet another question I shall ask! I'd say if it's cheap enough grab a couple cuz you could get the "Holy shit I forgot about this!" crowd but thats not a promise, and they don't always spend money. (I can be one of those people, but 11/10 times I'm buying something because OMG LOOK REMEMBER WHEN I WAS BALLS DEEP IN THIS SERIES? I ALMOST FORGOT! I NEEEED IT. HERE TAKE MY MONEY AND HAVE A GREAT DAY!)

>>7649930
A lot of the asian socal cosplayers I know are into Haikyuu and Yowapeda, but I haven't really heard of Ace of Diamonds being all that popular. The pairing I mostly see for Yowapeda is Toudou/Makishima; sometimes I see Onoda/Imaizumi and Aoyagi/Teshima

On a side note, doujinshi is kind of tricky to advertise in a booth because the product itself would be in boxes for people to browse. Would a wire rack or two like this for the divider behind me be eye catching, along with a banner that has my store name or just one that 'DOUJINSHI' be okay? I promise I won't be like that annoying fuck that screams 'YAAAAAAAAAAAOIIII' in the dealers room even if you are a foot away.

>>7649947
Ah, glad to hear my suspicions confirmed about Free! and SnK. I empathise with liking expensive and kind of hard to find material for fandoms though. Been there.

I'd actually considered DMMD, especially since the anime is coming out soon. It's pretty up there in price though, actually a bit more expensive than the two big things I am sure will sell which put me on the fence about it. I'm not going to make it to market until early next year, so I guess I'll keep an eye on the fandom. I'm guessing the anime will be shit like TnC though, so I'm not expecting a big boost. I'd love to be wrong about that though.

Yeah, I thought they were pretty dead. Ooofuri might spring back when their is enough manga material for another anime season, the others may be down for the count in the west. I myself am one of those people you are describing too, can never let a fandom go. I'm still buying shit for 80/90s series and games. Prince of Tennis in particular is cheap as fuck though, I'll grab a little variety for that. I buy in bulk, which is what makes it so cheap for me so my options in terms of purchasing quantity are sort of none or 50+ with not much in between. There are so many dudes from PoT though, you'd kind a decent amount to even try and hit the nostalgia crowd.

>>7649952
I see, I'm Chicago area myself and even at Acen I didn't see a single cosplay from either. I can stock up on those though. The second years was my guess for popular ship, glad to see my instincts aren't too off. Thank you very much for the input, I'll put it to good use.

>>7649843

I still like yugioh pairings ....

>>7650015
Yeah, I'd watch and see what happens with DMMD, figured it was worth mentioning if y'all hadn't thought of it already.

(Also high five for being "one of those people", I noticed how big of an issue this was for me when I wanted to drop $30 on old ass shit last con. I ended up buying some smaller stuff from the seller, but the point still stands aha)

Also! As far as advertising goes, that rack looks cooL! Or like, mini book-shelves (You know those stackable boxes that always go on sale around college-season? Those. Cheap & colourful, depending on what you want)

Other than that, a banner with your store name and possibly label sections with little signs ("DOUJINSHI!" "YAOI!") are things I've seen work before, but augh oh god people yelling YAAAAAAOIIIIII please kill me /has first con flashbacks lmfao

I just panic-bought a table for Anime Matsuri, but now I'm not sure if I can/really want to go, especially since I realized Anime Boston is the same weekend. The site says there's a No Refund policy, so I was wondering if anyone knew how strict they are with giving a table to someone else? Or if anyone can give me insight on how Anime Matsuri AA is so I can feel a little better haha (or worse).

>>7649952
The Ace of Diamond fandom just seems to be quiet. I know a ton of people that love the series, but they're not as vocal as the HQ and Yowapeda fans. I would personally have something from it if you're into the series and have room, AoD fans would definitely jump at the chance to buy something since you don't see anyone else doing art for it.

I haven't seen many people talk about Ping Pong the Animation, but my friend made a print for it and it sold out for that reason.

>>7650015
>Would a wire rack or two like this for the divider behind me be eye catching

I would watch out about this or put it behind the booth. People steal doujins a lot and this might make it easier for them. My friend owns a booth and the boxes are easier to manage. Especially when you have people crowding the table. It's not as eye catching but most people are actually willing to stop and look if they want doujins. Friend divides things into M/M F/M and then 18+ and has lists of all her book by series so people who arent able to browse through the boxes can look at the lists. Any special books they wants to display are sets aside on the table. Also friend sells single sheets of stationary that some of the doujin artists make in binders which are opened which grabs their attention.

Ppl suck though so watch out. I have seen people bend books, put their crap on them etc. The worst though are the morons who buy them thinking their in English and then bring them back crying for a refund because they cant read the signs that say 'JAPANESE'. At least one person at every con tries this.

>>7650026
I appreciate it! DMMD actually has a neat setting and I like the characters. It's just going to be hard to make a show about what is essentially a multi-route datesim that pleases everyone. TnC suffered from that on top of whatever was going on animation and budget wise there. I'd love for it to take off though, the doujinshi for it are especially bright and colourful.

>$30
I don't want to think about how much I've spent on doujinshi for old series, oh god.

Ah, the only trouble with bookshelves rather than a rack of some sort is doujinshi is so thin, the spines really aren't very good for display.

I thought in addition maybe little cutouts on the back end of the boxes with a character or two from the series would be a good visual for people trying to find a specific series.

Thank god at least they banned that guy from selling those 'yaoi/hentai' paddles at most cons I go to. Why did they think marketing those to underage little fucks was a good idea? How did they not predict they would all turn around and immediately harass cosplayers?

>>7650045
I do like it, I've yet to find a baseball manga I hate, but the trouble with stocking for every tiny series on the off chance I'll run into a fan means less stock on a bigger series I'll have better odds of selling. There's also the trouble in particular with doujinshi in that the more popular the series is, the easier and cheaper it is to get big boxes of it second hand from Japan. There are series I really, really fucking love and I know there are tiny but very dedicated fanbases out there for, like Samurai Flamenco, but doujins would be too expensive. I'd be paying retail prices to acquire them and I'd feel like a dick for charging the high price that would be required for me to just break even. Though SamFlam is a bad example because I'm just keep them for myself and scan them if I find them.

I'll keep your words in mind though and snap up some more niche series if I see them really cheap.

>>7650118
Ah, I guess I wasn't very clear on that. When I said the divider behind me, I meant behind the table with me, on what would be the back 'wall' of sorts to my booth, not the area where customers could get to. Which seems a bit silly given that they then couldn't look through the handful of books I have on display but I figured it wouldn't be detrimental since it'd only be a dozen or so books out of hundreds I'm selling and I could just store things I have multiple copies of there.

I too was planning on diving into M/M and M/F(though I don't have nearly as much of this) but had been planning to mark the R-18 books with a sticker on the outside. Because of the way I buy, I very rarely get the bonus materials from artists like stationary, postcards, and so on so that wouldn't quite work out for me. I like the concept though. Maybe I should have a little side business with posters, clear files, and pencil boards. That's something I don't see much of at conventions. I wonder if it's because they don't sell or because they are just sort of a pain to manage and display.

>>7650128
I feel like I did a crappy job explaining what I meant by cutouts, but something like this where it's on a cardboard backing and popping up behind the box containing doujins about that character. Like a tiny standee to spice up the display a little.

>>7640914
Tried making these. Good luck in the 4th to last picture fitting that under your sewing needle. Just an FYI to anyone interested in this. They make a great coin purse as well.

>>7650128
I think the cut outs idea is really cute! That'd be great for sorting, I'd say maybe laminate them so you can reuse them and they won't get too fucked up during the con.

