Artist Alley Thread

[Anonymous No.9644464]

Previous thread: >>9631367

>Please read the FAQ (always updating)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PpDyjw2LDxbupdvHMNsBUOBVB66Lzwf44RM1You1GDA/edit?usp=sharing
>Resources
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10uNmynwRn6CRc-OMqCeXmJwCNnEnd-vYi-7AQzSx74I/edit?usp=sharing
>Taobao/Alibaba services (broken link)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14zGSegr0b-429wZq5_xdMbE9hpLcXg8fqqe0OxnU2Yo/edit#gid=0
>Artist Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ESQ-1h4IRUivbGNaxJFxXyDU1lSv26xTmMdH0sDX7sU/edit?usp=sharing
>How to order from Vograce (now with video on how to set up files)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18UxKnpgrmeb82NnW5e4YIEX-eZ3zHt178Mp6i0A5gME/edit?usp=sharing
>Convention List (WIP)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13o7hD5xS3sDqVptnTVGUlRae3ovEE-vPPST_QOrQwtM/
>IP taketowns (based on artists contribution, may or may not have been a one time thing, use as a guideline)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1696MDhNPhrZ0ySZhXkoJnGxb7l1OjW4JsVhu1wKvaWE

We have a discord channel!
Email [e-mail] with a link to an art site with images of your merch or a picture of your booth for verification to make sure you do cons. (non jury)

[Anonymous No.9644465]

Carrying over the last two unanswered questions from previous thread:

Quick question - the Zap tutorial says our artwork must fit inside of the blue square, so does that mean our loop hole and cut border can extend outside into the blue area? Or does that need to fit inside the transparent area as well?

and

Is Redbubble a good starting place to sell shirts and prints? I can't fully invest into ordering shirts online and storing them right now, so I was thinking Redbubble is a good alternative

[Anonymous No.9644472]

Repost as I accidentally posted in the dead thread.

>>9643621
I'm a staffer for a medium-small con, about 3.5K attendance. The Artist Alley and Exhibitor's Hall (which we have good rep for thank god) are run entirely by one girl with help from me and one other person for second opinions + at con bootleg sweeps.

She has the job because she's the only one who ran for the position. Just like the majority of staff positions for our con - we have about 30 - 40 Coordinator positions. A sample from the list:

Manga Library Coordinator
Peace Bonding Coordinator
Staff Check In Coordinator
Events Technical Coordinator
Photography Coordinator
Merchandising Coordinator

We do proper elections with speeches and written votes for every position, but out of the full list we had exactly 3 positions that had more than one person run for them. People win by default of being the only one willing to do the work, or at least SAY they're willing to do the work. We have about 5 positions that no one ran for at all. Many people hold multiple titles as people pick up the slack for jobs no one wants to do.

[Anonymous No.9644479]

>>9644465
Wow, we're really starting the thread like this? Alright, I'm feeling nice today.

>so does that mean our loop hole and cut border can extend outside into the blue area?
No. EVERYTHING needs to fit in the blue square. Use your brain. I know you have one.

>Is Redbubble a good starting place to sell shirts and prints?
I never bothered using Redbubble myself. I've heard nothing but complaints about it. Look into Society 6 and CafePress instead. Honestly, I wouldn't even bother with this printing on demand stuff. Just take preorders with a deposit (so people don't flake) and print your stuff using sources from Alibaba.

[Anonymous No.9644831]

>>9644168
>If you want to make art of a character, expect to pay licencing fees. Otherwise what you're doing is a form of bootlegging, and you just have to accept that.

Isn't there supposed to be some legal document stating the terms of an agreement, signed by both parties to be official even before fees are determined?

Amateurs......I expect to be given monies!

[Anonymous No.9645006]

i dipped out of these threads for a couple months and i feel like i just saw this 'you're all bootleggers' argument. is it the same person?

[Anonymous No.9645009]

>>9645006
probably is

[Anonymous No.9645206]

So, I like to go through the tracking numbers of orders I ship out, to make sure nothing gets lost or if something doesn't get delivered. Well, today looking at a packaging going to Australia (from the US) it is stuck in Chile with a notice saying "Delivery Attempt: Action Needed". Anyone ever have that happen before? I called USPS and waiting for them to call back.

[Anonymous No.9645239]

>>9645006
They were called out for maybe being that same person but were insistent that they were not, so who knows. But I think the original person was just an angry normie rather than an artist.

[Anonymous No.9645400]

>>9645206
soo, they told me to just ignore it and it is actually still on its way?
Welp, just came back from the mail box to find different order was returned to me. Looks like someone didn't pay custom fees or something. They paid $45 in shipping alone since they wanted quick international shipping.
So, I guess i'll message them back, but if they don't respond, do you refund the money (not shipping cost) anyways, or do you wait for a reply? I once had an item return and never heard a reply back so I just kept the money..

[Anonymous No.9645450]

>>9644479
Not the anon before but whats with the attitude lol. What's wrong with starting an AA thread with questions about artist alley stuff?

[Anonymous No.9645457]

>>9645006
>>9645009
I imagine it's some anon who has a hard time selling their crappy original art or comics and wants to take it out on us or something? It's odd

[Anonymous No.9645491]

Is anyone making Halloween themed merch or running Halloween specific events on their shops for this month? Never tabled during October before, so if anyone has any insight into this I'd love to hear more about it too.

[Anonymous No.9645502]

>>9645400
If I were in your position I'd refund the item cost...it just seems a bit dishonest to me to keep the money. Also if you're using a platform like Etsy they have a good chunk of time (I believe) to leave a negative review, so there's that too.

>>9644479
>>9645450
Don't think the attitude was really necessary either lol, but we do get some dumb questions in this thread so I get it. The Zap one is a little ambiguous though and I get why someone would be confused...wtf is the blue border even there for? It does say fit your DESIGN in the box, so it's easy to assume just the artwork--especially since how the heck are you supposed to know how much border area they want? idk I'm not used to making my own outlines so I'd be confused too.

[Anonymous No.9645579]

>Instantly popular official merch art released
>Redraws with awkward style and constipated faces
>Basically the same price

[Anonymous No.9645611]

>>9645579
You forgot
>Complains about people not wanting to buy from TALENTED INDEPENDENT ARTISTS when their merch still hasn't moved six months later

[Anonymous No.9645682]

>>9645579
ignoring the boringness of the charms overall, the facial placements/proportions.... how do people get this so wrong. shitty 1 minute edit with a trackpad....but desu deku still looks bad.

[Anonymous No.9645711]

>>9645682
Wow, I'd expect other artists (I'm assuming you are one if you're here) to know that the original artist sometimes can't easily see the mistakes in their own work until they look back at it after some time. Every time someone shits on someone else's work here I can't help but think "how nice does your art look then" or "how well are your merch selling". The salt must come from somewhere

[Anonymous No.9645713]

>>9645711
Anon’s not wrong though. Also if you’ve lurked in these threads you should have a general idea of how much we make.

[Anonymous No.9645717]

>>9645711
i'm an artist but i mostly buy from alley rather than sell, and my salt comes from shitty artists tanking the quality of the alley and hogging spots that could be taken by better artists.

[Anonymous No.9645721]

>>9645711
Fuck off back to tumblr or whatever hugbox you came from. You can't grow as an artist off of asspats. Critique, whether it's super nice and wholesome or harsh, is what makes you grow. Anon's edit is also pretty useful for anyone who just can't seem to get chibis right. Anon's edit looks loads better. "What did they change? Are these changes present in my own art?" are the questions you need to be asking. NOT
>"how nice does your art look then" or "how well are your merch selling"
because that doesn't fucking matter.

[Anonymous No.9645735]

>>9645721
Nayrt but I hate artists like you, and if I ever find out of an artist who shares your view points of ONLY ROUGH CRIT AND BEING A DICK LOL GROW THICKER SKIN, I will 100% not support or buy from them.

You're so fucking stupid if you think hugboxes and ass pats don't make an artist grow. I literally stopped drawing for two years because of cunts like you, and always getting rough crit and having my art degraded.

You know what got me drawing again? Asspats and surrounding myself with people who like my art and praise it. That ENCOURAGES me to draw more. That let's me know that I am not a complete failure and that I do have some talent in me. That PUSHES me to want to work on my art and to get better, knowing that I may actually be able to!

And despite all that, from the years of surrounding myself with real artists™ and always getting the "tough love" and having my art ripped apart, I STILL have trouble believing any asspat or complaints because my self esteem was ruined so much, and I was lead to believe my art is shit and I'd never make it.

And let me say, you're a real fucking asshole if you feel good about yourself that you drove someone to stop creating and exploring art because they "aren't good enough".

[Anonymous No.9645742]

>>9645735
Geez get over yourself.

If you fall apart this easily because someone doesn't give you asspats 24/7 and dares to tell you your art isn't as great as you think it is then maybe you shouldn't be posting on the internet.

[Anonymous No.9645743]

>>9645735
dear diary.

wah wah let me project my insecurities on every critique of a mediocre artist because i can't handle meanies on the internet being honest with me

[Anonymous No.9645748]

>>9645735
You’re projecting, anon. I get that nicely phrased crit is more likely to be taken by the person on the receiving end but your “ONLY ASSPATS HELP ME GROW” attitude doesn’t really encourage technical growth. Sure, definitely foster confidence in young artists first but don’t act like blunt but actually constructive crit is the end of the world.

[Anonymous No.9645755]

>>9645579
>Basically the same price
THAT I highly doubt. The official ones are sold out and resellers are making bank, I saw one of the more popular characters auction for over 20,000 yen. I can understand a fanartist jumping on the bandwagon to try and nab the people who couldn't catch the official goods.

[Anonymous No.9645761]

>>9644472
Hey, thanks for taking the time to reply! From what it sounds like, I'll have to do some footwork to find out when a given convention holds these sort of meetings so that I can start to get involved.

Is it better to start with a con that's at least a couple years old? New cons probably benefit more from having veteran organizers to begin with before handing off the reins.

[Anonymous No.9645787]

>>9645721
cause just shitting on art is constructive criticism lmao

[Anonymous No.9645821]

>>9645787
i mean it wasn't exactly presented nicely but anon did in a way give feedback/advice on how to improve it. it wasn't 'just shitting' on it

[Anonymous No.9645825]

>>9645821
100% this. Just because it wasn't "uwu well anon you could maybe try this instead, but even if you don't ur art is so perfect and special just like you so just have fun ok??" doesn't mean it's shitting on anything, it's just not the cuddlefucky bullshit sensitive brats want to hear.

[Anonymous No.9645882]

>>9645006
>>9645457
I think it's someone with oc characters indie comic... thought it was part 2 from some summer salt on indie comics again.

[Anonymous No.9646029]

>>9645735
New copypasta?

[Anonymous No.9646046]

>>9646029
1. Not every spergy wall of text is copypasta-worthy
2. If you have to ask, the answer is definitely no.

[Anonymous No.9646184]

>>9645735
sounds like your art probably still sucks.

[Anonymous No.9646216]

>>9645611
>talented
K e k

[Anonymous No.9646707]

>>9645882
I'm one of the people who responded to say what most artists are doing is bootlegging. I don't have an indie comic. I don't even care that people make fan art or bootleg items. I'm just saying that it's ridiculous to say that making money off of someone else's IP is good for them because it's free publicity.

[Anonymous No.9646723]

>>9646707
Sorry but bootleg implies that you're trying to create one-for one replica of something and trickin someone into thinking it's official. No one in AA thinks what people are selling are official and osme people sover series that don't really have merch we want. Like New Voltron is pretty much just toys and most adult fans would prefer keychains and charms that isn't really a market that's being filled officially.

[Anonymous No.9646862]

This might not be the right place to ask this, so I apologize in advance if it's not. I was wondering if I post a picture of merch that I got (from the same artist) at the AA at Katsu this year, if anyone would be willing to help me try to figure out the name of the artist, website or their social media handles? I've been searching for almost two weeks now and have had no luck.

>that feel when you forget to grab a business card

[Anonymous No.9646870]

>>9645735
U must be that person from the bay area...

