Bulletproof Guide for Stable Passive Income on Redbubble in 2022 — Part 2
This is the second part of the Bulletproof Guide for Stable Passive Income, you can read the previous part here: https://acsatlos.medium.com/bulletproof-redbubble-guide-for-stable-passive-income-in-2022-part-1-dae249560143
Where we are
In the previous article, I covered what passive and active income is, what print on demand means, the importance of a well-chosen niche, and the two key elements of the successful passive income stream. Now, I want to elaborate on the design creation process. Where to start, what tools to use, and what resources are available for you.
How to get design ideas?
Personally, I use a ToDo app on my phone to write down every idea I have, as my phone is always with me. Ideas come in every situation: I see an ad on the tram, the bartender has a cool shirt, during a workout a mate says something funny. Look for inspiration on the internet: Redbubble, Instagram, Pinterest, or even Google search. You’ll find great ideas here and there, good font usage, a nice illustration — take ideas from these. I want to emphasize that you want to take ideas only, not copy the design.
Start sketching
Once you have a basic idea about your next design, start sketching it on a piece of paper. Of course, you can use a digitalization table or iPad if you wish. I personally prefer sketching in Procreate because it gives huge flexibility. During this phase I don’t go really into details; I block out the relevant parts: where does the main image go, do I arch the text or not; is it a multiline saying or just one or two words. I try different alignments and select a few which really pop out.
Once you have the basic concept
Jump into the graphic editor software. The palette is huge; from the free-to-use programs like GIMP, Inkscape through the lower-priced competitors like Affinity Designer or Affinity Photo to the professional Adobe products: Photoshop and Illustrator. Affinity Designer is a very nice mixture of Illustrator and Photoshop, perfect for t-shirt design.
If your imagined work contains not only text but some graphic elements, you want to create that first. If you are not a graphic designer and/or don’t want to create every asset for the product yourself, you have a lot of options. You can buy assets from various sites: Freepik, Pixabay, Shutterstock, etc. I really like Freepik because once when I download a vector graphic asset I can easily modify it. Usually, it arrives in .eps or .ai format — with Illustrator you can change it. I’m sure other sites have this option as well. Once it’s in place, lay your text where you planned. Very important to choose your font(s) well. Check out totally free fonts on dafont.com or buy from other creators on https://creativemarket.com/.
Pro tip: plan on black background first; it’s statistically proven that black shirts sell the best.
Okay, you have the base of the design, now you want to fill it up with small details. I could write a lot of tips here but Juna from Detour Shirts already made a bunch of videos on this topic. Check out this episode:
When you have all the details, it’s time to really make the time pay off. Try different color schemes. To make sure the colors work my go-to place is https://coolors.co/ or https://color.adobe.com/. Here you find proven color palettes in a lot of different styles. From one design you can make 5–6 variations at least. Export your work without background and the next step is the upload process and tagging. These are the next articles’ topics. Make sure you follow me here on Medium so you won’t miss any stories.
Check out part 3 here: https://acsatlos.medium.com/bulletproof-guide-for-stable-passive-income-on-redbubble-in-2022-part-3-a189cdf46765
See you!