And ah, makes sense. I'm used to insane sellers with seemingly gigantic books & oversized selves (Like, straight up 3 booths worth of space at least - pretty sure they were selling plain ol manga as well though, a lot of them I never bothered looking through because of the people surrounding their booths...) But yeah! Sorting by M/M & F/F and the boxes with cutouts sounds cute to me! Then like, I dunno. SIGNS SOMEHOW. I'd totally stop if I saw cute ass cutout things, dang. (I also have the attention span of an 8 year old, so tat might come into play lmfao)

(And yeah...$30. My last "big doujinshi purchase" on old shit no one cares about was WAY more embarrassing of a number, this was just the most recent. Hell, right now I'm shelling out roughly $30 for DR. Everything is lame and I'm an incredibly irresponsible person with my "fun" money, haha.

I'm really curious to see what appens with the DMMD anime, tbh. Cuz ugh the designs are just so damn nice.

& THANK FUCK I HAVEN'T SEEN A YAOI PADDLE IN AT LEAST TWO YEARS. Unless I wasn't looking very hard at my last few cons. A girl I went to highschool with had one, and being a pretty feminine dude I actually got attacked with it on more than one occasion. (AND NO ONE GOT IN TROUBLE?! IN SCHOOL?! NO NO NO NO NO) But yeah pretty sure all anyone does with those damn things is harass others ESPECIALLY cosplayers...who thought that one through, or forgot to apparently!

>>7650146
Paperchildren! Only like...bookmark-esque ones. Shoulda put that in my last reply but completely forgot.

8Seasons is having an up to 80% off sale and there are some cellphone straps for super cheap, for anyone making keychains.

I applied for a table at a local con I tabled at last year and did relatively well in. They said they'd send out e-mails to people who got in in early June, and last year I got my confirmation e-mail in late June. I didn't get one yet this year.

Any idea what might have caused me to not get it this year? I thought the work that I posted had improved and is more relevant to what I sell at con than last year (I make pendants and necklaces mainly), and I was relatively successful last year.

I sent them an e-mail already asking, so I have to wait. Maybe I'm freaking out too much.

>>7650646
Is it a jury system?
If it is, there are a lot of different reasons. There could be an influx of people that do the same things you do, and they want to keep it balanced among other mediums. Maybe more competition is coming in. Maybe you're not just what they wanted this time around, maybe you were but there wasn't enough room to take everyone they wanted, and you'll never get a response to "why you weren't chosen this year". It sucks, but it's something you kind of have to get used to as an artist. In any situation where there are limited slots but a lot of competition, you don't always get in, and even if you've improved, or consider yourself "better than your competition" (horrible mindset, btw), or tried as hard as you could, you can't really change that. Just try for next year, or try another con, etc.

what's your personal "break even" point for the con?

is it when you've paid back the table?
is it when you've paid back the table, transportation, time of working on art, and hotel?
is it making minimum wage the amount of hours you work the con plus all these things?

i'd like to know what you deem as your break even point.

>>7650785
Once I've paid back table, transportation, hotel, and cost to print out my prints.
I figure I would have drawn art regardless of whether or whether not I did artist alley, so I really don't consider it part of my "breaking even", and it's often too little to make any significance in my end amount.

>>7650785
>>7650849
that's cool, my break even point is when i've made minimum wage of the con hours + table. if i make money after that, a con becomes "worth it" to me.

i don't count the time i spend working on art, or the time i spend making buttons. it's different for everybody and i'd like to know more about what other people think.

>>7650785
For me, I consider to break even after taking out the costs of the table and materials. I would add transportation and hotel but I haven't went too far to include those costs.

Since I do crafts, my items already included the cost of time it took to make. Plus when I have leftovers, they get carried over to another event. I never thought about including time of con hours, would be interesting to factor that in.

Hi guys, I need some advice. I used to do plush commissions, but I haven't done any in years and so have lost any interest people had in commissioning me. I have the time to make one single plush, and the goal is to sell it at the end and maybe get some interest in commissions again.
What popular character, that doesn't already have a nice official plush, would you guys suggest for me to make? I was thinking Hiccup because of the new movie, but people don't seem to like his new outfit much and it looks like a pain in the ass to make.

>>7650453
yeah but their shipping prices are insane without discounts.

>>7650785
Table+Reg+Transportation+Hotel+Print/Materials cost

This is anywhere from 100~1.5k. Kinda stoked for AX because my costs aren't even going to break 200.

I'd love to hear a review from any of you guys tabling at AX post-con. Debating going next year.

What's the average price for cosmetic bags? I had an AC coupon so I used it to buy a few bags and coin purses.

>>7654538
$10 is a pretty common price. The XL ones I've seen are priced at ~$15

>>7655221
This might seem like a really silly question, but since my table is 5' instead of 6' this time, I wanted to do a display with art displayed on the sides at a 90 degree angle like this. I can't recall any specific instances of seeing it in my head, so I have to ask, are there any difficulties seeing the prints, or do they do noticeably worse than the ones in the middle? Are the details seen as well? Or is it just fine across the board, and there usually aren't visual issues.

>>7655228
I think the 90-degree print set up is fine as long as there's something that also faces out towards the others to lead the eyes so it's not some awkward lonely standee that is facing sideways. Plus when people are walking by your table, it's those prints that faces them that may catch their attention. My friend who sells prints has some of her posters set up that way and people have noticed them.

>>7655350
prints on side walls only sell half as good at prints that are forward facing.

Don't be a douche and have outward-facing prints.

>>7647007
table crowded as fuck

I could use some feedback on this print I'm working on. I can't decide on which of these to go with - Which composition do you think is stronger? I know it might seem like a tiny difference, but, still.

>>7655811
The one on the right is definitely better in terms of composition.

>>7655811
I would say right.

>>7655811
The second picture is much stronger.

>>7655820
>>7655823
Alright, thanks. I was just a bit worried about the empty space in the bottom right.

>>7655849
The empty space is fine. It helps your composition. Using the space in your frame properly =/= filling it all up.

I'm working on a print and I'm going to have prints of it in both 8.5x11 and 18x24 sizes. If I work on it at 250 DPI, 8.5x11, will it look terrible if I just scale it up to be 18x24? Or should I work at 18x24 and then just scale it down to be 8.5x11?

>>7656685
> If I work on it at 250 DPI, 8.5x11, will it look terrible if I just scale it up to be 18x24?
Yes.
You should be working with 300DPI for any size you want, so even working with 250 DPI at 8.5x11 would baaarely scrape by for what's acceptable at that size. At 18x24, no offense, it'd look horrible and completely unsellable. Just don't do it.

>>7656715
Ok, thanks for the tip. I'll work at 300 DPI, 18x24 instead. Good thing I asked before I started on it!

>>7656715
...Ok, problem. My program (SAI) can't even handle a canvas size that big. Also, just the basic sketch clocks in at ~500 MB. If that's any indication, the final product will be a whole gig. How do I even manage this?

>>7656761
I have no idea what kind of specs you're working with, but my finished stuff, digital paintings or otherwise at that size are only around 150mb. Right now I have one up after basic sketch and part lineart and it's only 30mb.
If it can't handle it, there really isn't anything you can do but get a better program and a better computer. There really aren't any ways out or tricks when it comes to this, unless you want to try drawing with vectors. Otherwise, a big print requires big sizes, that's all there is to it. And it's very noticeable when you work under the size.

>>7656772
Dropped pic

>>7656772
I guess it's just pretty jarring since I've never worked this big before, haha...My computer's pretty decent, it's a desktop, so disk space shouldn't be a problem. RAM might be, though...I should upgrade my RAM eventually anyway.