[Anonymous No.9646875]

>>9646723
>bootleg implies that you're trying to create one-for one replica of something and trickin someone into thinking it's official.

No, it doesn't. Stop pretending like you know what you're talking about. Please, PLEASE do some research.

http://wikidiff.com/bootleg/counterfeit

[Anonymous No.9646883]

>>9646862
Go for it

[Anonymous No.9646889]

>>9646875
Counterfeit consumer goods are also commonly referred to as bootleg. How about you do some research before you try to tell off anons??? I’ve worked in the licensed manufacturing industry and the terms are interchangeable.

[Anonymous No.9646890]

>>9646875
Bootleg is when u steal another brand Logo and stick it on to fake merchandise which is mass produced in another country. Don't you watch how the police crack down on bootleg merchandise? How does pointing a finger at someone who draws and makes their own merch? Tell us something law enforcement doesnt know sweetie.

[Anonymous No.9646895]

>>9646890
In fact go ahead and get laughed at trying to report tweens drawing fan art to cops. Laughable, don't think they will give 2 shits over a comic drawn from another country vs. Nike, Gucci, Rolex counterfeits and sold in the alleyways of Chinatown.

[Anonymous No.9646896]

>>9646889
Just because people use them interchangeably doesn't mean they have the exact same definition. There's obviously some overlap in meaning but they're not synonymous.

>>9646890
So what do you call it when people distill alcohol illegally in their home? It doesn't have to have a fake logo or misleading label to be considered bootlegged, only produced illegally (however the law applies to the specific product being made). Please consider the idea that you need to expand your definition.

[Anonymous No.9646901]

>>9646896
NYART but that's literally a misuse of the term bootlegged. When people refer to bootlegged liquor it usually involves illegal trade or sale of liquor, not moonshine. Jesus christ there's so much stupid in this thread. I draw fanart and I'm always embarrassed by the anons defending it in these threads. Let it go.

[Anonymous No.9646903]

>>9646895
Nonviolent crime like IP infringement does not concern law enforcement until the crime has been reported by the IP holder who has been ripped off. Your heart is in a practical place but your argument is flawed.

[Anonymous No.9646905]

>>9645787
that anon in essence redlined that person's artwork for free (here's my frankenstein hack at it). whether or not the original artist could see and disagree with the changes, they'd be given a solution from another artist.
pretty constructive imo
you seem upset imo

[Anonymous No.9646906]

>>9646901
https://www.britannica.com/topic/bootlegging
>Bootlegging, in U.S. history, illegal traffic in liquor in violation of legislative restrictions on its manufacture, sale, or transportation.
>manufacture, sale, or transportation.
>manufacture
Okay

[Anonymous No.9646910]

>>9645735
Create and explore all you want just stop wasting everyone's time by trying to sell your created explorations in keychain form.

[Anonymous No.9646969]

>>9645735
If you can't handle criticism, then the art world might not be for you. What is being discussed is criticism by professionals. Big difference between this and some annoying middle aged woman saying your art is garbage for no reason.

[Anonymous No.9646988]

>>9646903
Again, don't you watch about POLICE STINGS IN LA CALIFORNIA targetting bootleg merchandise (that you are fond to bring up in here). You are even more of a hypocrite to not even know or even acknowledge that. I don't even live in california, and it was reported that Law Enforcement is concerned about bootleg of brands on counterfeit mass produced items.

>>9646903
>Your heart is in a practical place but your argument is flawed.

Better get cracking and tell them POPO americans are ripping off asian brands. You are concerned about millions of dollars being lost to bootleggers, so replicas watches, handbags doesn't take skill to make is your logic? The AA tweens are endangering million of dollars of lost revenue? haha...you need your head examined.

[Anonymous No.9647025]

>>9646903
>your argument is flawed.

I find it laughable that you only keep coming back here redefining examples of bootleg, but can't do squat in real life about it, must suck right? Must be something flawed in your head if you are unwilling to contact IP Brands, law enforcement to hear you whine about drawn anime characters.

I don't even live in california but the past decades there has been large raids targetting bootleg merchandise, so I don't know what fantasy world you are living in to say>>9646903
>Nonviolent crime like IP infringement does not concern law enforcement until the crime has been reported by the IP holder who has been ripped off

[Anonymous No.9647028]

>>9646903
>your argument is flawed.

I find it laughable that you only keep coming back here redefining examples of bootleg, but can't do squat in real life about it, must suck right? Must be something flawed in your head if you are unwilling to contact IP Brands, law enforcement to hear you whine about drawn anime characters.

I don't even live in california and even I know within the past decade there has been large raids targeting bootleg merchandise, so I don't know what fantasy world you are living in to say>>9646903
>Nonviolent crime like IP infringement does not concern law enforcement until the crime has been reported by the IP holder who has been ripped off

[Anonymous No.9647048]

>>9647028
> and even I know within the past decade there has been large raids targeting bootleg merchandise
So how excatly do you think those raids went down, anon? Do you think the law enforcement agencies involved felt the stir of justice within themselves and began targeting bootleggers all for the sake of the greater good? Or do you think those giant companies you mentioned, like Nike and Gucci, reached out to those agencies first and made them aware that their IP was being infringed upon and had the resources to help these agencies track down the offenders? Because you do realize that, especially in the case of luxury brands like Gucci, they train even their lowest-level employees how to identify bootlegs and counterfeits and offer incentives for reporting them. The fact is, those raids happen because the companies involved are big enough for law enforcement to prioritize them because they're also big enough to severely damage an agency with lawsuits and bad press. Doesn't mean that the crime being committed at this comparatively-tiny level isn't still crime and can't still put an offending artist at risk.

[Anonymous No.9647057]

>>9647048
So what is it then? Are bootlegs and counterfeit interchangeable or are they not as you claimed initially?

NYART but I’ve worked with companies like Funimation, Aniplex, Atlus and others and I can tell you from and industry standpoint 1) the terms ARE synonyms for each other and 2) they are both exclusively used in cases where the offending party uses official art or logos and claims their items are official/licensed.

Fan good exist in a completely different sphere. There’s a reason why most companies send out reps to walk around vendors to spot bootlegs but don’t do the same for artist alley. Unless you’re making things that can be mistaken as official merch (ie- mass produced fan plush, using the official art style, using trademarked names), the industry doesn’t have any intent on persecuting fanartists. Stop fearmongering.

[Anonymous No.9647059]

>>9647048
Adding to this, you're right. Calling a cop and saying "omg this person at this anime convention is selling art they drew of a character they don't own!!" is stupid. There are not enough cops in the world, or people who even think this is a "real issue", who would be able to enforce this law at every level...but at the end of the day it's still a law that it carries some level of risk to break, even for a hobbyist. The change has to come from within the community because god knows it won't come from anywhere else...so when companies like Funi try and do what they can to protect their property and their rights, it makes a fan artist look like an entitled brat to say "well I just don't care what they say", or it makes them look like an idiot to say "well I'm just one person and what I do doesn't make a difference". I hope someday that this kind of attitude isn't as common because it's way too normalized. It's really shitty to sit around and exploit an industry, deny the impact your actions have, and then try to demonize the people who are hurting because of it.

[Anonymous No.9647067]

>>9647059
>trying to have a morality debate online
>on 4chan of all places
>refers to corporations and industry giants as people
lol

[Anonymous No.9647107]

>>9647067
Well. Legally corporations have been people for a while now. Otherwise I can't believe you guys shat up another thread with this bullshit.

[Anonymous No.9647137]

Just tell me what you guys WANT. Big key chains? More enamel pins of pretty boys with flower crowns and magical girls? Big prints of old school anime? New school anime of kissing OTP hetro couples?

[Anonymous No.9647145]

>>9647137
Honestly? Art books and zines are my biggest thing right now. I am an artist too and I want big, solid collections of similar-themed art to thumb through when I'm looking for inspiration. I am up to my ears in tiny keychains and enamel pins and other little shit, at this point I only buy them from friends I want to support but they don't have art that really speaks to me.

[Anonymous No.9647164]

>>9647137
>>9647145

God I'd MURDER for more comic zines. Even little twelve page black and white ones. It's so rare to find story books at cons.

[Anonymous No.9647181]

>>9647145
>>9647164

.....YOU DON'T SAY. Well that's interesting. As an "artist", I got stupid lucky and applied to my first zine, and I got in. And I was like, oh snap, I'm going to apply to a bunch of other ones just so I can get myself motivated to make a solid piece of fan wank art a month/per two weeks. Applied to six more, got denied. So now I'm in a little bit of an art slump becasue of it. Don't know why the first one hit and the other's missed.

But that's interesting! When I go to non-anime cons, I always enjoy getting a big book of different artist that have a theme myself. Neat thing to have on the shelf. I got a pretty awesome GoT once. It was so nicely made you would have thought it was official merch from HBO.

[Anonymous No.9647182]

>>9647164

Forgot to ask, what do you mean by "comic" zine. Like a 12 page doujinshi? Or comic as in super heroes?

[Anonymous No.9647214]

>>9647137
thirdly the artbooks/zines. I almost never buy badges/charms (except for one character, for itabag purposes) and i have no more wall space for prints. The large majority of enamel pins don't interest me.

as a more general note: more gothic/classical looking stuff. there is so much kawaii and pink in artist alleys, and i know it sells well to young weebs but i'd like to see some more 'mature' original works (that aren't just pinups)

[Anonymous No.9647227]

>>9647145
What is a zine? It's a book right? what's the difference between that and a regular book?

[Anonymous No.9647250]

>>9647227
Zine is short for magazine, and on Tumblr it's usually used for fandom artists to find certain art groups. Like a Pokemon Zine would be a Pokemon centric "magazine". So like a book vs magazine, one's large and "floppy" and the other is smaller and more "stiff". Usually the person putting together the zine group and coordinating the artists isn't someone rolling in the money, so they make it pretty cheaply by putting it together in a floppy magazine style, stapled in the middle rather than having a nice thread bound spine.

[Anonymous No.9647497]

I just got into a zine, actually! I only app'd in because I fucking love the character and wanted a copy of the book myself, and now that I'm in it I have to figure out what to draw... No group shots and no pairings, so that rules out what I normally create for prints, and I don't own any zines to flip through for inspiration. I'll probably do something that sticks them in an environmental shot, because I'm loath to draw just another pin up or randomly posing waist up shot.

[Anonymous No.9647684]

RIP hopes and dreams of going to AX

[Anonymous No.9647713]

Gone in milliseconds

[Anonymous No.9647748]

>>9647684
RIP my californian dreams

[Anonymous No.9647756]

>>9647713
Even less if that's physically possible.

[Anonymous No.9647759]

>>9647748
I actually LIVE in california and I still can't get an AX table, this is depressing.

[Anonymous No.9647764]

>>9647756
nanoseconds

[Anonymous No.9647864]

>>9647137
plushies and pillows.

[Anonymous No.9647884]

>>9647137

I want shirts that have some cool design/fashion behind it. I don't want a bland icon in the middle of the chest and I don't want an ironic Star Wars/anime pin up girl drawing either, you know? I don't like showing my power level very much in public, but I don't mind when I have a very cool looking pin with some flare on my jacket or something. I like it when people see my swag they look at me and think she can't be TOO big a nerd vs Oh wow look at that otaku dork. It seems to be such a black and white area. You either wear your gear loud and proud or it's nothing.

I also don't want to pay $45 bucks for one shirt. I know, that's what you have to do in order to have a custom piece of art. You're not a Hot Topic, pumping these cheap ass shirts out by the thousands. But I can complain about it! Ha.

tldr; I want cheap, fashionable anime shirts.

[Anonymous No.9647892]

>>9647137
>More enamel pins of pretty boys with flower crowns and magical girls?

As if the market wasn't already flooded with that shit
I'm with the other anons, comic/art zines are the fucking coolest

[Anonymous No.9647925]

I feel like zines are only collected by other artists? Like your average fan wants to display something on their walls/bags, right? So a zine would just sit on their shelf with all the art inside hidden away. Or am I reading into it wrong?

