Whenever you start a new venture, you hit roadblocks and problems. Because it’s new, you have the added frustration of not knowing how to navigate through these problems (or if you did, they wouldn’t be problems.) That’s what I’ve been running into the last while. I can identify the problems, but I’m not sure just how to tackle them. I’ve made progress in some these areas, through a lot of trial and error. My advice: Nothing is ever as straightforward as you’d expect, so budget time so you feel like you’ve experimented enough to get a good product.
The makings of a card: things to consider when wanting to put your artwork onto stationery
Problem – How to colour the card illustrations?
Yup, they look great in person. Unfortunately I can’t go around showing everyone my sketchbook. How can I get these images scanned/cleaned up/photographed so they look as good as real life? How am I going to colour them? In Photoshop? Recreate them as Vectors? Pencil Crayon? Watercolour? Marker? Which shows the drawings off best?
Problem – How to get the cards printed?
So, once I’ve figured out problem #1, and the images look great… how do I keep them looking great? Should I print them out on my home printer (quality? cost? ink?) or go to a private printer? What will the quality look like? How much will it cost? What’s the minimum quantity like? Will I have boxes of cards piled up to the ceiling… all of the same variety that no one was interested in in the first place? Yikes!
Problem – How to make cards available?
Online: What’s the shipping cost? How many hours at the post office? Perhaps an online download/print their own? What if they’re printer is terrible, and they give a terrible version of my artwork to someone. Can perfectionist me get past this?
Craft sales: Is this the right audience? Or will I get put between to the fake floral arrangements and the tole painted Canada Goose planters? (which, erm, are of course lovely!)
Local Shops: How to make a profit? Would they purchase the cards or would I only make what sells? Would it be more prestige and less profit?
As you can see, I have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers just yet. Once I do, I’ll let you know.
– Karen