>>7656774
It is pretty jarring, even just between me switching from normally working with 11x17 to 18x24 was a HUGE leap... especially since it's harder to sell prints at that size anyways.
I have a laptop, 4GB of ram.

>>7656775
Harder to sell prints at which size? 11x17 or 18x24? Hopefully not 18x24...I thought people liked buying posters.
I was originally going to do it at 11x17 but I had done the original composition at 8.5x11 so it wouldn't work very well in a longer size.

>>7656776
18x24". I mean, it works out in the end because of the increased price, but at least in my experience, they're a lot harder sell merely because they take a much larger investment, cost significantly more, and most people that collect prints and art don't have that much room anyways. I only have a select few prints in 18x24 (I have this weird business tactic where I make all prints available in small, medium, and large), and only for very detailed prints, or prints I believe will sell well at that con. I usually might sell 3-4 of each over a weekend. I guess it works out as well as 11x17" in the end, between the price difference, but i'd rather have guaranteed twice or thrice the sales for my larges, and know I'll make the cash, then cross my fingers and hope those few lucky people don't decide that they don't want an extra large poster size this time around.

>>7656787
Hmm...Maybe I should reconsider, then. I was going to print 3 in 18x24, and then have 5 available as 8.5x11 (I print 5 for each of my other 8.5x11 prints as well). How much did each 18x24 cost to print, and how much did you charge?

>>7656790
I think having 3 should be fine, but just be sure you're willing to go all the way with them.
18x24s cost me about $3-$4 to print after shipping, then I sell them for $25 each.
(as opposed to 45c for an 8.5x11", which I sell for $8, and 75c for an 11x17", which I sell for $15.)

>>7656794
Go all the way? What do you mean? Art-wise? It's actually going to be kind of simplistic in design...I'm the guy a little further up with the Pacific Rim print. I'm going for a retro poster sort of feel, and I thought it would look cooler as an actual poster size.

Also, those are pretty much what my prices would be, too. I might sell the posters for 20, though. Maybe throw in a free 8.5x11 print with each poster as incentive to buy.

>>7656797
Go all the way, as in being confident enough in the piece to make a profit.
Wish you the best of luck mate.

>>7656799
Ah, right. Thanks dude, I'll try my best.

>>7640903
Haha I have that pencil case. Bought it when I was studying in China.

Hey update:

The lady I ordered a commission from from Fanime finally responded. Feels so good to hear from her, even though it took a month. I'm glad I gave her the benefit of the doubt, I just hope I actually get my commission now.

>>7645767

I know http://www.busybeaver.net/ has buttons you can get. They have cosmos (holographic looking), metalic types, and shiny types.

I adore the cosmos button, I've received it before and it looks amazing.

>>7659047
Dang those are neat finishes.

>>7640810
it's embaressing how well they'll sell

>>7645906
I asked them for stickers before, they were kind enough to tell me that the will be looking for someone who do the service for them, since the sticker supplier and the holographic bookmark supplier are two different companies.

finishing up my print lineup for this year and they are literally all vertical oh no

>>7650785
what pretty much everyone else has said:
table - ticket - printing - supplies - transportation

after that it's food I buy over the weekend and profit

Connecticon is going to be my first con as a Dealer and I'm terrified about having such a new product without being able to start in the AA first. I'd kill for a nice, cheap AA table.

Anyone else have to go straight to Dealer's room? How'd it go for you?

pic related, I sell embroidered polo shirts
this is one of my fitted v-neck ones

So I bought a wooden keychain from someone at AX and it broke after one day. Should I bother complaining to her on her tumblr or something?

>>7661210
As a seller, I would want to hear about it, so I think you should mention it to her. I had a similar incident where a plush I made broke on someone a few days after the con, and they messaged me. I asked for them to provide a photo as proof and promptly sent a replacement plushie soon after. I knew the defect was due to how I made the plushies, so I was able to improve future plushies based on the mistake.

>>7661210
Yeah, also it's helpful for other people to know too, especially if these come from a particular manufacturer or supplier

>>7660275
Those feels.
> Looks at all the vertical print
>Forces self to make a a horizontal
>Can't deal with all the horizontal space

AVOID SUPERCON MIAMI.

It was the worst experience for every aingle artist except the 'artist brokers' selling posters they didnt even make -- FOR $3 EACH. It put the rest of the AA out of any real business. They hassled us about bringing water into the con ( no outside food and water- it will all be thrown out in front of you along with any personal belongings in the same bag because they just didnt give a shit). Something I ate while there gave me food poisoning.

NEVER. AGAIN. FUCK. SUPERCON.

Oh man, I went to AX this weekend and I saw this really cute display that I didn't take a picture of. She was selling jewelry and she had a setup over it (wood i think) to look like a house and it really was lovely and her stuff was displayed nicely and products were super cute. Ahhh, I was so in love. I bought a lucky pack from her and was not disappointed. Even the little paper bag it was in was adorable.

Now, for something a little infuriating...sorry this gets long.
My friend's brother couldn't make it to the con. He gave her money and a list of things he wanted, some of which were commissions from artists he liked. The drawing is signed "Persona" but IDK if that's their handle or what. Anyway...
>make order, told to come next day
>comes to pick up commission at noon
>"oh sorry, come back in 3 hours"
>what? you had all that inbetween, bro
>picks up commission from someone else who had a way long commission list and is done on time
>comes back at 3
>two character drawing on brown paper that looks like the back of a spiral bound notebook, edges not perforated
>not completely clean pencil sketch, only faces are inked, some parts colored pencil, some parts are marker
> $25 per character. hoping for discount since art is so mediocre
>"uh...so how much was it again?"
>"$50"
>friend shows us the drawing later
>as artists ourselves, we all rage at quality and price and it wasn't even for us nor did any of us pay for it

We were so offended by this artwork.

Reviews of AX? I kind of want to get a table next year, but I want to hear first hand experiences.

>>7662322
from your description it could either be really horrible or kind of cool in a grungy way
post pics

>>7662353
if you're getting a table you should get it now. they've been up for sale for at least a few days now

>>7662322
Oh man, I'm constantly worried that this is how people feel about my commissions, so I used to charge $5 a pop, and now I just don't do them at all. It's not worth the emotional turmoil.

>>7662355
Where? I'm on the site under a tab that says Registration for Artist Alley, but it looks like it's all information for 2014.

>>7661210
>>7661315
My items are technically wearable, but have huge warning signs plastered all over them that they are fragile and might break because they have longer extended pieces. My personal one has never broke, but somehow other people manage to break theirs all the time. I do repairs and coach them about how to repair it themselves online, but I'm personally glad they told me because I'm redoing my design now- it'll be less cool, but it won't break as easily.
My advice is tell the artist. They may need to switch woods/wood providers. Try to tell her privately if possible.

>>7662322
>>7662354
>>7662360
Sorry it's not a good picture, it was in the car on the ride home. But you get the idea.

>>7662376
Nevermind, even my shit $5 commissions were better than that. Carry on.

>>7662376
I'm really confused on how he could have such a solid form for the arms and hands, yet clearly not even have the most basic concept of shape or form on the rest of the body. Even if you were rushing to get something done really quickly, you wouldn't fuck up THAT much if you were so blatantly capable of that.

>>7662376
>overnight plus an additional 3 hours
>$50
>that drawing
>nope.jpg

Holy crap anon, that's really bad.

>>7662376
I'd personally tell him to fuck off and give me my money back. I've gotten so much better for so much cheaper.

>>7662414
The artist said she could pay before, during, or after the commission. Since it was for her brother and it was his money, she paid up since we don't really know his standards and if he'd be happy with it or not.
But yeah, if it were for us, we definitely wouldn't have taken it.