[Anonymous No.9647932]

>>9647925
I think it depends on the fan. I buy zines/fan art books of things I'm really, really into. So I buy basically every lolita book I find, and same with the fandoms that are most important to me. But I wouldn't buy one of say, Sailor Moon, even though I love it, unless the art was top tier.

So it's kind of the opposite approach to producing pins/prints, where you want to cater to the big fandoms. I think catering to smaller fandoms that you really love works out better for zines. You can also price them higher too, I would think. I know I've paid way more than I normally would have for niche-fandom goods.

[Anonymous No.9647936]

>>9647932
Yeah, I'm a non-artist that lurks these threads and if I ever found a zine or art book for one of my more niche interests at a con, it would be an insta-buy for me. I'm kind of sick of coming away from cons with only Pokemon stuff.

[Anonymous No.9647954]

>>9647932
That's definitely the way to do it. The only Zine's I've ever bought were for specific lesser known characters, and I horde them like spun gold

[Anonymous No.9648010]

>>9647182

Comics like doujinshi, yeah. A lot of people do sketch collections or art books, not a lot of people make stories.

[Anonymous No.9648014]

>>9647892

Who's the artist of this? I love it.

[Anonymous No.9648022]

>>9648010

Hmm. I can see this being a double edge sword kinda. I can also see it becoming the next "big" thing? Sorta.

But why put time and effort into a 12 page cool mini story that has to look consistent in quality while making coherent sense panel/page wise and then binding it together (either cheaply or nicely) and then selling it for about as much as ONE 11x17 print?

I mean I think it would be cool to have a collection of say zines or DJs that are about my favorite character for sure. But I cant draw, so I can only image how much time will go into a project like that with not too big of a reward. Let alone if it's a small nitch thing.

[Anonymous No.9648029]

>>9648022
some people are better at comics and it can translate into paid graphic novel or comics work? There is a huge lack of doujinshi in the American artist alley scene unlike in other asian countries...

[Anonymous No.9648033]

>>9648022
comics/zines will not be the next big thing, they are virtually all labors of love for the reasons you stated. Not only do they only sell for the price of one print, they cost anywhere form 4-10x the price of a print to make in the first place, and you can only display so many AND it takes customers WAY longer to flip through them, treating them like a library.

signed, a person with 4+ zines at their table.

[Anonymous No.9648040]

>>9648022
>>9648010
I do a lot of one-shot story zines (both original and fanart) and- it's exactly like you say, labor-intensive, and not terribly profitable, considering they sell for the same/slightly more than a print that I spent a fraction of the time, energy, and resources making.

All I can say is that it's a labor of love? I'd really like to see more zines; to be honest I think if there were more of a market then it might be easier to ask for fairer prices- I spend a week making a print that I can sell for $15; I spend a month making a zine that sells for about the same... hm.

It takes me about 4 times as long to make a zine than a print, and it's way, way more than 4 times as many drawings, even taking into account that the drawings in my zines aren't usually in color and aren't all full illustrations... but if I were to ask for 4 times as much for a zine, as I do for a print? $60 would be crazy. I'm not trying to advocate for $60 zines, by the way (nor am I trying to say that $15 prints are overpriced, or anything of that nature), I'm just saying- the market is weird, especially when compared to prints.

This all isn't even taking into account the cost of printing or anything.

I really honestly would like to see more zines though, I would love for there to be more doujin/fancomics out in the con scene.

[Anonymous No.9648050]

Doujin's in Japan are really neat, and having them more in America would be hella sweet, but I have noticed why there seems to be SO many of them, and this from someone who has a lot of them too. But 95% of them, are just talking heads! I have a Gundam Wing one (old school baby yeah!) with Heero and Duo. I'm flipping through it now and every page is a head turn, Heero talks, then looks up, Duo talks, then they both look up, then Heero looks down, and so forth. All the panels are half drawn eyes and hair whips, or mouths speaking, or random hand gestures. There's a few pulled out shots and then the one money shot of them both standing on Wing Zero looking up into the sky. The key why I think it works so well like this and in Japan, is becasue they are talking about that sweet, sweet, innocent boy love. I've had this DJ forever, and I've had a few friends translate it for me here and there, but Duo pretty much confesses his "feelings" for Heero, who responses by not understanding what Duo wants.

If this was translated into English and done with something current, like let's say Adventure Time or even Pokemon, I think it'll come off as cheesy. ESPECIALLY nowadays, with shit like Steven Universe/Tumblrains. It'll all feel like pandering or just LGBT queer baiting. Maybe that's just me and I'm old and salty.

[Anonymous No.9648055]

>>9648022
>But I cant draw

I'm always curious as to why people who aren't artist are in these threads...

[Anonymous No.9648058]

>>9648055
Not OP, but there are crafters and 3D artists in this thread. Otherwise, they could just be enthusiastic con-goers that purchase a lot of things from artists? Or, they could just be bored and read random threads that they have nothing to do with.

[Anonymous No.9648059]

>>9648050
>>9648040 here and oh my goodness, you are an anon after my own heart..not necessarily with regards to this particular doujin or even this fandom, so much as this general regard for doujin/fandom.

This right here is what drives me to make as many zines as I do, despite the labor intensiveness described above and the minimal payoff. It's essentially the art equivalent of fanfic- getting to explore those character moments and extra bits of 'verse that were never fleshed out in canon, or maybe rethinking things with an AU, or spending time on background characters that never get real screentime, or so on and so on- and, yes, getting to put your OTP in a love confession scene that you know will never ever ever ever be canon.

It's very self indulgent but I don't think that that's a bad thing.

[Anonymous No.9648093]

>>9648040
>I really honestly would like to see more zines though, I would love for there to be more doujin/fancomics out in the con scene.

I really wish there was some equivalent here for Comicket, some events that were specifically for self published books. There's some indie comic cons that emphasize it but not really any fandom-centric ones. I'd even take a half original/ half fandom con if it was books only. I wonder how well that kind of event would do here.

>>9648050

Most Tumblr comics with thousands of notes are cheesy and pandering so I don't think it would be that out of place.

[Anonymous No.9648194]

How do you organize your inventory, sales, costs, etc? If anyone is willing to show their excel sheet or book, I'd be forever grateful.

[Anonymous No.9648235]

>>9648014
it's eli__spencer on insta
I love her stuff, especially her goats

[Anonymous No.9648292]

>>9648050
Just popping in to say that I really miss the active Gundam Wing fandom. It's nice to see another fan in the wild.

[Anonymous No.9648500]

>>9648093
>I really wish there was some equivalent here for Comicket

I knew someone who tried to set up something along the lines of this in NYC but the team kept running into a lot of legal red tape so the idea was scrapped.

I try to set up drawing meetups (that double as swap meets) but I am not popular enough to get a good crowd. So far the only people that attended is one girl who moved and this tiddy artist and his underage entourage.

[Anonymous No.9648549]

>>9648194
first column is etsy, 2nd is conventions.
I don't write down exactly all that I currently have or what specifically I sell. I just count how much money I made at the end of a convention, and count up how much money I spent on materials each month.

[Anonymous No.9648700]

How was AWA for everyone?

[Anonymous No.9648705]

Would anyone be willing to share how much merchandise they went to their first convention with?
My first con is in a few days and I only have 6 prints and 15 button designs and I feel like I'm very under-stocked, despite the fact that I put a lot of work and love into my prints and designs.

[Anonymous No.9648743]

>>9648705
Some last minute stickers could serve you well simply for variety. In the future, stay away from them as they don't have a very good return. However, if you're looking to start out and build up stock they're easy to just pump out. I think the amount you bring is less important than what you draw, but it sounds like you're doing okay for your first time. Just add variety with stickers if you feel like you don't have enough

[Anonymous No.9648749]

>>9648705
My first convention was in 2010 so how much stuff I had back then might not be much help since the AA scene has changed a bit.

I shared a table with 2 other artists so I didn't make a ton of stuff especially since my friends took up most of the overhead displays with big posters. I had two 11x17's, one 8x10, and eight bookmarks, 5 stickers, and 8 keychains.

At my second convention I had three 11 x 17s, three 8x10's, 25 miniprints, 10 bookmarks, 5 stickers and 8 keychains.

Now I have something like 30+ 11x17s so don't worry about how many prints you have right now.

You might consider turning some of your big prints into postcard sized miniprints if you feel like you need to fill up space. Once you get established, get rid of the postcards because they will definitely cannibalize your sales but if you're struggling to fill a table miniprints do the job really nicely.

[Anonymous No.9648753]

>>9647137
Merch of "old" western games. Think Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead 1/2. I make some, but there could always be more.

[Anonymous No.9648880]

>>9647181
how do you even find all those zines to apply for, anon?

[Anonymous No.9648889]

>>9647884
One of the vendors that I met from LCAC might have something you're looking for and is willing to make apparel with the idea of "fashionable weeby" theme. It's a shame that he only goes to smaller cons.

[Anonymous No.9648891]

>>9648880
Just a search in the shitty tumblr search bar. I'm currently really into the BNHA fandom, so I just literally searched "bnha zine" and like ten popped up. But tumblr of course can't be sorted, so you have application posts for dates that have passed way before.
I applied to my first "Teachers are Villains" zine and got in. Then I got denied: Teeth zine, quirk swap zine, big three zine, fall fashion zine, rarepair zine, students as animals zine, and vacation spot zine.
The zine I was in did have some pretty amazing artists, some not so awesome (IMHO), but I knew my work was closer to the more "Super Good" tier than the "Meh" tier. And I'm very proud of the piece I made and colored the fuck out of. One of my best. Over 400 people applied for that one and only 40 artists are going to be in the zine. So I guess it's a little off putting when I'm not picked for the much smaller zines with like 200 applicants. I can understand if it's one that has 800+ applicants. That means like less than 9% can get in, but daaaamn, it was just rejection email after rejection email all around the same time.

[Anonymous No.9648907]

>>9648700
Slow lol. Why are AWA attendees so stingy? So many people yet so little cash.

[Anonymous No.9648957]

>>9648705
You're definitely understocked if you're tabling by yourself. Have you tried setting up your table yet? Tape off an area on a table or the floor that's the same size as your at-con table space, set up your cube grid or PVC frame, and do a dry run on your table set up. I think you'll find that with how much you have your table is going to look totally empty. To fill up space last minute I second other people's ideas for easy filler merch, and add the suggestion of a banner with your studio name and a display with your at-con commission info.

In terms of sales, it depends on the size of your con and how well what you have sells. I had 6 prints and 6 acrylic charms at my first table and broke even, but my break even point including travel was only $600. Almost half my money came from commissions, and another large chunk from one print that sold really really well (more than ten copies).

[Anonymous No.9648974]

Does anyone have any strange interactions/stories that happen in the AA? I love hearing those

I recall buying a post card from a booth and as the artist counted/gathered my change, her friend comes up
and places her Big Gulp drink right on top of said post card (luckily it was already in a plastic sleeve).
I wasn't really upset more than I was mortified at the fact that her friend had 0 self awareness and could've costed her friend the sale.
Like who does that? Who goes up to their friend's booth just to use their merch that they just sold as a coaster for their refreshing drink? And then proceed to talk to them while they're clearly trying to focus on counting change and finishing the transaction?
Geez.
It was such an awkward interaction, but at least the postcard wasn't damaged. I kinda regret buying it kek it's not that cute and every time I look at it, it just reminds me of that whole ordeal.

[Anonymous No.9649026]

>>9648974
I know I'm going off topic of your original a bit, but Jesus Christ, I hate when people leave their drinks on my table. Half the time they leave them there, and one time, they managed to spill it. Thankfully not much was damaged because I reacted quickly, but as a pro tip to anyone that carries a drink, if a table has paper products, don't fucking put your drink on the table.

Other things left at my table
>Phones
>Wallets
>Soap
>Food
>Other merch (one time, signed merch; that girl came back)
>Con guides (this happens probably once every two shows, not a big deal, but still)
>Used suckers

Thankfully the phone and wallets I was either able to run off and catch them, or they came back. Which is good, because I have enough empathy to know that losing those types of things are horrifying

[Anonymous No.9649030]

>>9649026
...soap?!

