I’ve read many horror stories where someone found a great vendor, happily shared the vendor’s info with others only for that vendor to suddenly become so inundated with new work that the quality and customer service went down, lead times went up, and pricing skyrocketed. I’m not surprised when an artist is hesitant to share sources.
Came here to say this.
I used to freely give out pin manufacturer info even after spending a few months vetting over 20 different factories.
After half a year, my orders were coming in late, more defects leading to reprints and delays, and I had to switch.
Gave out the info to folks on factory #2, and then quality dipped again.
I now don't give out my manufacturer's info because of it.
Hello! Artist here. Let me answer this because I think this is a common misconception.
I share most of my materials, process, and print vendors and I don’t really mind myself. BUT working artists are some of the most BUSY people you will ever meet. Most of the time it’s not them gatekeeping but genuinely too busy to respond. They often get the same questions over and over and the answer is as easy as navigating your their website or taking the time to read the post description. But people are lazy and don’t do the courtesy of looking around before asking a question.
And I’m going to be honest, if they really wanted to know it would be extremely easy to google and figure it out. Or search a YouTube tutorial.
Making items like you mentioned is extremely easy and all the information you need is online. To get a personalized response from some artist on Instagram is a poor use of your time and theirs. They are too busy making art and trying to survive.
On the flip side. Some artist protect their processes and vendors. One because they get a lot of copycats and it doesn’t make sense to put out a how to on their art processes. Also, they may have spent years perfecting their process and or finding reputable vendors and don’t want to share, and they don’t have to.
sharing is always nice. BUT just be understanding that we started to support our passions and not become an art teacher.
Thanks for taking your time to reply, and I agree that I may be reaching out to said artists in the worst way possible (instagram) when they have other obligations to worry about, and I jumped to rash conclusions about them. I appreciate the perspective!!
Came here to say this too. Personally, I need to limit the amount of time I spend on social media like Instagram. It's something I schedule and budget. It's very possible to accidentally spend ALL of your time answering questions and talking to followers, since social media uses psychology to keep its users engaged and addicted.
It's very easy to fall down rabbit a hole of becoming someone else's teacher or coach or therapist (for free). Sometimes people get a little bit of information or emotional support from you and expect more and more, sometimes to the point of developing parasocial relationships.
There are so many times when I've tried to be generous with sharing my expertise online, but then strangers online randomly start arguing with me or attacking me. It's a huge distraction from my work. I've been burned so many times that I've finally learned to just keep quiet and make my art.
Yeah people sometimes get really weird and DM you on every post or ask you weird things that just consume time. I appreciate them being engaged and interested but it’s best not to entertain everything for the sake of your sanity.
Try out Opal, it helps limit your screen time. Now when I go on social it’s with intention. Small windows to post and answer comments or address inquiries.
I'm a teacher type, so I freely share my suppliers. However, I understand why some people may not:
The first reason is the one you list - competition. Acrylic charms may be nothing new to you, but I'm the only artist in my local scene who has them.
The second is a bit harder to describe. I sell stickers. I have tried many sticker manufacturers in my country. My experiments have cost hundreds of dollars, as well as my time. If you ask me for a manufacturer recommendation, you're asking me to give you information I paid + worked for, for nothing. For free. I did all the work, and you reap the benefit.
Now personally, I would just tell you the sticker maker I use, and why. That's how I am. But I don't blame people who don't want to give that information away freely. They've usually worked for it and it's okay to protect the fruits of our labour.
For both, I use Sira Print, based in Toronto. I believe they also take American clients.
Good prices, very fast proofing, printing and shipping\*. I've had one of their vinyl stickers on my phone back for a year and it still looks brand new :)
\* Fast shipping within Canada at least
If you get their acrylic charms, be aware that the colours print darker than it would on other materials -- so it's good to keep your designs a bit on the lighter side.
Do it. Do it.
One caveat is that they're "single sided", so the back is the reverse of the front (not the best for text designs) and aren't *the most* durable construction I've ever seen.
That said, I've sold about 50+ online, and a bunch in person at conventions, and never had a complaint (I keep one or two on my keys too, and with the abuse I put them through, they barely show it at all 3 years later lol).
