2023: A Year in Review
It’s the end of the year, a good time to reflect and think of what is to come in 2024. Here are some of the 2023 milestones.
First were the multiple setbacks on various Print on Demand platforms. Redbubble suspended me for no reason (and kept some of my money). Then Society6 introduced tier pricing which now requires me to pay to have a smaller number of designs for sale when it used to be free to be a seller. In addition to making the artist pay for a portion for the customer’s shipping when we only get paid 10% of the sales. Sales on Society6 have also dropped a little, likely due to their increase in base pricing which I have no control over.
Licensing didn’t quite work out as well as I hoped. There were some meetings, but ultimately nothing panned out. After over 30 rejections I decided my focus should perhaps be on something else.
I tried consignment. It did pretty decently, until there was a sudden massive rent increment with only about two weeks to make a decision. I don’t like being forced to make commitments with such a small lead time so I withdrew.
So I pivoted and started Etsy, deciding to go all in on wildlife, pets and penguins. I’m genuinely pleased with the work and am so glad I met so many customers at my two pop ups who resonated with my designs. It’s been a bit of a slog, but I think I’m finally hitting my stride. In many ways, I’m glad that so many things didn’t work out because it forced me to really stretch myself and find that thing I truly loved. So you can expect to see a lot more animal designs from me.
Also, museums in Japan! So much amazing artwork from embroidered kimonos to original Monets and Van Goghs. Not to mention waking up to Mount Fuji and seeing autumn for the first time. There is no better art than nature itself.
2024 Goals
Expand the keychain and sticker collection
There were lots of requests for different breeds and colour variations I haven’t yet produced so that is on the way. I’ll also be adding more birds and hopefully get started on some of the aquatic animals.
More (Imperial) Pudding
There will be more variations to Pudding and his imperial antics. I’ll keep this under wraps for now but definitely more to come.
A retailer (or two)
As the collections grow I’ll need other ways to distribute products. So I’m hoping to get at least one retailer stocking my work.
The world is a bit mad right now, so I’m glad you made it to the end of 2023. Whatever the year brought you, I hope you stay strong, stay warm and with your eyes upward for 2024. May you have a very good Christmas and a lovely time with family and loved ones. I’ll see you in the new year!