[Anonymous No.9649054]

>>9649026
I table at summer events and people tend to carry around cold drinks. I always cringe when I see them place their cups on the table because the condensation from it starts making a wet spot in the tablecloth.

[Anonymous No.9649058]

>>9649026
I hate it when I see people leave drinks and water bottles on shelves in stores. People are fucking disgusting.

On your topic, wasn't there an anon who found that someone had left a small turd on their table?

[Anonymous No.9649070]

>>9648974
When I first started doing AAs I had really cheap sketch commissions for $5. They were meant to be fast and fun and not something overtly detailed and my commission example showed that.
>Someone commissions me for a cat chasing a mouse
>No other details
>Draw a cat on all fours chasing a cartoony mouse (also on all fours)
>Customer looks at it and goes "This isn't anthro enough... can you make it more anthro???"
>Sudden realization that this was meant to be a furry commission
>Don't have any furry art at table
>???

I did end up drawing a new one for him but he came back again and said it wasn't anthro enough yet again so I ended up doing the same drawing a total of three times. And I stopped offering $5 commissions from then on. My friends still make fun of me by going "Um, can you make this more anthro?" when I draw something for them.

Another time, a furry commissioned me to draw his Pokemon OCs one of which was a Sneasel. And he described his Sneasel as "having a bit of hip - not too much hip like Mrs. Incredible but you know still a hip-y figure".

Again, I have 0 furry or even just animal stuff at my table so both of these were way out of left field for me.

[Anonymous No.9649078]

>>9649026
Had some bitch who couldn't find her cell dump the entire contents of her purse on my table after she literally took her hand and swiped everything on one side over to make room. Table mate chewed her out. Also yeah I make sure no one puts drinks on my table by being obnoxiously paranoid and saying things like "can I hold that for you?" "Do you need a trash can? I have a trash can." Or simply "please don't set that there" and refusing to stop until they pick it back up or dispose of it. My table isn't your fucking pitstop.

[Anonymous No.9649097]

>>9649026
One of the worst things I've ever seen at an anime con was some preteen girl that put down a starbucks cup on top of a plush makers' wire cube stack, the artist didn't see it, and the girl managed to spill it all down the entire display of WHITE rabbit plush. The plush maker looked like she was just straight up going into shock, but still managed to demand that the girl's mom pay for them. It was like 300 dollars worth of plush and the girls' mom bitched until someone mentioned calling security.

[Anonymous No.9649099]

>>9649070
lol why the fuck do spot-commissions bring out the strangest fuckers at conventions?

I also had a guy try commissioning me a sexy anthro leafeon.
Then another person who just wanted "a wolf".

Idk whats worse, the ones with weirdly designed ocs, or extremely vague requests like "cat chasing a mouse"

[Anonymous No.9649101]

>>9649097
Oh god I would be devastated. That's up there with cheeto dust hands touching all my plush or snotty kids wiping their noses with their fists and then grabbing everything.

[Anonymous No.9649103]

>>9649070

I get that a lot too. I find most people who commission art don't actually care about the artist, they are just trying to make a collection of their OC, and a lot of furries have OCs.

[Anonymous No.9649108]

>>9649030
Yeah, and not some cute homemade soap someone bought and forgot. It was a used bar of regular soap that someone left behind.
Years later an artist alley friend told me that she knew who did it after I told her about it, and there was no strange reason behind it. He just decided to leave soap at a table and I so happened to have left the table for five minutes.

>>9649054
That makes me concerned even more because a good chunk of the time, for it to be that cold, it's likely in a container that is open in some way.

>>9649058
Yeah, I see that sometimes too, and I never understand what is so fucking hard to have it in their cart/hand until they can throw it ou-
>small turd on the table
WHAT?!

>>9649078
That would be the smart thing to do and I try to catch people, especially if it isn't in a sealed container, by offering to hold their drinks. Which they usually comply or gain enough self awareness to realize I don't want their stuff on my table. It still happens to me though.
I don't accept peoples trash though. I just point to the garbage can if they ask if I have a garbage. Sometimes it's only literally 10 feet away and people still fucking ask. I don't have unlimited space behind me for your garbage

>>9649097
Oh good god. That's horrifying. Good on her actually managing to get the money for the plush though. I wasn't able to in my case of stuff spilling on the table because the girl had no money, but it was only like $20-$30 of stuff, and most was okay enough to sell at a heavy discount to at least get my cost back. Plush is much more labor intensive, not to mention heart breaking.

[Anonymous No.9649110]

>>9649099
Honestly if people are up front about what they want me to draw with details/char bios I can get behind that. I don’t mind drawing furry stuff as long as I know from the get go that’s what it is.

[Anonymous No.9649118]

>>9648957
>>9648749
>>9648743

Thanks for the input everyone! I'm gonna take the advice and try to do a few sets of mini prints before the con and beef up my table a bit. :)

[Anonymous No.9649164]

>>9649058
>an anon who found that someone had left a small turd on their table

jesus fucking christ

[Anonymous No.9649188]

>>9648974
guaranteed that friend isn't helping her anymore. I have had god awful helpers before. One who would walk away from the table for hours and ignore my texts asking her to come back.
Anyways, I once had someone come up and tell me they love my stuff and wanted to give me a hug. She hugged me, then licked my face.
Another time, a little girl ran up to my table, picked up a dog bone plushie and bit it. Her mother was extremely embarrassed.

[Anonymous No.9649203]

>>9649188
>licked my face
Reading that actually made me recoil. The dog plush thing I've heard in various different forms by other plush makers, but you'd think teens/adults would have at least enough social skills to go "don't lick strangers".

Makes the "free hugs" guys seem even worse.

[Anonymous No.9649372]

>>9648974
I have a gag dakimakura that gets a lot of fun reactions from the crowd, from disgust to uncontrollable laughter. I got a guy at megacon this year who came up to look at it, and then started...hyperventilating? Kept repeating "I want to buy it, but I can't. I want to buy it, but I gotta stop myself." And then PULLED OUT A FUCKING TASER, pulled his shirt up, and goes to shock himself on the stomach before his friend ran up and pulled his arm away and pushed him away from the aisle. I didn't understand what was even happening until I actually heard the taser, and by the time it actually registered in my mind his friend had already taken him away.

I was already feeling shitty about Megacon after the Informa buyout, but from that point I decided I was never going back.

[Anonymous No.9649397]

>>9648974

Had some complete strangers show up at my table at an all ages con with an obscene cake. It's a funny story now but at the time I was mortified. I appreciated the effort they went through but A) I don't eat unsealed food from strangers, B) it's a huge amount of food I then had to deal with while tabling, and C) it was a big giant penis.

I took it home to be polite because I didn't want to drop a whole cake in the trash like an asshole and managed to fit it in the hotel minifridge. Then my friend who gives no fucks ate most of it. They didn't die, so I guess it worked out okay.

[Anonymous No.9649398]

>>9649372
wow

[Anonymous No.9649402]

>>9649372
wh... what..
>>9649397
but why

[Anonymous No.9649410]

>>9649372
He may have suffered from an extreme disorder - whether shopping or neurological, and that may have been suggested to keep him from doing whatever it was he was suffering from. I've seen plenty of kleptomaniacs just take handfuls of candy, at booths that have that sort of thing, and stuff it in their pockets and apologize that they legitimately cannot not take the candy/free thing.

[Anonymous No.9649411]

>>9649402
>but why

I was in a big yaoi fandom at the time.

[Anonymous No.9649467]

>>9649099
To be honest I really enjoy OC commissions, especially if they're able to provide detailed reference... mostly I just like seeing other people's OCs, though. (And also providing that the customer is you know, nice, and not like... weird, or bitchy or anything etc etc)

[Anonymous No.9649485]

>>9649099
>why the fuck do spot-commissions bring out the strangest fuckers at conventions?

I totally relate, there’s a guy I’ve seen who’s so autistic about dick drawings he asks every single table in the hall for 5. I really don’t understand how people like that aren’t removed from cons?? Like odd commissions have a place in the hall but not 18+ material.

[Anonymous No.9649506]

>>9649411
>>9649397
All I read was yaoi fandom and cake and immediately thought of Aoba cake

>if someone made me an Aoba cake I would eat it with 0 hesitation

[Anonymous No.9649514]

Wow is anyone in this thread tabling at YaoiCon? It looks like Vice Media will be there filming the con as a spectacle for one of their “documentaries” I’m not sure if they won’t be allowed inside the AA or not.

[Anonymous No.9649517]

>>9649514
If you check Y-Con's FB page, they say that Vice is gonna be allowed inside vendors and the AA but will need to get individual consent from affected vendors/artists before they can film? It sounds TERRIBLE for traffic honestly. A lot of attendees probably won't want to come in the AA while the Vice crew is there because a lot of people are afraid of being outed.

I've already seen several attendees and artists on Twitter say that they're cancelling and getting refunds. This combined with the venue change is really gonna hurt the attendance a lot. Good luck, anon. If you change your mind, it seems like they're offering refunds to artists and attendees who do not wish to attend because of Vice.

[Anonymous No.9649522]

>>9649517
Vice must be paying them a ton to choose to keep Vice at the cost of upsetting attendees and paying refunds.

[Anonymous No.9649530]

>>9649514
I feel like this is not a last minute thing and they should have let artists know BEFORE sign ups. I'm sure many artists have some prints that they made specifically for Yaoi Con and maybe those prints won't do as well in the other cons they're attending. This is bullshit on Yaoi Con's side. Sure, Vice wanted to film a documentary, but you don't have to say yes to that.

[Anonymous No.9649553]

>>9649485
Are you talking about the dickbutt guys?

[Anonymous No.9649554]

>>9649530
They said the Vice idea was "proposed" a while back but not approved/finalized until Monday which is why they announced it so late? Honestly, they should have let people know during sign ups that Vice filming might be a possibility.

[Anonymous No.9649590]

>>9649514
>Vice will be there filming
I wish western cons would do like Comiket and not allow photography anywhere inside the AA. It would solve foot traffic issues, for one, and for two, shit like this wouldn't happen to artists.

[Anonymous No.9649778]

>>9649514
This is really stupid on y-con's part, I can imagine this might be a breach of contract for both attendees and vendors? Especially since so many potential customers are going to cancel. Sorry you can't recoup hotel/flight fees though.

LOL but maybe if they ban vice from AA, that'll encourage more traffic from the people avoiding them.

[Anonymous No.9649802]

>>9649517
>a lot of people are afraid of being outed.
wut

[Anonymous No.9649839]

>>9649802
B-but anon! Think of the poor fujoshits! What if your boss sees some blob with a blurred-out face in the background of a video and suddenly realizes what you spend all your money on?!

[Anonymous No.9649844]

>>9649839
>with a blurred-out face
the wording is very ambigious about whether they'd blur hall shots, and surprise, some people have high profile and/or sensitive jobs.

[Anonymous No.9649871]

>>9649802
>>9649844
Also closeted gay people attend this con as well. Imagine being so dense as to make it all about fujoshi.

[Anonymous No.9649887]

>>9649553
Yes that’s the dick drawing he asked everyone to do in the hall. Not appropriate at all in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.9649889]

>>9649887
can we not do this again holy shit

[Anonymous No.9649891]

>>9649871
I really don’t think there are that many guys this would be a concern with. I CAN see it being a big concern if they want to film during the auction with everything that takes place there. I hope the bishies got more advanced notice than we did...

[Anonymous No.9649905]

>>9649871
because homophobic people are going to be watching a documentary about a yaoi convention? Really? Even if they did, so what?
How stupid, what a non-issue.

[Anonymous No.9649911]

>>9649905
The documentary is about cons in general.

[Anonymous No.9649931]

>>9649905
i don't know how big of a risk this shit is but it's disingenuous to pretend homophobic poeple will never see the people in this. homophobes do not have to watch the documentary, all that has to happen is someone else watching it, recognizes someone and posts a screen cap some where. facebook, twitter, anywhere, and if it spreads around you can be sure homophobic people will see it, and a homophobic employee or client might see it. don't be dense.