>>7662376
I wouldn't pay over $10 for something like that. Hell I can't imagine it taking more than 15 minutes to draw either.

>>7662391
>yet clearly not even have the most basic concept of shape or form on the rest of the body
That's more of less what Aigis' torso looks like. I'd be more concerned about how bad their faces and hair look.

>>7662376
That's bad sure, but how is it compared to their usual quality? If you compared it to the art no doubt hanging nearby the artist, does it stand up?

I remember the first time I brought my furry friend to an anime con he wanted to get a commission for his character. Long story shorter, he gets it two days later and it looks like shit and actually has fucking -food- stains on the paper. Because of the difference in furry versus anime artists and the surrounding communities being different he felt like he couldn't say anything to her and that he should just take the loss.

I marched him back and chewed her out. The art hanging above her booth was clearly better than the shit she gave my friend. I pointed out every single flaw and the shitty composition and the -motherfucking food stains-. She basically brushed it all off like it didn't matter. I was so fucking pissed. I told all the artists in nearby booths about her shitty behavior. Bless their hearts they absolutely bad-mouthed her and prevented anyone from getting a commission or buying from her.

She confronts me later where I work as staff claiming that I'm ruining her business, that she's going to sue me, etc. I just laughed in her fucking face. I told her she should just get my friend a refund, like a good company would. She refused and called me a bitch.

So justice was served. Kinda. Anime artists are nearly all kinda flaky and don't understand they're running a business.

>>7662438
That's not what I mean... I'm perfectly aware of what her torso is like. But in order to draw anything well, you have to have an idea of how those forms exist in space, which the artist did very clearly with the arm. However, when I said body, I pretty much mean the rest of the piece; NONE of it shows any signs of form or realistic shape.

>>7662486
>If you compared it to the art no doubt hanging nearby the artist, does it stand up?
This is a pretty bad comparison, considering that commissions done in a day aren't expected to stand up to pieces that took weeks. I hate people that expect that my commission work will come out like my prints.

>>7662542
I didn't say is it as good as or better than their prints, I said "does it stand up". There's a difference between sketch-quality by the same artist (which might havs some sloppy lines, or some lazily drawn parts), and all artistic knowledge seems to have been lost (bad anatomy, 'leaning' compositions, etc). If you can't get a basic anatomy, composition and gesture down in a day you are too inexperienced and slow to do one-day commissions. And if your big pieces take weeks, that had better be mundane coloring, otherwise you are too slow at that, as well. Composition, perspective, gesture and anatomy are inherent knowledge in a good artist. It shouldn't take you more than a day to get that down.

>>7662486
I was not with her when she ordered or picked up the commission, so I have no idea who the artist is to even look up their work.

>>7662564
Anatomy and gesture, I completely agree with, but as far as composition and perspective goes, I'm just not going to put in the effort of making things fancy for a $10 sketch commission past basic foreshortening.
My pieces take weeks because I do large cityscapes and detailed backgrounds that I spend a lot of time rendering. Exaggerated perspective, interesting viewpoints, and composition that carries the eye... Those are all things I'm perfectly capable of, but I'm not going to put that down for pocket change. For that much, you can expect a character in the middle of the page, in an interesting and dynamic pose. That's it.

>>7662579
Sure, but the OP's friend paid $50 for that sketch. If it had been $10 or $5... that's more reasonable.

Looks like I'll be attending an event where the AA tables are split up into islands, so imagine a grouping of six tables where three tables are side by side on each side of the island. I haven't been to a setup like this, so I'm curious if the end tables are better than the middle ones.

Pic sorta related, it's what I'm used to.

>>7662717
From my experience, I think they're all pretty even, unless your end table is by a really large walkway.

>>7662717
i'm gonna draw you a map from my experience anon
it's not the be all end all of anything but i've been in alleys for 6 years now and it's what i've noticed for smaller cons.

the closer you are to the entrance and the the further away you are from the corners of the room, the better.

>>7662725
>>7662772
Thanks for your insights!

So I have an old piece that my dumb ass made at 72 dpi. 1500 x 1800 pixels. Is there any saving it for a standard print?

What do you guys do when you accidentally work that small? Maybe re-draw lineart or edges (for lineartless art) to cheat it?

>>7662353
Decent. I did well enough this year despite relatively shit location. Anywhere within the immediate vicinity of the Copic's booth is good, almost the entire longer middle rows area is pretty good, but the last rows (especially the one facing the back of the alley wtf why even have that row there) and anything on the ends of the entire alley are super slow. Not impossible to do well, though, as my table partners and I did fine (although I was at the front of the alley---just off to the side).

The only major downside about AX AA is the lack of space behind you. Shit is cramped as fuark. The girl at the end of our row thought it was a good idea to pimp out her booth with giant wings that attached onto the back of the chair, but that just made getting out a big fat nuisance.

I think AX is definitely a print-heavy con and it has a shitton of competition, so if you're a print artist, really stick to your guns or try to offer something different. I don't know how well crafters do, though.

>>7662772

Ugh I hate cons set up like this. I much prefer the aisle type set up. Even as an attendee it just flows much nicer I find.

>>7662376
It's pretty cute and it's not bad but... I don't think... .it's $50 cute or good.... How big is it again?

>>7663347
I just do small prints? I think you can also try resampling the pixels but... ehhh....

>>7663388
Standard 8.5x11 I think. Maybe a little bigger.

My stickers arrived today! Just finished roughly cutting them. They're not *super nice* but since they're promotional, not products, I think they'll do nicely. All my table stuff has been showing up in the last couple of days, I'm just waiting for my banner.

I'm pretty psyched.

>registration for AX 2015 AA already closed
welp

>>7664361
ahhh do they release more tables later on?

>>7664361
I don't think so. Are you on this page?
>http://www.anime-expo.org/registration/
All that information is still for 2014. Even the page for the waiting list. So I'm pretty sure they just haven't gotten around to updating the page yet.

>>7664361
I think that was for people that were there this year to get an early reserve for next.

I need help /cgl/.
How do you tell bad customers off?
My problem isn't AA related, but I figured the people in this thread are used to dealing with stupid people now and then. Selling a bunch of old cosplay stuff as I'm trying to clear some serious debt, first buyer just asked me if I can't just sell her the item she wants for free, even though I've stated that buyer pays for the shipping.
What's a nice way of saying "fuck off, no sale" in this sort of situation? Obv. would love to sell the item, but buyer has tried to buy from me before and disappeared as soon as I asked for payment so I'm a bit wary of them in the first place. If they want to pay for shipping, fine, but I can't really think of any nice way to get this through to them since I've already plastered it all over my sales post that I'm not paying for shipping myself.

>>7664877
>sell her the item she wants for free
And by that I meant send, not sell obviously

>>7664877
Just say "As I stated in my sales post: the buyer pays the shipping." or whatever you said.

>>7664361
>>7664727
>>7664815
>>7664867
Anons, stop toying with my heart! It's too early in the morning for these feels.
When, usually, do online registrations for tables for AX start up? I want to be ready, fingers on the keys.

>>7641850
These vary in size, just photograph them with something familiar for scale...a ramen cup? Pockky box?

>>7655811
I like the one on the left better. The diagonals flow better and you get a better sense of a whole scene. The one of the right better serves to highlight the foreground character though so if that's your main goal then I would choose the one on the right.

>>7665038
It opened up this year on March 8th, according to the 2014 packet.

>>7663347
1500x1800 pixels? Print size will be 5x6 inches if you resample it to 300dpi.