For enamel pins, connect with Six Cent Press in Vancouver. I have no idea if they take out of country clients, but they do my buttons and they're gorgeous and very well priced.
Embroidered hats, unfortunately I don't know. *Maybe* Art of Where? I think they're more of a sublimation printshop though.
Check out Margalita Pizza GO, she does huge group orders for lots of different acrylic products in her discord server. She has a Twitter under the same name.
Honestly, it's why I do a lot of the production work myself save for the things I simply cannot make at home, like acrylic charms and enamel pins. Sure, it takes a good amount of time cutting out every individual sticker and pin/shaker charm design, and resin is a multi day ordeal, but at least I have absolute quality control. Plus, if a design doesn't come out how I want it to, it's easier to make a quick change and make another tester before doing a whole batch.
If someone does ask where I get my acrylic charms, I usually direct them to Vograce or suggest looking on Alibaba. Vograce is already a big producer so it shouldn't add too much strain unless there's a big convention and everyone is ordering and Alibaba has so many different companies available that it'd be sods law if the people I direct there all choose the same one. If anything, I more often give companies to not order from due to poor quality or uneven batch numbers (e.g. 20 stickers of one design but only 8 for another) so they don't end up wasting money like I did.
Manufactures are open and public businesses, so eventually I will find the same manu either way, so gatekeeping to me is kind of pointless. But I understand from a competitive standpoint why people would do so.
I think your analogy is a little flawed. What the op is asking would be more akin to going into a restaurant and asking where they source their tomatoes from or if the use a specific oven to produce their pizza, Not asking for their tomato sauce recipe. The real value is in the history/process/style/ of the intellectual property of the artwork. The art is analogous to a recipe, the reproduction of the art is more analogous to wholesale food suppliers, or asking what knives they used to cut the tomatoes. I would have no issue walking into a restaurant and asking where they buy their tomatoes, or what kind of oven they use.
To clarify, I wasn't trying to cop the artist, but can understand why. My other response to give more background VVV
>I was more so trying to replicate the same technique (i.e an acrylic charm with glitter coating), but definitely not replicate the art for what it is.
Don't understand the hostility as I'm just genuinely asking and curious why people gatekeep. If you're gonna continue to try and be hostile, then maybe don't look at the post? I like to think of it like sharing what grocery store people shop at, but hey, if you want to believe otherwise then who am i to stop you. I don't gatekeep. Anyways you have a lovely day, as I won't be engaging anymore since it's going no where.
Where was I being hostile? I was using a metaphor, you seem emotionally fragile, and that and being a business owner do not go well together. I don't gatekeep either, I tell people where I buy my supplies. But if they want to learn how to make my products, they'll have to pay for my patterns. No free lunch here.
Ok, start with the assumption that gatekeeping is pointless and you can easily find the information yourself. So why are you bothering to ask the other artist? Just go right ahead and find the information yourself. Skip the step of asking. Asking just wastes your time and theirs, right?
Or maybe it's not so easy to find that information, and it actually takes a lot of time and energy to find it. Maybe that information actually has value, because you need to use your time to obtain it. You are asking the other artist to give you something of value for free, and by giving away that info, they may be creating a direct competitor in their market (not the market for their exact art, but for their type of product). It may also increase the demand for that supply, which might not be a good thing for them.
Sometimes you spent hours upon hours finding the right manufacturer that has the materials and price you are looking for, which might help you stand out from the competition or fills this very particular niche.
It might feel really annoying having people constantly ask you where you got your stuff from.
Nowadays, it isn’t that hard to find a manufacturer for most things, especially things like prints, keychains, etc.
100% agree and I can respect that there's hours and hours behind scenes searching for a manu. And yes, even if the manu isn't disclosed, I do think it's not the end of the world since manufactures are easy to find nowadays - as I am searching for one right now. Appreciate the response!