[Anonymous No.9649937]

>>9649891
They said they’d be filming in the big events/panels so I assume it could potentially be an issue. They did say they were working on seating people based on whether they wanted to be filmed or not? Yaoi Con is so small that faces would be easier to identify even in pan shots.

>>9649905
The doc is about cons in general and do you know Vice’s audience? A ton of normies watch this shit and it gets widely circulated online. I know artists who are reticent to go now because of this. Just because it’s a nonissue to you doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter to other people. l

[Anonymous No.9649942]

I’m seeing people clarify on Twitter that this is actually filming for HBO’s show “Vice” and not Vice Media. This kind of seems worse if true because now it’s gonna be nationally televised.

[Anonymous No.9649943]

>>9649937
This. For example, it's possible for one person to watch this, see their buddy Mike on there, and spread it to their entire social media network because they're excited Mike was on TV. Then Mike's mom sees he was at a gay thing and has a shitfit.

[Anonymous No.9649949]

>>9649778
>might be a breach of contract
No way in hell, I can't think of a single con that doesn't have in their contract somewhere that they're allowed to film and photograph. It's usually phrased in a way to imply for promotional purposes, but vague enough to not be limited to that legally.

>>9649553
I love the dickbutt guys, I hope they're doing well in life.

>>9649931
When I see comments that dense all I can think is that it must be nice to live somewhere you don't have to constantly consider discrimination and hate crimes a real threat and police your actions accordingly. I strictly forbid photography of myself or my art at queer events (specifically other than AA I do drag), and my friends all know not to tag me in anything relevant online. Thankfully I'm not at Y-Con this year so I don't have to worry about the headache, but cancelling would be a very serious consideration for me if I was.

[Anonymous No.9649960]

>>9649931
Again, none issue. If you don't want to be seen in a public place, then don't go to that public place.

[Anonymous No.9649978]

>>9649960
while true, again you're being dense as fuck to pretend like being in a documentary doesn't change the risk factor. people who don't want to be known for consuming or drawing gay porn make a calculated risk by going to cons like this, their calculation didn't include "being on a heavily promoted film for potentially millions of people to see on tv or a popular normie news media site"

now that that this is a part of the calculation, understandably some people are more hesitant to go, why is that so hard for you to understand that you have to be a dick about it? grow up.

[Anonymous No.9649979]

>>9649978
literally just stepping outside is a risk.

[Anonymous No.9649992]

>>9649979
...of being associated with gay porn?

[Anonymous No.9650000]

>>9649960
>t. HBO

[Anonymous No.9650006]

>>9649979
No, unless you're implying closeted gay people wear yaoi t-shirts on a regular basis or something.

[Anonymous No.9650008]

>>9649960
>public place

An indoor private event that you need an ID check to prove you’re 18+ and a badge to enter is now a “public place”????

[Anonymous No.9650018]

>>9649960
Y-Con is a private event that requires ID to enter and all screenings/panels are restricted from the public. Shut the fuck up.

[Anonymous No.9650022]

>>9649992
of something happening that you don't want to happen. Its life. Either live it or never leave your house in fear that some extremely unlikely thing will happen.
>>9650008
https://definedterm.com/public_place

[Anonymous No.9650029]

>>9650022
>of something happening that you don't want to happen. Its life. Either live it or never leave your house in fear that some extremely unlikely thing will happen.
> I don't understand the meaning of calculated risk

[Anonymous No.9650038]

>>9650022
This is what you sound like:

Driving drunk is dangerous, but driving is dangerous too, might as well drive drunk because both are dangerous!

Sun light can cause skin cancer but it's pretty rare, sun screen can't protect you completely from cancer either so might as well not wear sun screen ever, since cancer is still a risk in either case they're exactly the same situations!

[Anonymous No.9650059]

>>9650038
more like saying, better not go outside because the sun can give you cancer. The likelihood that you'd be hurt by this in any way what so ever is less than that of going outside giving you cancer.

[Anonymous No.9650062]

Anons that sell on etsy, what types of merch would you say moves most consistently?

[Anonymous No.9650167]

>>9650062
If I had that answer I wouldn't tell anyone...whats the point of being original if you introduce knockoff upstarts with a silverspoon and no skill.

[Anonymous No.9650168]

Don't know if it's too late or not, but Vice cancelled filming at Yaoicon.

[Anonymous No.9650190]

>>9650168

This was smart of them and I'm glad someone somewhere recognized there was an issue rather than just ignoring it. Even though I was one of the ones who was definitely against this, I'll acknowledge that it could have been a cool thing if it had been done correctly. This whole ordeal was a shame.

[Anonymous No.9650197]

>>9650059
Except people weren't saying to not go to yaoicon, people were saying hey maybe vice shouldn't be there? i.e. hey we were promised there was sun screen / promised there were no drunk drivers can you honor that.. but if you can't see the difference okay.

either way doesn't matter, looks like they figured out it was an issue so eh

[Anonymous No.9650203]

>>9650197
Them being there wasn't dangerous in any way.

[Anonymous No.9650208]

Funny how lack of communication in this age of easy online posting is what sunk this all, also their poor wording about leaving it on attendees to avoid cameras.

They could have easily had an opt-in choice for people and inform us months ago and actually make it hype about showing a respectful and full aspect of the con.

Frankly I am not confident in their saving-face statement at this point being true how they would have been respectful, because springing this on attendees showed no respect at all.

[Anonymous No.9650298]

>>9650167
Anon I'm pretty sure they just want to know if buttons, key chains or prints sell better.

[Anonymous No.9650315]

>>9650298
Yeah, this is basically what I was asking. I'm not gonna bother answering the other anon considering the amount of baggage in their response.

[Anonymous No.9650524]

Why is AANI such a shitshow?

[Anonymous No.9650605]

>>9650524
I fucking hate AANI but your vendetta is showing. WTF is wrong with their post?

[Anonymous No.9650620]

>>9650605
>>9650605
Idk I guess the weeb? speak just hits a nerve with me.
Smol
Animal
u v u
It's painful to read, and seems so immature to use text like that when trying to promote your art

[Anonymous No.9650681]

>>9650524
did you see the post where someone was like "well an admin deleted my post bc APPARENTLY creating a life isn't art"? I couldn't tell if they were trolling but unfortunately they probably weren't...

[Anonymous No.9650753]

what is this melodramatic shit I'm getting in my inbox from yaoicon

[Anonymous No.9650797]

>>9650753
Ohmygod I just saw this, too. This is the DAY BEFORE THE CON. You can't just- you can't just quit?

I'm literally at the airport waiting for my flight to California and wondering just what kind of train wreck am I willingly walking into.

Good luck, anon, I'm praying for all of us (I'm also looking up liquor stores in Sanya Clara because sometimes prayer is not enough)

[Anonymous No.9650827]

>>9650753
What a bitch. Poor Natasha.

[Anonymous No.9650978]

Does anybody know when vograce is returning from their vacation?

[Anonymous No.9651013]

>>9650681
I saw that. I missed the original post though, so I don't know the context of it all. Maybe a troll, maybe just an idiot. Who knows.

[Anonymous No.9651028]

>>9650681
>>9651013
Someone posted their SPS as "Look! I made a realistic baby!" with a picture of their newborn.

[Anonymous No.9651050]

>>9650753
This sounds like a joke. I mean it's obviously not, but it's so over the top. Everyone pray for Natasha, who was never trained. Poor girl.

[Anonymous No.9651062]

>>9651028
"Look! I had sex nine months ago! I'm so talented!"

Seems like even in artist groups you can't escape moms photo-whoring their baby on facebook.

>>9650753
Okay, I get that some people are more sensitive than others and all that, but quitting because someone pointed out your grammar mistakes, and handing the reigns to someone that has never been trained the day before the con? Holy overreaction batman. How little of tact and foresight do she have to not realize that she'll just be made fun of even more because of this? Grammar would have been forgotten about by the end of the week, tops.

[Anonymous No.9651086]

>>9650753
does anyone have links for the tweets? the fact that i have no idea what she's even talking about is crazy, like no one even knows what happened but uh bye i guess

[Anonymous No.9651154]

>>9650753
I'm willing to bet one of two things:

> Natasha is already running the show because this girl has been avoiding any real responsibilities involved with her title
or
> Natasha has been desperately trying to learn how to run the show for ages, but Shella has refused to train her or been snubbing her to keep the power all to herself

Because people who act this unprofessionally with their resignation are always terrors when they're in the job anyways. Good riddance, Shella. What an ass.

[Anonymous No.9651240]

>>9651062
>>9651028
I hate new parents. Please, keep photos and bragging about your spawn out of places they shouldn't be.

[Anonymous No.9651364]

>>9650978
October 6th

[Anonymous No.9651370]

>>9651086
It may have something to do with the survey that was sent to artists about being filmed/interviewed by Vice. It was worded really awkwardly, such as

"Do you mind being filmed?"
- Yes - No
"You do not want to be interviewed."
- Yes - No

I mean, it was annoying and such an awkward, redundant way of asking instead of a simple "Do you want to be filmed?" But I don't get why this Shella person got so worked up about any criticism over it. No one even knew who specifically wrote what until she outed herself in this email lol. What a dumb cunt. I hope Natasha will be ok.

[Anonymous No.9651381]

>>9649887
you have to be 18+ to sell at conventions

[Anonymous No.9651393]

>>9651381
That's not true.

[Anonymous No.9651394]

>>9651381
Not actually true. How the paperwork is handled depends state-by-state, but I've signed AA contracts that had additional rules/provisions for artists selling under the age of 18.

[Anonymous No.9651401]

>>9651381
I remember my first convention (in which I myself was underage at 16 years old) the kid beside me was only 13. Pretty good art too considering for his age. It depends on the size of the con, and where in the world it's held.

[Anonymous No.9651406]

>>9649889
fond memories of the last time

[Anonymous No.9651445]

Thoughts on mini-dakis?
>Pros: more affordable for buyer, easier to hide power level
>Cons: cannot cuddle with, which the reason why many people buy them in the first place.

[Anonymous No.9651471]

>>9651445
I'd be more likely to buy a mini daki than a full daki. The cheaper price point is more attractive, and it falls more inline with "fun merchandise" as clearly a display piece of art, while a full daki gives off a totally different vibe (of desperation).

I have exactly one full daki, and it's huge so I really don't need another one to hide under my bed when I have girls over.

[Anonymous No.9651474]

>>9651471
>display piece of art
Who displays a daki though?

[Anonymous No.9651507]

>>9651474
You see a tiny pillow of a half naked man and it's a pretty good assumption it's just a tiny pillow with art on it that's fun. But someone sees a body pillow, they're immediately thinking about how you probably fuck that body pillow (whether or not you do). I don't mean display piece as in I put it in a cabinet in the living room, just that as an item without a clear use it's now an art piece and it's a little less weird to have around.

[Anonymous No.9651556]

>>9651406
That seems more like of a thread that would occur on AANI rather than here. How many people like that are among us here on /cgl/?

[Anonymous No.9651566]

>>9651406
What a gem lmao. Also afaik, the dickbutt guys (that I encountered) are actually pretty respectful and it's not hard at all to decline. Though seriously I don't understand why people get so freaked out over it.

[Anonymous No.9651571]

>>9651507
This is very true lol. People judge you for posters let alone a body pillow--which usually conjures up images of shut-in weebs masturbating with their body pillow in the dark. Obviously you don't have to care what other people think, but most people who aren't into anime don't have positive images of them and won't understand. So if you have normie friends lol...

Though I am pretty jealous of people who are open with their interests haha. There's a small pairing pillow that I really want for my car, but I probably won't get it just because I don't want to have to explain myself/be embarrassed everytime someone gets into my car, or my room if I put it there lol. "omg are you into gay porn?" Yes, in fact I am....gay 2d porn.