>>7662322
>>7662376
>The drawing is signed "Persona" but IDK if that's their handle or what.
Oh, I know who the artist is! (Not personally, but..)Their usual stuff is pretty nice, but they really shouldn't charge that much.
http://personasama.tumblr.com/
http://dailymegaten.tumblr.com/

>>7666411
>Senior animator for Skullgirls and animated for the Scott Pilgrim game
>Charges $50 for overdue and rushed sketch

For someone with a ton of credibility, I would have expected better. Maybe you can try to address this on their tumblr?

>>7666411

None of their con commissions look that good...

http://personasama.tumblr.com/post/74967475964/commissions-and-drawings-from-aod-2014-and-ala

I went to Daiso and picked up several wire gridwalls and connectors, but I learned that the connectors are loose on the wires. I thought it'd be a tighter fit but I was wrong. To remedy this I'm using some tape to thicken up the wire spots where the connectors will go. I like that these wire walls offer more customization for down the road (since I do plushies they vary in size and shape, some don't suit the 12x12" and 14x14" cubes), plus fewer walls to deal with when it comes to putting them together.

>>7666890
Still a lot better than anon got.

>>7666939

Not denying this. I think anon deserves a refund because its just crap what this artist is doing.

Need some quick advice, I'm going to get my prints done today. What's the best file type to use for printing? I've heard a lot of different answers.

>>7667698

I use .png at 300+ DPI with a CMYK color profile. If you aren't too certain, ask the printer for advice. They should know their stuff.

>>7667698
I just do PDF, after printing at several different places, the general consensus is that PDF is the safest.

>>7662376

all of their art is pretty shit, you guys should've seen this coming.

>>7668052
it's all just flashy cg coloring, of course it wouldn't translate well to a pencil sketch commission.

Did they have examples of other commission work there at the booth?

>>7667698
Pre-Press employee here. High-Res PDF is standard. Most important thing is just making sure it's 300dpi or higher.

And make sure to covert your files to CMYK beforehand, especially if it's a piece with a lot of blues. I get alot of people who send us RGB files with bright neon colors, and then are confused when they get their digital CMYK proofs back and things look duller.

Has anyone done ColossalCon AA? How is it, especially for print artists?

>>7669911

Could anyone recommend a decent scanner that can fit 9x12 documents? I work a lot with inks and markers and the 8.5x11 is killing me.

How many of you do con refund policies? My items are delicate, so while I do refunds when I sell online, I want to make it clear there will be no refunds at cons for con purchases. I plan on putting up a sign, but apart from that how much is enough?

Has anyone ever had any trouble enforcing the 'no refunds' thing?

Has anyone been to animate Miami? It will cost me 800$ to go and wondering if it's worth it

>>7670779
NO, NO. STAY FAR AWAY FROM ANYTHING MIKE BRODER OWNS. Supercon was so massively fucked up that Vendors and Artists were treated like shit and harassed to the point of no return. The Miami crowd is cheap and you WILL NOT BREAK EVEN. PLEASE be warned and do not make the mistake we did at Supercon!!!

>>7670932
Is this you?
>>7662276

Don't take advice from people who take commissions. These people barely break even.

A healthy artist alley table should be recouping costs 200% to 300% to be sustainable. That means if you spend $350 preparing for a convention, you SHOULD BE coming home with around a thousand bucks.

>>7670950
What's the correlation between commissions and low profit?
Why not get something to draw while you're there anyway?

>>7670950
Do you mean commission-only artists?
I mean I open up commissions at my table, but I'm still going home with about 400%-500% average...
I don't even like doing commissions. They just give me something to do and look good to people walking by.

I'd really like to know if this has happened to anyone else, or I just got completely ripped off.
>local con
>find artist alley booth selling fairy kei accessories
> The guy is really nice and I love everything he's selling
>I buy a few things and while the artist is handing me my things he asks if I want to get a lucky pack type thing and that they've been doing "quite well".
>I give in since it's only $20
> before leaving I sit in my car making sure I have everything and decide to open lucky pack
> it is full of those cheap wholesale bows and accessories you see at a flea market
pic related

>>7671237
What the. That's pretty shit of them to pull, especially if they're part of the Artist Alley. Do you remember their name?

>>7671370
Well, it was actually at this year's AX. I don't remember the name, and I don't have the guide book on me, but I just remember a tall-ish white guy in artist alley selling fairy-kei/sweet lolita items.
I just hope no one else was stupid enough to just buy it on impulse like me.

>>7671446
KawaiiCarnival? That's the only white guy/sweet item I can recall.
But that really does suck.

>>7671446
also consider the fact that this might have not been the guy running the booth, but rather a friend or a helper. Thus it might be a wild goosechase if you're looking for some tall skinny guy who was only there for a few hours.

Furfag reporting in.

I don't really do anime cons anymore, but I'm curious: how much My Little Pony stuff do people hawk at anime cons these days? At furry cons, every third table sells mostly pony shit. It gets very dull... I don't mind the show, but I'm looking forward to the fad dying.

>>7647479
pairings/series, quality of art. if a vender mostly has bleach/naruto/whatever old favorite, mostly artists with not-so-great art, then I probably won't stick around to see what else they have. vendors with more recent series encourage me to keep looking because it gives me the sense they're actually selling doujin people care about, if that makes sense?

>>7672238
At anime cons, pony shit is every 4th table, just about. It fetches a lot of money.

Instead of eating ice cream on a warm summer day, I'm making them.
I've run out of chain for necklaces and I'm considering putting little ice creams like the pink one on the zipper-pull things I have.
Should I leave them as plain cones or make them animals like bears and bunnies? They're about 3in tall.

>>7672238
I wouldnt say there is a lot of tables that are selling mostly MLP stuff, but most people know that big series sells. So a lot of tables will have something from it but there going to be more of the 'in' anime overall.

>>7671660
I just checked, and I'm almost sure it's that, because I remember the tights. Plus the back of all their bows have an alligator clip and safety pin just like the bow I bought.

>>7672526
Cute really sells, so if you can make them into animals, great! If left as plain cones, it may be affordable to someone else but a little harder to sell maybe. Also putting them on zipper pulls will also work, like a keychain.

>>7672526
Omg those bear ones are absolutely adorable and I'd buy the hell out of one.
And I usualy don't buy anything but prints.

>>7665187
What's the best way to stalk them to know when they come on sale? I want to at least shoot for 2016 AX artist alley.

>>7673390

>>7672526
If you can make them to resemble Pokemon, you're good to go.

>>7673458
Oh wow. You would think the fair thing to do is invalidate those that were able to get in during the unofficial launch, but if I were one of the people that managed to snag a table, I wouldn't want that. This makes me feel conflicted. I can only hope that I can find an AX artist willing to split their table.

>>7673458
Soo when I go to the con next year I should try to register at-con for artist alley? Then hope I make it through the jury process...
Anyone know how much it cost this year/estimates of how much the price will go up?

>>7673458
>tfw was planning on tabling next year
>tfw my boyfriend was going to come along and help
>tfw we were going to go to Disneyland afterwards because I've never been to LA
>tfw it would have our first vacation together

I feel like a spoiled brat for it, but my jimmies are rustled.

hey, new to this stuff!
I'd like to start making prints for cons, and I was just curious how many prints you usually bring with you to a con? How many keychains / stickers you make ahead of time?

>>7673269
>>7673543
That's what I was thinking.
Here's an attempt at Pikachu. The ears were a pain at that size.
>>7673326
Thanks!

>>7674486
Ahhhhh that's very cute, good call.

I'm still trying to get into the Artist Alley scene, but it's not easy. Most of the local cons here are so small they fill up near instantly, or so big that at least half of their 100+ tables are sold off months in advance as they give veteran artists the option to register for next year the day that the convention ends.