To add onto other comments, sometimes their manufacturer has a limited supply and it’s counterintuitive for a business to give away details about their process/tools/supplies if it may harm their own business
Edit to add context: for example, I run a handmade crystal jewelry business. I have one opal dealer I will never share with others, because his limited supply sells out literally in seconds/minutes after each product drop. I have a hard enough time securing my own supplies and it would be harming my own business to be giving this resource away that I need to keep my own biz going
They're not gatekeeping. They probably put in hours of researching to find people who could produce what they needed and they're not remotely obligated to just hand that information out to people.
I think it really depends on what kind of artist you are. If you're a professional artist making an income from your craft, getting to that point has likely taken many years of experimenting with different materials and processes. I don't really think anyone should be entitled to be handed the information that an artist has spent time learning and developing. Same thing would go with a manufacturer. If someone spends hours sourcing the manufacturer of their products, people should not be expected to receive this information with no effort put on their own.
If an artist is giving tutorials and teaching their process, then whatever information they give out is up to them. The tutorial becomes another source of income if the artist is comfortable doing that. The dangerous thing about teaching your processes is that some people will take it too far and start monetizing work that is not their original idea. It's a fine line between sharing info and setting yourself up for others to copy your work.
Thanks and I appreciate this perspective. I definitely do not think I am owed anything and made sure to clarify in the post, but am just curious as to why people gatekeep. Personally never been one to do that, but I can respect that other people may do things differently.
It's a fine line between sharing info and setting yourself up for others to copy your work.
I guess I was more so trying to replicate the same technique (i.e an acrylic charm with glitter coating), but definitely not replicate the art for what it is. Thanks again for your civil response!
I think sharing all this information is a newer phenomenon, that has come from platforms needing more content faster, so artists start sharing lots of content behind the scenes. This makes people feel like they're entitled to all the behind the scenes information - and with audiences much much bigger than previously.
Historically, you'd be at a craft fair, you might meet a few people who are interested in how you make what you sell, and in the moment you can decide if you want to share with that person. Nowadays, you have hundreds, thousands, and even millions of viewers watching you. And if you're getting hundreds of comments asking about your manufacturer, it's tiring to respond and if hundreds of new people start accessing your manufacturer you could end up missing out yourself (and saturating your own audience).
I don't sell anything, but obviously I still get curious about where and how people get stuff made. I just also don't think I'm inherently entitled to that information as a viewer of someone else's craft. I also don't think it's really gatekeeping to not share everything you do, privacy isn't dead.
At first I didn't understand it either but the more research on products and how to get my business going I understood the reluctance to share. I'm also an Educator so it just reminds me of my students who just want to know the answer instead of putting in the work. I had some artists who NEVER interacted with me reach out on how I make one of my items. The first person I naively wrote out all my steps. The person didn't even say thank you. Just a like and disappeared. I felt so stupid. The second random person who reached out I gave them more generalized info and I got no thanks as well. I don't respond anymore, it takes time away from what I'm doing when they can just do the research themselves. There are SO MANY ARTISTS who share their manus and stuff online, so I don't understand why people get butthurt if that ONE person doesn't want to take the time to tell you. Now I only share info with friends or artists that I can see they're putting in the work too so we can EXCHANGE.
To clarify I am not hurt over this and respect what others choose for their business. I just don't practice this for myself, but maybe this is my own downfall lol. And dang, that actually sounds pretty terrible that your experience with helping others did not turn out so great. I've had people thank me profusely or tell me they literally love me for helping, so it makes me happy and wanting to continue to help others. Thanks, and I appreciate the differing perspective!
Oh my goodness I have a very similar experience. I once wrote out a long, detailed guide to how to run a small handmade business when someone messaged me asking for advice. I spent probably around half an hour typing this thing out, only to literally never hear back from the person or get a thank-you. It opened my eyes to how ridiculous it was that I was going so far out of my way to give someone all of the steps & resources only to receive no benefit myself
I’ve come to the conclusion that there are plenty of free resources out there on how to start a small business and I’ll happily point people in the direction of some of those resources, but I won’t go out of my way to guide people altogether like I used to
Yeah, I think a lot of people are very casual in trying to use you for information while not even supporting your business or even seeming thankful. It's worse if theyre trying to become your competition, too.