[Anonymous No.9651840]

>>9651566

Several years ago the dickbutt guys commissioned me and everyone in my row, and then when they came to collect pieces they just... walked off. I was too socially awkward to remind them it was supposed to be paid commissions. But yeah, I still get asked at every con they go to because they don't keep track of who they actually commissioned before. Hopefully they remember to pay people now.

Also it bothers me a lot that KC Green might not actually know about it. Dickbutt is a character that was created by someone, not just a meme.

[Anonymous No.9651860]

Where would be a good place to order acrylic stands from? (Looking for reasonable prices and Europe/UK based.)

[Anonymous No.9651861]

>>9651840
The dickbutt commissioners are pretty cool. The last time I talked with them, they told me they bring like $500+ solely to commission artists. This is for multiple cons. And it's pretty easy to say no to them. It's easy money for artists. $5 for a quick doodle, they really don't care how much effort you put in. They mentioned that they want to make an anthology or open a quick popup gallery of all the dickbutt commissions they've received lol. Hopefully it'll be for a good cause and that the original artist knows about their endeavors.

[Anonymous No.9651900]

>>9651840
This might've been before they developed a system for keeping track of who they commissioned from at a given con and who they paid. They will absolutely pay up front if you ask and have often insisted on doing so just to prevent what happened to your row, so there's that.

And yeah they'll ask you again at any con because of what >>9651861 said, they bring a huge ass wad of cash and just keep asking everyone until it's spent. I've always liked them because it's all in good fun, and if you're having a slow ass day it does perk you up a bit.

[Anonymous No.9651947]

>>9651840
>>9651861

At the risk of sounding like an ass, does it really matter that KC Green knows about it/ being for a good cause/etc.? A commission is different than creating charms or whatever. Even though the dickbutt guys commission it a bunch of times, it is still a one time thing per artist. They aren't even claiming it's their character.

[Anonymous No.9652032]

>>9651840
What >>9651947 said, there are ita bags full of fan art ad merch of a "character created by someone". In this case specifically, it's not even a grey area in legality since it's a commission, not mass production.

Anyways, I'm sure the forgotten payment was an accident, and it's your responsibility as well? Multiple times a con (before I began not handing over stuff until I had the money in my hands) plenty of normal people would forget they hadn't paid and begin getting ready to walk off. Hell, it's slipped my mind once or twice when I was caught up in a conversation. You're the artist, so it comes down to your responsibility to make sure you get your money.

[Anonymous No.9652217]

>>9651406
Literally just finished one of these...I'm so honored to have achieved this rite of passage, I just want to thank everyone who made this possible.

[Anonymous No.9652326]

>>9651947

I mean, they're committing a huge amount of time and money to this endeavor and it's really strange if they're not letting the artist know about it. Like if I love a character from a webcomic I might do this same thing, but I'd probably make sure the artist was cool with it first. It's not really the same as an anime or game character. They're thinking about making a book or running a show with it too, that's really different from just making an itabag.

Also didn't realize so many people in these threads were so wet for the dickbutt guys.

[Anonymous No.9652331]

>>9652326
i think the artist does know about it though?
or at least the dickbutt guys make it very clear on their social media that dickbutt belongs to that artist and not them

>didn't realize so many people in these threads were so wet for the dickbutt guys

>recalling an amusing commissioner that we all have in common
>so wet
calm down

[Anonymous No.9652435]

>>9648891
thanks anon. i'll give it a shot.

[Anonymous No.9652621]

>>9651370
Natasha is a dumb bitch too and fucking fought with every single artist during check in(which caused a 2 hour line)

[Anonymous No.9652623]

>>9652621
What is there even to fight about during checkin?

[Anonymous No.9652680]

>>9652623
NYART but I heard that the con ops pulled aside all the artists last night and gave them a big lecture about bullying and how artists shouldn't bully staff because of what happened with Shella? I'm glad I didn't decide to table this year because ycon is sounding like an absolute trainwreck.

[Anonymous No.9652756]

>>9652680
....that’s insane

[Angel !!b54Js4RqEVd No.9652806]

>>9651861
I hope they invest in a scanner soon, I put a lot of effort into the last one and it looked awful when it finally went on up their twitter lol

[Anonymous No.9652811]

>>9652680
Apparently she put a wristband on an artist so tight the artist broke out in hives/a rash on their arm. Lmao wat

[Anonymous No.9652812]

>>9652756
From the Yaoicon thread on AANI. The person who made that tweet warning other artists about the grammar mistakes in the forms also replied earlier but it looks like they have since then deleted their posts.

It sounds kind of ridiculous that artists are being threatened with bans because they pointed out a genuinely misleading grammar mistake that could have lead to an artist inadvertently granting filming rights when didn't mean to. I remember seeing the original tweet and it wasn't even framed in an inflammatory way.

Not only did the AA open 2 hours later than slated, they kept artists an extra hour after the the pushed back closing time to berate them as a group? And if artists left early, they're doing a morning group session too?

I really am glad I'm not there this year. Yaoicon isn't a huge moneymaker anyway. There's only a handful of people there so I'm sure artists aren't losing anything if they do get banned from this con.

[Anonymous No.9652822]

>>9650753
What a narcissistic piece of shit.

[Anonymous No.9652962]

>>9652812

I was at the talk and I don't know why people are whining so much about unprofessionalism. They mentioned emails and we don't know the contents of those, it could have been worse than what most of us saw public. Obviously the girl was under a lot of stress and the artists coming at her with their frustration over Vice cracked her. I think it's fair to have a talk about that, and they didn't accuse anyone by name. If anything it made me feel a bit better about the staff that they were paying attention to the situation and not just trying to pretend nothing happened.

It feels more like the people who actually did some yelling before felt called out at this meeting and decided to complain about it.

[Anonymous No.9652985]

>>9652962
By the same token the emails also could have been nothing? Without any transparency from Yaoi Con all we have to go by are the public tweets about the form which were all very polite and only made to make sure that other artists wouldn't be jeopardized.

And if you actually read the comments it looks like people who didn't raise a stink about the initial Vice situation were also frustrated with the meeting.

[Anonymous No.9653017]

>>9652962
But to gather ALL the artists in the AA to share that? This is content that could easily have just been sent out through email. Why waste people's time?

[Anonymous No.9653036]

>>9653017
>Why waste people's time?
I think this is what got people the most riled up. It's not so much what was said during the meeting, but having dinner delayed and being hangry.

[Anonymous No.9653099]

>be at yaoicon
>after setting up told by staff member to stay after for a meeting announcement
>mfw feels like elementary school
>worry the entire day about what the announcement will be, worry about being banned
>6 hours later its fucking nothing

Idc the vice thing and was mostly withdrawn from that discussion but what the fuck they treated us like children

[Anonymous No.9653132]

To add injury to insult with all the stupid stuff yaoicon is pulling, the AA is small as hell. There's barely any space behind the tables. Map deceived me. I don't like the new head of AA, I feel like she is going to be prone to going on power trips. Just judging by all the stupid requests AA has imposed on artists so far.

[Anonymous No.9653182]

>>9648700
Very well, new sales record for me!! But I don't sell prints/fanart and I have a very large fanbase in the area

[Anonymous No.9653326]

>>9653036
>>9653099
>>9653132
Yeah, I'm with all of you here. Fuck Yaoicon. It had a good run. I'm not going back next year. It makes money but not enough for me to put up with this.

[Anonymous No.9653362]

Welp, after 3 years and 180 reviews on Etsy, I got my first 1 star reviews today.
They bought some ears, and said they were too big, even though there is even a picture of me wearing the ears...
I wouldn't mind a bad review if it was actually my fault..

[Anonymous No.9653386]

>>9653362
Good thing for reviews under 3-stars you can reply and make them look like an idiot (After you reach out via convo and they don't reply or blame you more LOL)

[Anonymous No.9653389]

>>9653362
I wouldn't worry too much, anon. That one bad review is a drop in the bucket, and as a buyer I'd ignore something like that. There's stupid people out there and even the Best Thing Ever is going to have some idiot complaining about how it doesn't meet their weird assumptions.

[Anonymous No.9653397]

>>9653386
huh, did realize that! I wondered how that worked.

>>9653389
Thank you. I do have a few dumb customers I guess. I've had 3 people in the past 2 weeks message me asking a question that is answered in the very first line of the description of the item they were looking at. Oh well.

[Anonymous No.9653714]

Has anyone heard back from Vograce in the past couple of days? I have a pretty time sensitive order and i'm getting a bit concerned that I haven't been reached with a tracking number yet

[Anonymous No.9653741]

>>9653714
>>9651364
They just got back from vacation and it's the weekend, give them a day or two to respond.

[Anonymous No.9653749]

was it anime boston that opens up registration in november or am i thinking of a different con?

[Anonymous No.9653776]

>>9653741
it's monday for them, and I'm only worried because they promised to ship before the holiday and I haven't heard anything ):

[Anonymous No.9653823]

>>9650753
>>9652621
>>9652811
>>9652680

Damn, it's impressive that there isn't more of an uproar over this, along with the almost Vice thing. I've heard people going on more akin to witchhunts with staff for less. Maybe my area has more salty-ass people or something.

[Anonymous No.9653834]

I kind of tuned out for a while but does acornpress have their shit together yet? I have my eye on one of their materials but last I heard of them they were backlogged all to hell with no communication.

[Anonymous No.9653837]

>>9653823
There were people talking about it on AANI but all their comments are gone now? I'm not sure if they deleted them because they were threatened with bans from the con.

[Anonymous No.9653851]

>>9653834
I emailed them about a month ago and haven't heard back, I think I recall hearing a few other people say they haven't heard anything from them either. It makes me sad because I really liked their quality and prices.

[Anonymous No.9653892]

>>9653837
Lol as if that holds any weight now. Yaoicon is gonna die out, who cares about being banned from that shitshow.

[Anonymous No.9653919]

Does any anon have that picture of different sized charms next to each other? Considering jumping to 3in charms but worried they'll look ridiculously huge next to my 2in.

[Anonymous No.9653939]

>>9653834
the last tweet on the owner's twitter was in may and the last post on the blog was early august. I would guess they are probably completely restructuring or taking a break from charms.

[Anonymous No.9654075]

>>9653776
That's shitty that they haven't mailed it yet then, I hope they respond soon.

[Anonymous No.9654207]

Speaking of charms, does anyone know any manufacturer that makes acrylic charm/badges like 5 inches?

[Anonymous No.9654492]

>>9654207
why would you want a 5 inch charm unless it was like.... a standee....

[Anonymous No.9654494]

>>9654492

Not that anon, but I like huge keychains. So sick of paying 8 bucks for a 1 inch charm that's so small you can't see the character unless sits in your face.

[Anonymous No.9654515]

>>9654492
NAYRT. They're popular with itabags. I have a six inch charm on mine.

[Anonymous No.9654638]

>>9654207
Vograce will do standees so I'm sure they can do huge charms. I'm also a fan of those, anon.

[Anonymous No.9654675]

>>9654494
omg i agree thats too small but huge charms from vog arent really stable

[Anonymous No.9654688]

How have you guys gone about getting last minute reprints during a con? Last time I tried to to go to Staples, but despite using the same CMYK-mode JPEG I always use, the colors looked wildly incorrect. If that's just the quality that comes with going to Staples I'll just concede to prepping more stock.

[Anonymous No.9654691]

>>9654688
What region do you go to your cons in? At least in my area Office Depot has been ok.

[Anonymous No.9654724]

>>9654691
Not the same anon but I live in SoCal and ours are usually great. We have very horrible Staples though

[Anonymous No.9654732]

Ok, I'm ready to get hate, but I've been trying for weeks to find a low enough moq plush seller that I could actually afford to do a run of plush. All the places I've found have either a multiple hundred moq (some up to 1,000) or the plush are understandably $80+ each.

Does such a place to order 50-100 of a design exist? I'll pay whatever design fee is necessary. I've looked through Alibaba, I've contacted American companies. Any help is really appreciated.

[Anonymous No.9654741]

>>9654732
shine down is literally the only one ive heard of and its aparently really shitty according to one of my friends that have used them

[Anonymous No.9654747]

>>9654688
Don't go to Staples unless that's the only thing available in your area. Use Minuteman Press. They're a franchise and tend to be much more equipped to handle printing seeing as they're an actual printer and not a office store.