So /cgl/, tell us about your VERY FIRST time running your own table at an artist alley. Was it local? Did you do it with a friend? Was it better or worse for you than you expected?

>>7674486
How much do these usually sell for?

>>767345
wait so if you aren't a returning artist and got a table are you now subject to being accepted or denied based on talent?
will they be contacting everyone who signed up to see portfolios and websites or what?

i'm worried they'll get lazy and just discard all the apps of people who aren't returning artists and start over

This was my table at Anime Midwest. I'm currently shifting gears more seriously into Artist Alley so this setup is a WIP

My goal right now is figuring out a set up for that wall of small items on the left in a way that takes up less real estate but doesn't harshly infringe on their visibility. Ultimately I plan to build something that isn't the dreaded black grid boxes. :)

>>7677244
...for some reason this image gets flipped upside down when I submit it on certain sites and I don't know why so sorry about that.

>>7677244
I tilted my head instead of flipping the image, but it looks pretty great anon!

If you want to look more professional, get a logo, a store name, and a vinyl banner. Plus maybe get a solid color tablecloth instead of the plain white.

>>7678256
Not that anon, but do you have any advice as far as logos go for print artists? I mean, I have a name, but my business cards and banners feel really generic because I don't think I could like a piece of artwork to use for more then one con, and it's hard to find anything else to "stand for" your brand.

>>7678323
For print artists I feel the best thing is to create an OC (donut steel) that personifies you and your artwork, then smack that character on everything. That way it won't go out of popularity, it will still have your style which will remind customers who had the business card, and it can easily create brand cohesion.

Just my opinion though.

>>7674515
Thanks
>>7676912
I haven't started selling them yet. I was thinking around $10 a pop for the pikachu or animal style, and a bit less for plain ones.

>>7675442
My first table was at a local con in it's 2nd or 3rd year, I can't remember. I had a half table for myself, but I sold some stuff my sister made and my boyfriend helped me in watching the table when I wanted to do stuff. I did okay and broke even. The half table was incredibly cheap, around $25 I think, plus however much my AA badge was. I haven't tabled since then because SPJA took over and AA prices rocketed up.
I had very little variety of stuff to sell though, mostly bows, phone charms, my sister's jewelry stuff, and a couple amigurumi. I only made about $200 in profit, but I'm just happy I made money at all. I'd like to try again next year though, now that I've expanded my stock.

>>7678469
That's a neat idea. Thanks!

Super noob here and former traditional painter: do you guys sign your prints with your real name or a handle? Obviously with normie painting you use your real name, but I wonder if it's different with digital fanart where the fanbase is largely online.

>>7662276
I've sold at Supercon in 2012 & 2013, and the convention staff were actually very friendly and helpful! If anything, I'd have to say that the congoers were the worst part of the experience.

I'd recommend Supercon as a guest, but I'd be lukewarm on recommending new artists because - as I've learned - it becomes hard to get noticed unless you have a niche.

That being said, I heard this year's was atrocious because they put the artists in some kind of back corner - out of sight from all the other venders and out of the way from the customers, right?

>>7662376
You were overcharged. Regardless of the quality, commissions of that type and style don't typically cost $50 unless it's from an established artist in the business.

>>7670779
I'm the same anon as
>>7679525

While I've only had positive to average experiences, I would NOT go to Animate if you're going to be spending $800. You will NOT break even.

Like the other guy said, the Miami crowd is very cheap! They don't have much interest in prints or commissions. From experience, my real money makers were stickers and sketch cards - that is no way to make back $800.

I'd especially stay away from Animate this year as Supercon 2014 was such a bust, I'm sure they'll try to change Animate to compensate. It's better to attend a con when you know it's been the same location for a year or two; it let's you get comfortable with the idea that the convention staff actually knows what they're doing.

If your costs were $100-$300, I'd say "do it," but stay away if you're spending so much!

>>7673390
At-con reg is usually best. I imagine theyre gonna start changing things simply because of how popular at-con reg was this year, but keep an eye out for that anyway. Seems like AX is oscillating back into high demand territory-- the lst couple of years, their AA tables wouldn't sell out for months, but they're getting back into the swing of things so now their tables are harder to get.

>>7675442
hHahahaha oh boy.

My first table was I think in 2005 or 2006? It was a local con and tables were like 20 bucks. I wasted a bit of money trying to make shitty bookmarks because I didn't know how to do them (i.e cut out the printed pieces first THEN laminate-- although later I found out people actually don't give a shit if they like the design and of course if the bookmark falls apart, it's their own fault/general wear and tear). I was sorta tabling with a friend. I thought it'd be a good idea to do some sort of build-a-bear sort of "build-a-bishie" gimmick to sell commissions- midway through the con I found out that it's way easier to just say "I'll draw you shit" than to make people do any work for it.

At some point, my parents came to visit me which was nice and only a little bit mortifying. My mom looked at my table critically, then asked me for some sheets of bookmarks I had and just laid them out on the table. I thought it was dumb because they were all the same designs and stuff, but sure enough, after I left, some people came and bought some of them. I was blown away. I was also blown away when some woman wrote a $40 check for the table next to me because I thought $40 was a ton of money.

It was an all right first experience and I broke even (how could you not?). I got progressively better after that but didn't get pretty decent until college when I met other AA people. That owuld be my biggest piece of advice- find peers in the AA to talk to, help out, and just be friends with. Makes the experience better/easier, and you learn more.

>>7679478
Whatever you identify as or are more omfortable with. I always sign as "Tim!" but of course there are plenty of artists who go by their real handle as well.

Triple posting because I dunno because I want to.

>>7679538
To play devil's advocate, you can kind of justify the $50. That's like $25 per full/half body character, which is pretty reasonable for any half decent artist in the alley. I don't charge less than $30 per character with color or partial color and will usually do couples for around $40~$80 depending on the characters. Consider the fact that professional/industry artists can charge like $20 for a headshot, and upwards of $100 for a BW fullbody, $50 can seem like a pretty reasonable price for 2 characters.

Doesn't change the fact that this is still pretty much a ripoff, though. I know you're mostly paying for the drawing, but it also helps to kind of respect your art? Those professionals I talk about use professional/technical materials (bristol, india ink and nibs, colored pencils, etc.) . Hell, I do all my commissions on 11x14 bristol. I wouldn't pay more than $15 for something drawn on regular paper

>>7679751
Yeah, I do my commissions on bristol board too!!! (Or watercolor paper for my full pieces)

I think the real over-charge comes from the fact that they're not even fully colored & the piece is on a regular sheet of paper. Heck, I give my customers baggies and protective sheets; this doesn't look like the anon got any of that.

I also think it's artists like that who turn people away from Artist Alleys, making them think it's a scam.

>>7675442
first time was at a local con's first event in 2009, i made about 5 dollars in profit. i had about 20 stickers, 1 print, and 8 mini prints, and i only covered about 3 series. my art was crap, but actually doing it made me want to get better at drawing. i've been in the alley and i have been improving my art ever since and now i make about $500-3000 profit at every con i go to.

>>7675442
>or so big that at least half of their 100+ tables are sold off months in advance
That's business as usual, not just an issue of "large cons". You have to keep your eye out, know what cons you want to attend, and get in there early.
Anywho, my first artist alley was at a local convention, but the largest anime convention in the state (which wasn't saying much. It was maybe 2.5k attendees?)
I did it with two friends, so we only had to pay back $50 per person. It was still a really tough experience for me because my art was shit, and I sold all of my prints at only $1 each... I somehow did it though. It motivated me to get a lot better, though, and now I'm here four years later and I'm only making more and more each con. (I feel like I'll be hitting a celing soon though).
I didn't really come in with any expectations. I was barely out of middle school.