>>9654732
Is this for your own IP or fan plush? I hope it's the former because the latter is highly questionable and solidly fall in bootleg territory.

[Anonymous No.9654759]

>>9654691
>>9654724
I mostly stick to the Northeast so Office Depots are far and few between. Glad to know there is a viable alternative when I do cons outside that area though. Thanks for the heads up.

[Anonymous No.9654766]

>>9654688
>>9654691
I live in the Northeast so Office Depots are far and few inbetween. Glad to know there is a viable alternative when I do cons outside that area though.

>>9654747
I've used Minuteman Press for last minute prints before a con but I never knew they did same day prints! Thank you for the heads up.

[Anonymous No.9654769]

>>9654747
It's for original plush, not fan plush

>>9654741
Thanj you, I'll look into them. I'm at point where I'd even go for shitty plush, I'll never be able to do any if I don't test the waters

[Anonymous No.9654849]

>>9654732
>>9654769

You're the same person that asked this a thread or so ago right? Those answers are still true now. Honestly if you want a run that low, you'd probably have more luck getting in touch with a plushmaker on etsy or something. Chinese manufacturers who can do it for cheap are never going to want to produce that low quantity, you'll end up paying out the ass per plush no matter what, if you find someone who makes their own plush you might end up with a better product even though they're still definitely going to charge a ton for it.

The thing is that if you don't think you can move 500-1000 of your plush you probably shouldn't be looking to manufacture it at all. It's just the truth.

[Anonymous No.9654999]

Are there any of you gulls that are UK based and have a charm manufacturer that you go to besides Vograce and Zapcreatives? Just trying to weigh my options because shipping prices are a bitch

[Anonymous No.9655259]

>>9654741
>>9654769
> http://www.shinedownproductions.com/plush-toys

They will do a "sample" run of 250 at a slightly lower price point production wise, but sample runs do not get your logo on the tag. After that I believe the minimum run is 500.

The sample price costs for a simple tsum-style plush were about $13/each, the second batch were about $16/each.

I didn't find them any more or less difficult to use than any other chinese manufacturer. There was a lot of back and fourth and a bit of a language barrier, but lots and lots of VERY PRECISE pictures/illustrations helps. The first sample was butt ugly, four versions and eight months later the final was pretty cute and came in time for con.

[Anonymous No.9655285]

>>9654688
If you so happen to find one, you can also try an independent. They have to depend on customer service instead of name recognition for their money, so they are much more likely to print it fast, and work with you to get the colors right. Much more than staples, that just shit out whatever. Also, it helps out a smaller business in the process. They don't always have the equipment/ right paper size and weight needed, but it's worth a shot

[Anonymous No.9655332]

>>9654688
>using jpeg for printing
thats your problem

[Anonymous No.9655369]

>>9654849
I didn't ask before, but I'll take a look at the responses if I can find them

[Anonymous No.9655370]

>>9655259
This is extremely helpful, thank you. I've been able to break even/make a profit with other types of merch, but plush is intimidating

[Anonymous No.9655581]

>>9655332

A lot of places use high-res jpegs for printing, don't be an elitist bitch. It would affect the resolution if anything, not color.

>>9654688
Corporate printers like Staples, FedEx etc don't always have staff who know how to care for the printing equipment. It sounds like the printer was badly calibrated. It's always a gamble going to a big corporation like that for printing, you could have a set turn out fine and then the next day at the same shop, a disaster. Like other anons said, print shops with people who actually know how printers work would be a better bet.

[Anonymous No.9655809]

>>9655581
its not even being elitist, how fucking lazy are you that you cant even produce a pdf

[Anonymous No.9655816]

>>9655809
some of us don't have fancy expensive computers like you that can render stuff quickly in high DPI

[Anonymous No.9655831]

Would it be a good idea to sell stamps made with silhouette mint? Anybody tried it?

[Anonymous No.9655833]

>>9655809
If you're exporting a giant flattened raster file a pdf isn't any better than a jpeg though. There's no live text or vector work to preserve so it doesn't even matter.

[Anonymous No.9655896]

>>9655833
I've had issues with printers using files that were not in pdf form.

>>9655816
It takes two seconds to do and I'm using an old ass surface pro 2 that can barely run photoshop without sounding like an airplane ready to take off. What are you using, a potato?

[Anonymous No.9655966]

Was wondering about these side arms for photo stands. I know it's connected with zip tie/tape, but how do artists keep it from sagging? I tried it before and mine just drooped, even with nothing hanging from it to weight it down. Also, what material is best for this? Most I've seen have looked like a copper finish, but I'm not sure.

[Anonymous No.9656068]

>>9655966
Your question is unclear, but if you're attaching prints to only the side arms you're doing it wrong. Prints need to be attached to the print above as well as to the prints/arms on each side.

[Anonymous No.9656139]

>>9656068
Whoops sorry I thought it was pretty clear with the photo given. Your answer confused me too desu lol, but I'm taking about that reddish pole jutting out on the right side of the photo. Usually artists just have it suspended like that, attached to the main photo stand with zip ties. Just wondering how to make sure that that side arm doesn't sag towards the front end. How 2 keep side arm straight and secure?

[Anonymous No.9656141]

>>9656068
>>9656139
Oh lmao I just realized you thought I was taping prints to the sides of the stand. Naaahhhhh lol that's hilarious though.

[Anonymous No.9656204]

>>9656139
Anon, if you actually see most of those displays in person, they have something on the front propping up the side arm to make a side panel. If there is enough room, artists will use a second set of photo display legs set at the same height as the back and zip tie the side arm to the front as well OR they use the clamp method in the front w/ pipes and ziptie the sidearm to that.

If your sidearm is wobbling it means that you need to secure it to something. It's that simple. In the photo you showed, they're using some sort of red photo pole that is thinner in width/lighter than the main display which is probably helping it from wobbling/dropping from its own weight.

[Anonymous No.9656266]

C'mon now everyone knows .tif files with lzw compression are the industry standard.

(though I have seen print shops just request pdfs many many times)

[Anonymous No.9656268]

>>9655831
Aren't mint stamps super expensive? I feel like you're better off finding a manufacturer for those.

[Anonymous No.9656269]

>>9655833
>>9655816
any established print shop would not take your work unless it's in pdf. its not about being elitist

[Anonymous No.9656280]

>>9656269

I use an established print shop that prefers PDF but will absolutely still take tiff or jpeg if that's all I've got, and there's no quality difference. Only reason they want PDF is because they're used to it. It just sounds uneducated to say you should only print from PDF, there are plenty of options, and OPs problem sounded like a printer issue and not a file type issue anyway, so you're not really helping anyone by hammering away at this point.

[Anonymous No.9656281]

>>9655831
So basically mini stickers that looks like a stamp? It's a cute idea, and I've never seen it before. Don't expect too much money out of it though. People pay about $1 for real stamps and they have a "real" purpose.

[Anonymous No.9656368]

>>9655831
yes. my customers think they are cute but don't buy them.

[Anonymous No.9656382]

Getting really annoyed with FWA right now. They said they sent out emails to all the dealers/artists last week on if they got in or not, but me, along with several other artists/dealers have not gotten any emails. We have messaged them on twitter and emailed them, but no real response nearly a week later.
I guarantee that they lost half the applications and didn't realize it until after they judged all the ones they didn't lose. What a mess.

[Anonymous No.9656957]

Hey. I'm staff for a con and we're writing our rules for judging jury (moving away from FCFS this year). I've gotten some excellent feedback from these threads in the last few months on what everyone feels is the most professional way to run a juried AA, and I greatly appreciate the help.

So, as a slightly different question: Instead of how you feel the paperwork and PR should be handled for Jury, does anyone have opinions on the best way to write a rubric to fairly elevate high quality art to the top of the application pile? Things like "that's pretty" are highly subjective, but judging art on complexity of print composition is less so. But does composition even matter? The most interesting prints aren't always the best selling, after all. So what do you think is a good and at least mildly objective way to judge art, that will minimize favoring personal preference?

Are there any cons who you think do it very well? Even if they don't make their judging criteria public, I'd be interested in reaching out to them and asking more questions staff-to-staff if you can point me towards people doing it right.

We're planning to have a variety of people judging etc to minimize problems, but opinions would be appreciated!

[Anonymous No.9656970]

>>9656957
if they included pictures of previous tables, that can be useful in judging too. Its also probably useful to point out a unique art style as a positive. You don't want 20 chibi artists.

[Anonymous No.9657020]

>>9656957
You probably want to look for the following:

>Colorful/bright
>Passable anatomy
>Current appeal in terms of anime series
>Current appeal in terms of style (painting finish, shapes, etc.)
>Minimum amount of work (10+ pieces or something, you probably want someone who can fill their table and if they're applying as a pair it could be the combined amount of work)

A mix of 30% unique (completely falls outside of the above listed bounds but is clearly appealing to all judges; this may also include craft tables), 60% falls squarely within the listed above and 10% wild card (has a 75% pass rate of the rubric but might fall short in one or two points) might help to narrow things down. Those percentages may also shift based on the types of applications you guys receive.

A lot of the above is based on what I've seen get into Fanime, because they let in a mix of clearly skilled artists and others that seem to be at the beginning of their artistic journeys.

As an aside, I'm interested in getting into staffing AA myself, would you mind if I hit you up at a throwaway or something to ask you about it?

[Anonymous No.9657079]

>>9656957

The thing you should keep in mind is if you specify what you are looking for in the art, you will get a lot of applicants who make more of an effort to fulfill those specs than to actually make nice art. For example, cons that require a percentage of original work usually have artists who spent lots of time on their few fan pieces and then just cranked out a bunch of shitty OC drawings to fill the quota. In the same vein, if you make the requirements known, you'll get applicants that cater their art to your tastes just to get in, when the rest of their art doesn't reflect that. A lot of artists cry out for "transparency" in judging, but really they just want the list of requirements so they can game the system. I got an inside tip from a con once and did exactly that and got in.

The bummer thing is, you wouldn't need a rubric if you had working artists on the jury. When I worked with a small team of artists judging applicants, most of us only need to glance at someone's work to see if they have technical skill, which is all that should be really judged. An artists who displays competence is more valuable than someone who can follow the rules of the golden ratio or whatever. I also think this is why many very skilled artists are passed over in judging for cons, because jurys are looking only at composition and miss that the simplistic compositions they create are very striking, or they look at bright colors and miss that the artist's muted color palettes are just objectively appealing. People get hung up on technical things and then you get skilled artists on the bottom because they don't meet technical requirements despite having very appealing and high quality work.

Just, like, keep an eye out for that.

Also just because you run an anime con doesn't mean you only accept artists with an anime style, or a comic con that only accepts comic art. Variety is really good and healthy for an artists alley.

[Anonymous No.9657127]

>>9657020
>>9657079
Thank you for the replies!
I'll drop a throwaway for AA staffing questions later tonight, just can't do it from my phone.

We have no intention of requiring original art or anything arbitrary like that, and all the current staff involved with the Alley are either current or past AA sellers themselves. But as with any good system, we're trying to set it up in a way that it can be run by people other than us in a few years when we move on with our lives and the convention still exists. The other problem we're trying to avoid is showing clear preference to a certain art style even though other styles are also commercially viable - basically, we all know cons that show clear preference to portfolios with a specific kind of anime art, and I don't want to end up doing that on accident by only admitting all the art I personally find pretty. The idea of the rubric is to help even the odds somewhat.

[Anonymous No.9657268]

>>9657127
And honestly no matter what you are going to do, you're going to get people complaining at the results, I don't think there's any universal juried con that people like because there have been complaints every time.

Like I personally don't mind the fanime one since they at least try with a rubric etc but there are still plenty of people on twitter that make fun of them for being like an "art school application". So regardless of how you feel about their final selections, even their proposed process gets made fun of. Yet i still prefer them trying to be open than cons that just go with "what they feel like" like katsucon (a joke of a con imo).