>>7679478
Whatever you're comfortable with. However, you do have to decide on SOMETHING and stick with it. I use an alias merely because I have a super generic name where if you looked me up, it'd be really difficult to find me.

ugh, I hate when cons have such terrible organization/organizers are such assholes that they don't even get back to you to tell you whether you've been turned down or not.

I sent a couple of emails to a con regarding space a the dealer's hall and got no answer whatsoever. By now I've lost all interest in attending - if they are this bad now, I don't want to imagine what it would be like if any issues came up.

>>7679918
If you don't mind, could you share how you prepare for AA? Did the profit come purely from improving or from having more prints/variety or better pricing?

Noob here. Do you guys have your own button maker or do you outsource making the buttons somewhere else?
I'm looking at button makers on Taobao and it seems like 500 rmb will get you a set of machine+mold+200pcs of badges.
I've read through the OP and almost all the articles linked from everywhere else and most of them say to have a cheap option at your table. I plan to make fabric pouches and maybe some cutesy bow accessories and do you think that kawaii 50c badges could supplement that?

Or I was thinking of having a service where I bring the machine along with a portable photo printer and make on the spot badges. Anyone have experience with that?

>>7682988
it came from years of testing out what works and what doesn't work. buttons work. stickers, not so much. someone is way more likely to spend 2 dollars on a button versus 1 dollar on a sticker. even if the sticker is laminated, it's still just paper, with a button, it's something they could never make on their own unless they had the tools (rare).

i have about 200 button designs now and about 17 11x17 prints, and that's suited me well. my art has improved a lot in 5 years as well, but i'm still selling art i made 3 years ago because it still looks good. my new stuff is just much better.

i also stopped using expensive suppliers, i get my prints done for 60 cents now instead of $1.40 and the quality of printing is the same. i switched button supplier companies and instead of paying 20 cents a button i pay 12 now. it makes a difference.

A few questions for you guys.

1. Do you make buttons? Do they sell as well as they did 3-4 years ago?

2. Did you buy your own button maker? Rent? Borrow?

3. What button maker did you use?

4. How much did you sell your buttons for?

5. Do you use original art? Printed art? Old Anime magazines/old manga?

>>7683588
Could you share where you get your buttons done?

>>7683115
I think it's better if you just print out a stack of the button designs and keep them somewhere organized rather than bringing along your photo printer, it saves the trouble

>>7683614
also, what size?

>>7683115
wtf i didnt realize someone just asked the same exact questions as me, sorry

>>7683623
i punch them myself but i get my buttons from a local supplier, people power press. i used to get them done over the border and that dinged me with customs

>>7683614
1. a) yes. b) they sold better for me 2 years ago, but i've also been focusing more on prints recently

2. bought it

3. tecre's 1.25 inch machine

4. 2 dollars each and 3 for $5. i've seen others sell them for $1-1.50 each, they sell a little more than i do but if i can sell them for $2, i'm gonna sell them for $2.

5. all 100% original art. people who sell buttons of shit that isn't theirs in the artist alley can get banned.

What about patches?

>>7683748
As in embroidery patches?

>>7683769
yes.

>>7675442
First time I held a table was at a 1-day event for just Artist Alley, and I sold plushies and charms with my friend who just did bookmarks since it was her first time as well. Even with the awkward assortment of things, I managed well and made a nice profit, it definitely gave me a boost of confidence in my works! My friend also went away with a good amount, and wanted to print posters and things next time.

I came to realize a lot of the things I priced were a bit unfair to me, I didn't consider the time I put into them, especially some were more hand-sewn than others. Plus my charms didn't do as well as my plushies because of the sad way I displayed them, but heck I'm learning something new each time. After this I still change up my stock each year, keep a few that are good and try something new, or at least change the technique in making something so it's more practical. And the table display improves bit by bit, but I keep leaving some things last, like that table cloth, which was just a huge piece of fabric I had.

>>7683115
>>7683614
I only made two button designs because I'm more of a crafty artist, but it's so hard to resist buttons so I think it's worth a try this year. So to sum up my answers to the buttons:

- if I have my own button maker, I'd have a few buttons made that I'm certain would sell (aka popular series), and have a bunch pre-punched so it's ready to be assembled and made into a button

- if you're doing button commissions, maybe have a paper pre-punched with a faint face outline so you can doodle and make a one-of-a-kind button on the spot

- I outsource, locally at SixCentPress (ships across Canada by the way); while I'm very eager to buy a button maker, nice printer, and what not, I'm not too confident in that field yet

- 1.5" at $2, or two for $3.50 since I just have the two designs

- original art; personally, I turn away from those who sell copy/paste from internet

Anyone know the sort of legal mumble jumble tied in with certain images on buttons? I know that straight up art from other artists is a no-no, but what about generic celebrity photos and/or movie caps?
I see them around Etsy all the time and I saw a handful of them at AX but dunno how in the grey area they are. Pic related

>>7684051
Yes it's illegal if you get caught.

Yes it's against most artist alley's policies and can get you booted.

bump

>>7684051
I'm interested to know this as well. I've done badges on commission before but I haven't had a table yet. I'm planning to have one next year though. I make simple badges. Some simpler designs I make from scratch (like a red badge with 3 diamonds on it for Harley Quinn) while others I'll get a prexisting picture and modify it. For example, I've badges of ponies cutie marks. All I've had to do there is get a very high resolution screenshot, crop everything but the cutie mark out, resize it and edit the rest of the image to fit into my template and to have the background as one solid colour. As another example, I've also done a plain white badge of the Assassin's Creed logo, where I've just taken the symbol and centered it in the template.

Does anyone know if this would be okay at cons? I see people doing stuff like this fairly frequently at cons but I've only done some on commission so I'd love to know if I can sell these at cons, along with my other things.

>>7683614
I make buttons but only on commission for the moment.
I brought my button maker.
It's a Badge-A-Minit (that I purchased from their eBay) but the badges are from Allond.com.
I sell them for $2 each.
And I did a big rant on that just above.

>>7685807
>I see people doing stuff like this fairly frequently at cons
Yes
>Does anyone know if this would be okay at cons?
No

All things aside, your second example is most definitely stealing and against pretty much every AA toc ever. What you are doing is illegal. Some conventions will boot you out for it. But as you've said, a lot of people do it anyways.
It's your conscience, anon. But that is way over the line.

>>7685807
Because of things like that a lot of cons are starting "logo" bans on items. Some cons won't allow you sell buttons with different types of pokéballs or MLP cutie marks and things like that.

>>7685656
What's with prints of a character with a bad cg-texture brush background instead of just drawing a background? It always looks so lazy, I'd never buy one.

I want to start selling T-shirts of my art, but where is a good place to get them printed for a decent price? I'd like a fair amount of color in the illustration, so I know it doesn't get that cheap...

>>7686193
I would also like to know this

>>7685809
>>7685821
Ok! Thank you so much for replying! Looks like I won't be selling those badges at a con or anything and I'll probably avoid buying stuff like that at cons in the future. I'll stick to making other things. Thanks again!

Alrighty guys, I've got a con in 3 months and I'm looking to pad my table with some cute little things like buttons, notebooks and the like. I was curious what everyone thought would be a good theme for characters or just in general cute stuff. All my stuff is all OC, and food related so any ideas like that are acceptable. I'm thinking of doing a cute, melting ice cream girl for one, if that gives you an idea of what I had in mind. Maybe something with 'fruit and topping' girls wrapped up in crepes?

I have a bit of creative writers block to be honest. Thanks in advanced!

>>7675442
>>7662353
I had my first AA at AX this year! I did it with a friend (first time for both of us) and we both did good for our first time I think? We both broke even around day 2.I think we were pretty lucky with our table assignment because it was near the front vs the artists that were unfortunately crammed into the corners so I feel that location definitely helped us.

I definitely agree with Tim >>7663374 in that my friend and I definitely felt cramped (especially since the people behind us weren't very space conscious) and that AX seems more print-heavy. It was kind of strange because I've been to AX for about 7 years (with the exception of the past two years) and it felt like AA direction changed a bit in the past two years. I definitely used to see more laminated keychains and it felt like there used to be more "amateur" artists in the past (this is completely the wrong term but I'm not sure how to substitute) but this year a lot of people had pretty high production products which was interesting for comparison. (It's also noteworthy that AX had a huge influx in attendees this year).

Personally, I was kind of surprised by my sales- the stuff that I thought wouldn't sell too much ended up selling out or almost selling out while the stuff I thought would sell ended up selling the least. But this could be because of what I was selling (either relatively older series or relatively niche series) since I'm not too into recent popular series (KlK, SnK, Haikyuu, YowaPeda etc). So I think it depends on what kind of artist you are and what's popular for the year (I felt that my Vocaloid stuff would've done better in AX 2011) I definitely found it more rewarding chatting to people who were excited at seeing prints of niche series. (1/2)

>>7687037
I can't speak too much for my friend since I'm not her, but her stuff was a lot more stylized in coloring and it helped draw attention to our booth/caught people's eyes. It was interesting hearing feedback from people for both of us (make sure to print a lot of business cards or to have contact info for people to take a picture) since it seemed like people who wanted her info were interested in her specific style; and people who wanted my info were interested in my drawings if that make sense (since I like trying out different coloring/line methods in my prints). So for example my friend was able to interest people who didn't know the series she was drawing but liked her art, while the people who were interested in my stuff were people who knew the series. She sold out on some popular series which I think counts as successful on the first year of doing AA considering that you're up against a bunch of other artists who are drawing for the same series.

Advice wise, I'd suggest being flexible with your table presentation and to change it if you have to. I found it helped to display some prints you have hanging overhead (from PVC or grid display) on the tables. One unfortunate snag was that our neighbors to our sides attracted huge crowds that would block our table-only displays so we had to figure out how to rearrange items to the center of the table later on so definitely keep an eye out for that (I didn't even realize this would be a huge problem until it happened). So try to keep in mind of different customer approaches (aka ones that look only at overhead/table-only, ones that take time to look at each individual table, ones that kind of pace through the aisle for quick glances. It helps to smile and greet your customers too.

Overall it was extremely tiring and nerve-wrecking (if you're a social recluse like I am) but really good for experience and fun. (2/2)

What do think about tiny drawings of characters in bottles? I got loads of bottles from a friend but I'm not really about filling them with the usual things like colored liquids or glitter.

Think like... drawing a fairy character, cutting it out and putting it in the bottle. I could even do commissions for custom ones?

>>7687460
That sounds like a pretty cute idea. Instead of drawings, have you considered small clay figures of characters? I think it would work well with characters known to be tiny (say the Katamari cousins) or character associated with bottles (fairies in Zelda)

Anyone here sell lanyards? How much do you charge?

I recently bought a test batch of 25 dye-subbed for $36. I was thinking $5 was a decent number, but if I could sell them for more, that would be great.

Just finished making some kitty pins. Not sure what to do with the two non-decorated ones yet. Pricing suggestions? All the material was given to me for free and while they took a while to make, it was mostly because of glue drying and not actually working.

>>7687484
Depends what they look like.

>>7687460
How small are the bottles? You say cutting it out, do you mean like a paperdoll or "pop-up book" style, like cut to the shape/lines of the drawing? Because I think it'd be interesting, especially if you can get it to stay standing/straight up in the middle of the bottle and not flopping around.

>>7687484
Where'd you get them from? I've been wanting to make lanyards for a while.

What's with people here and lanyards? Is it because of that one person here months ago making them that everyone is making them now?

Anyone here sell amigurumi? I've always kind of assumed that it wouldn't be worth it (time to make vs money), but I've been getting in to it lately for funsies and it would be nice to sell all the stuff I'll end up making.
Basically, are you able to sell much at a con? What kind of prices do you charge?

>>7687847
Lanyards are a pretty common thing everywhere. Outside of cons (where everyone is given a lanyard or they buy one), many workplaces require their employees to have them.

Everyone was already making them.

>>7687657
Pardon the crudeness. The symbols repeat along the back. One of the big guests at the con is a Power Ranger actor and the majority of my items are going to be PR-related anyway, I figured these would be neat. I honestly don't think I'll make a lot of money that weekend, but I also list everything online so there's no real risk of losing money.

>>7687803
Just search 'custom lanyard' on AliExpress and take your pick.

>>7687603
I actually like the two that are undecorated. I feel like I'd be more likely to wear a disembodied cat head on my cardigan or bag if it didn't have an old lady-esque bow or rose on it. The colors would match more outfits that way too, as opposed to say, the one with mint roses.

The one on the bottom looks especially cute. I'd leave a couple as just pins.

Anyone have photos of shared tables? How do you organize yourselves, setup-wise, especially if your partner is just someone you met (like via con forum)? What if you have a lot of 11x17 prints but don't have the space to display it all? Do you just use those art portfolios?

This may be kind of a noob question, but I was thinking of putting small felt plushies on a pin backing so they can be pinned to things and I found these on Taobao.
My question is, how do I use it? Do I hot glue the thing on? I honestly have no idea. I'm very worried about the felt falling off or peeling away from the backing over time.

Another noob question, probably: Would these small decorated sewing kits sell? They seem nice for cosplayers, even if they already have the mending tools the need with them.

>>7688936
I just hot glue them to stuff and I haven't had any problems with them peeling off. I try to make sure some glue go through the holes for extra grip.

>>7689129
It's a cute idea, but if the con a cosplay repair station, cosplayers would probably go there since it's free. Their hotel room might also have mini swing kits (mine did and I fixed an apron with it).

>>7689129
Those are really cute, but they wouldn't sell to actual seamstresses, only to people who don't know to buy in bulk. You would probably get sales, though.

>>7689146
>>7689478
Makes sense. I imagine sales would mostly come out of the cute factor rather than necessity for most. Thanks!

>>7688936

I've heard of some plush makers using this adhesive called "loc tite" or something similar to reinforce eyes, joints, and the like. It's like a super glue in strength but won't chemically mess up your fabric.

>>7689129
nice idea, anon! I'd consider buying one.

>>7689129
maybe only make a few to see if they sell, that way you're not out a lot or have a bunch of extras.
If your con is big make like 10 of them, if it's small make 5.
I'd rather get more thread than have a thimble included, but that's just me. The clips and buttons in there are nice though.
Also a lot of cons still don't have cosplay fix stations so that may save you there.
Sometimes dollar trees have fabric glue, if you find that I'd say include that in a kit because it will make more sale if people want a quick fix later on that doesn't require sewing

>>7688936
I think you can also sew them through those two holes. For extra reinforcement use glue.

>>7689146
Cool, maybe its just my hot glue/felt, but the combination never seems to work for me. The hot glue will peel off the felt very easily.
>>7690140
I googled it and man... are there so many different types. Like for sealing pipes and lubing threads and I don't even know.
>>7690458
I think that's what I'm going to end up doing, tbh. I guess I gotta play around with types of glue to see what holds best. I'm just paranoid that I sell things and the next day I get floods of people saying the things fell apart or jumped away or got eaten by their dog and now their dog is dead or something.