I also like how a-kon showed their full list of artists and ranked by their jury score but again a lot of artists said it was mean or rude, where as for me it only gives me an edge because i can see where i'd stand and what to focus on to get a better chance.

But yea, don't get your hopes up for being the perfect con everyone likes. If the art you admit is consistently styled or you get stuff like >>9657079 where people see your bias, but if you branch out with style you're bound to get people complaining about some style getting in that they think are crap etc.

[Anonymous No.9657323]

>>9657268

Fanime's one of my local cons so I pay a lot of attention to their jurying process, and they almost entirely disqualify non-anime art, so I don't have a lot of respect for them. They have hundreds of tables and for two years in a row it's been almost entirely shiny anime pokemon fanart. Even artists who are getting in acknowledge it's a problem. It's a good example of biased judging, they're an anime con so they want anime art, which sounds completely reasonable on the surface, but then you end up with 400 tables of the same art competing for the same customers, whereas they could have included more types of art and crafts, reached more types of customers, and the lower quantity of anime style pokemon artists would make more money. Not everyone at an anime con ONLY likes anime. Plenty just come to hang out with friends. It's just stupid to ignore that.

I do agree though that giving rejected artists some idea of where they stand and why they were rejected is good though. It can be hurtful for new artists, but ultimately it's useful, and gives them an idea of how to improve without tipping them off how to play the system. Maybe just a private email response with a short note or something. I know it takes more time but if you respect your artists, it's worth it.

[Anonymous No.9657374]

>>9657268
The problem people had with Fanime wasn't that their rubric was public - it was more that they didn't even follow their own rubric. Some of the artists that actually got in this year were absolute messes - there was a girl who literally hot-glued funko pop mini figures onto phone cases and the HELLO SEXY AANI PEEPS girl that everyone hates here also got in even though her art didn't meet the proficiency listed on the rubric. If judging is entirely arbitrary and based on personal tastes, I'd rather have the con admit that instead of giving out a rubric to artists that they're not even gonna follow consistently.

I liked A-Kon's transparency as well but I can see why some people felt uncomfortable. I think if they had given artists notice that a ranked list would be shared, people wouldn't have reacted as badly. It would have been more prudent if they had kept that Google Doc for applicants only instead of posting on their public twitter.

[Anonymous No.9657398]

>>9656957
Hey Anon!

I actually run my local convention's AA, and we're a juried hall with a modest amount of applications. ( ~10k attendance convention. Not tiny, but not huge) So I can give you some little pointers.

>Keep a "High School Art Teacher" mindset.
This may sound kind of silly but you need to separate yourself from your own favoritism/tastes as much as possible. This is difficult because a lot of AA heads are Artists as well, but you have to try in order to keep your ally fair and diverse.

For the grading rubric we use 4 categories, each with 10 possible points for a total of 40. If possible, have 2 judges evaluate each app separately, so a grand total of 80.
>Fundamentals: Does the artist have at least a basic handle on anatomy, color, design, etc.
>Appeal: Does this art match the feeling of our con? This doesn't mean fandoms and stuff, but how does it fit your convention's demographic. This category is completely dependant on your con and the traffic you get. We are a more pure "anime" con. We promote way more 'traditional' convention stuff instead of embracing the outliers - Undertale, Steven Universe, Dream Daddy...you get the idea. This doesn't mean that if you have this stuff we won't have you in our show, but if it's all you have? Probably not. We also tend to have a 'younger' crowd - i.e. more teens than 20's, this changes what sells well and how much people spend. I always like talking to my artist's after a show to hear the feedback on what is selling. So make sure your artist alley maximizes the money the artists will get by creating an appealing alley for your congoers.

Part 1/2

[Anonymous No.9657399]

>>9657323
>>9657374
Yea I'm not arguing with how it was executed like i said, the point i was trying to illustrate was the FIRST time they showed the rubric (before any results), some artists were already making fun of it for being too "serious" and too "AP art" or too "art school app", even though the IDEA of the public rubric to me was good. So i'm just saying to op that even if they make a great rubric some people are gonna find an issue with it, don't let every single complain bog you down is all i wanna get across.

[Anonymous No.9657400]

> Quality: We have separate descriptions for craft and art, but its pretty simple. Are lines clean, or if not, to they compliment the art's style/feel? Are there loose threads and raw edges? It it overall pleasing to the eye? Does it make you happy to look at?
Judge color, composition and all that stuff here. It seems like a lot for one category, and it is, but we do this to keep the scale from tipping over due to personal tastes. Good art will exceed in all these categories so no need to stack the odds.
>Creativity: Is that the same Yuri on Ice! pose I have seen everywhere? Do they only sell flavor of the month, or are there passion pieces in there too? How is the overall diversity of their work- the series, the poses, the type of merch they sell even.

I always like to look at booth designs for these too, as an appealing booth that "works" can make or break an app. Also makes it easier to design an appealing alley if you pick spaces for your artists. But we don't give it its own thing since a lot of new artists may not have a booth set-up just yet.

Oh, and I think it goes without saying, but no spatter art, tracing, sprite rips for perler beads, etc. These are pretty easy to find, but they slip through far too often and it makes me, as a fellow artist, angry for the artists when I see them in alleys. I also recommend joining like the AANI group on facebook and checking in on it if you don't already. It alerts you to trends, potential drama, or series that people shouldn't technically be doing art of out of both legality and respect (Killing Stalking and Night in the Woods, to name two recent ones.

Hope this helps. Its a little basic and subjective, but you get the idea. (Sorry for the text and shitty green text up there. Fuck)

Part 2/2

[Anonymous No.9657526]

>>9657400
>>9657398
That is all extremely helpful! Way more in depth than I thought I was going to get from my question, thank you so much.

To any anons who wanted to drop me a message specifically
> [e-mail]

[Anonymous No.9657531]

Hey anons, I'm planning on using Vograce to order my first set of charms. In the pic i attached, should i leave the quantity to pieces so they know how many charms i want and just tell them the size by inches and they'll roll with that? I'm pretty stumped cause i'm confused on what to set it since you can pretty much change it from inches to millimeters, etc.

I just wanna make sure i don't fuck up or confuse the hell out of Coco when i send in my quote.

Thanks! :)

[Anonymous No.9657544]

>>9654688
I don't. I use full bleed 11x17 prints from catprint on light cardstock. Anything done at Staples or Kinkos would look and feel wildly different than my other prints.

I just make sure I stock way more than necessary and take the leftovers to my next con or sell on my online shop.

[Anonymous No.9657564]

>>9657531
yes , leave it to pieces. Also it wouldn't hurt to also include the number in your message as well, i.e "I'm interested in ordering 400 2 inch charms with sparkle epoxy on double board". Just be clear and specific. She'll ask you if there's any info you leave out.

[Anonymous No.9657774]

>>9644465
I'm not looking to incur the wrath of the nasty anons who replied to you... but fwiw zap just shipped an order of mine without complaints about the loop hole and cutlines slightly overlapping into the blue area. I did make sure to get my art neatly inside, though.

[Anonymous No.9657862]

>>9657564
Thanks, appreciate it.

[Anonymous No.9657864]

>>9657774
...huh. Nayrt but I just ordered for the first time and did the same as you, artwork within the blue borders but cutline slightly outside it, and they asked me to change it.

[Anonymous No.9657891]

>>9657864
Well, so long as we're all on the same page.

[Anonymous No.9658353]

>>9657400
Hey not to switch topics but tangential question: this is the second time I've seen someone mention Killing Stalking fanart not being a good idea, and I've been following the webtoon (and also the artist) for like a year now and I can't recall ever seeing anything like a request to not sell fanart? Only things about not pirating it since it's meant to be behind a paywall.

I'm not trying to stir up anything and it's of course entirely possible that I missed it- I'm just looking for source on creator request to not sell Killing Stalking fanart, is all.

[Anonymous No.9658452]

Does anyone have any rec's for cutting machines? Im just looking to do really short run sticker sheets in not a big enough quantity to justify a larger run. Like any good or bad experiences to note?

[Anonymous No.9658499]

>>9657268
fanime had a rubric but then they let in people with fucking cell phone photos of shitty sketches of chibis colored with crayola in so the rubric means fuck nothing man

[Anonymous No.9658520]

>>9658499
>citation needed

[Anonymous No.9658538]

>>9658353
There was a post on AANI that has the image-I don't have it saved so you might have to search for it- where someone posted a screencap and a link to a post on the creator's twitter. Its in korean, but the artist specifically asks people to not make fanart for profit.

You're essentially profiting off of another small artist. Just like you or your friends in the AA. This isn't an established brand that is making money off of merch and other stuff. It essentially comes down to respect. Drawing and selling fanart of their merch is like stealing from a "mom and pop" style store. Yeah technically you're doing the "same thing" but stealing from a small store hurts them more than say, Walmart.

(Not saying that doing fanart is stealing btw-that's a whole other discussion. Just a metaphor.)

[Anonymous No.9658595]

>>9658452
Silhouette's a good brand. I got the Cameo 3 just a few months ago. I only really use it for stickers and stuff so it's kind of an overkill, really (the Portrait would be just as capable and MUCH more portable), but I love it anyway. It's still a bit of an investment, but at my last con I pretty much paid most of it off purely from the stickers I made with it so I think it's worth it in the end. The software has a little learning curve, but with enough research and tutorial reading it starts to become really easy to understand/use.

[Anonymous No.9658603]

>>9658353
i mean its in pretty bad taste to do fanworks of webcomics without explicit permission, they're almost always 1-2 people

[Anonymous No.9658727]

drama question designed specifically to shit stir: which AANI admin is the fucking worst, in your opinion?

[Anonymous No.9658806]

>>9658727
whichever one you are

[Anonymous No.9658828]

>>9658353
Stop being a greedy cunt and respect your fellow artists ffs. All of these people are TELLING you that the creator asked not to make fanart for profit and you're still wanting evidence?

[Anonymous No.9658936]

>>9658595
I got the Portrait recently and I love it. I have tendinitis from drawing and shit so this saves me so much pain
I will say the recent update for the software sucks ass tho. It won't stop cutting until I force a stop on it.

[Anonymous No.9658987]

>>9658499


>>9657399

[Anonymous No.9659081]

hey magfest can you stop sending me emails about hotel booking when you won't tell me if i'm in the con yet

[Anonymous No.9659321]

Anyone know how much Standard tables are gonna be this time for Anime Boston? Pro Row is $450.

[Anonymous No.9659350]

When do applications go up for Anime north normally ? I've been tabling for years locally now but trying to dip my toes into traveling to cons.

[Anonymous No.9659676]

Whatcha guys working on right now?

I'm currently working on a Jinx x Jhin piece from League of Legends cause for some reason that's my one OTP and I felt like doing a print for myself, rather than making some popular and for the masses. Which I still am. When I'm done with this sucker I'll be back on that BNHA train with some cute DekuxUraha fluff, with them sitting in a bowl of ice cream or something.

[Anonymous No.9659735]

>>9659350
Around Febuary-March, I think.

[Anonymous No.9659826]

>>9658353
How scumbaggy do you have to be to assume that just because you didn't see an international independent content creator NOT condemn people profiting from their work gives you free reign to do it LOL

[Anonymous No.9659847]

>>9659081
It's so frustrating! I get an email notification that starts with "MAGFEST" and I get disappointed when I see the rest of the email title.

[Anonymous No.9659850]

>>9659676
I'm working on a Sharon Apple piece for a 90s anime girl zine. I've been working on it a few days, and I realized she changes up her costume so much that the version I'm drawing is only onscreen for 10 seconds. Gonna get prints made of the piece as well.

[Anonymous No.9659867]

>>9659850
>my butthurt face when I didn't get into that zine.

I DONT WANT TO BE IN YOUR STUPID GIRL ONLY ZINE ANYWAY.

[Anonymous No.9660098]

>>9659867
I'm sorry anon, I hope you get into a cool zine soon and make a really kickass piece for it that you can be proud of. (No sarcasm)

[Corky-Lunn !CorkyloMxc No.9660462]

new thread >>9660461