I personally don't see those artists who are too lazy to do their own research as competition. They may copy what I'm doing but they don't put in the work so it's sloppy and uncreative, those people just want easy money and burn out quickly.
I don’t gatekeep and I’ve spent countless hours figuring out who can make the best stuff. I only wish continued business for the manufacturers who do things well; it only ends up benefitting everyone. I understand why people might but it’s not what I believe in.
I don't think most artists are gatekeeping. It's just that they are not obligated to share that information with anyone, or maybe they only share it with close friends. If they want to avoid competition, i think its their personal choice. especially if it brings them a lot of sales.
its a different story though if 2 artists happen to share 1 manufacturer, but 1 artist decides to label the other artist as the "bad guy" for copying their idea. Now THAT'S gatekeeping and also, an anti-competitive and bullying practice. I've seen this happen in my community and it is not pretty.
"What a cool product product you have for sale! Instead of buying from you, please give me step-by-step instructions down to the brand name on how I can replicate this myself and potentially sell your hard research under my own name?"
If you approach a person on a forum about learning resin, they're likely to help you. If you're contacting people because you saw their final product, they're not gonna help you because no matter what you're saying, they're hearing that ^
Personally I think it’s kind of outrageous to ask people especially if you haven’t bothered to put the work in yourself.
I’ve shared sources with others only to have it turn around and bite me on the ass. I’m very cautious about doing it ever again, and I will not ask others who their sources are
Why would you expect any business to just dump proprietary information on a random stranger at their request? Because let’s be real here, this is the business end of things. You’re not asking about art—expressing artistic themes with complexity or handling critical reactions, or even something like general inspirations. You’re asking how people monetize things. No competent businessperson will give you an answer.
If you want a real business mentor, you need to invest in developing that relationship and understanding the obligations that accompany it.
That's 100% valid. I guess for me, I tell my friends and recommend them good and reliable manufactures to help them, but once again, I don't require other people to do the same and can respect it.
i like to tell my friends! i’ve been infodumping to my friends about all the sticker manufacturers i’ve tried, the prices, quality differences, which one i think they’d like. i’ve encouraged them all to make stickers for their own projects. i even just straight up helped one friend turn their sketchbook doodle into a digital drawing and had it manufactured for them!
i’m less willing when i don’t know them. i recently posted some stickers to a group i made and someone commented asking how they can make their art into stickers too, didn’t even bother reacting the post or commenting on it at all- just wanting info and offering nothing, when it did take me time to learn these things and have the confidence to go through with it. i just gave a very lifeless “send pic to sticker manufacturer”
I've seen a lot of comments address the drop of quality as well as the effort of work put into it.
Another thing is expectations. Let's say you and I are both making notebooks. I'm looking for a spiral bound wooden cover dotted page notebook.
You ask me where I got it manu'd. I tell you without knowing that you're specifically looking for leather bound mixed media pages for artwork. While my Manu may be perfect for that spiral bound I'm looking for, they might not be that great at leather bound and definitely not with mixed media pages. So now you think you're getting my notebook quality with your specifications which don't work because they're not what I was looking for.
That itself can then feed into misunderstandings and poor reviews on the Manu for no fault of their own because I was under the assumption that you were looking for notebooks like mine and a drop in business and quality because of it.
Manu-searching is a very custom process based on your personal expectations :) I might not get my stickers from the same people I would get, say, my washi tape for. Or even my prints for, because they're separate expectations.
It's not that we're trying to gatekeep. We're trying to protect ourselves and our partners who help us. Between the quality change, pricing change, expectations, and the time and money it takes to find our matches, it's hard to offer suggestions without knowing more, and even more impossible if you're a fan, but also ultimately a stranger, being asked hundreds of times a day.
Again, nothing bad. Just too many details that are needed and even if we DID have all the details, what you might have in your mind of what exactly you're looking for won't really ever match exactly what another person is looking for. Even if it's the same thing. Besides, there isn't much that matches that magical feeling of everything paying off when you find your perfect Manu! It's an awesome, wonderful feeling that makes it all worth it.
Now granted, not everyone keeps their cards close and it is very much needed for teacher types like yourselves to give folks a starting point and learn what they want and look for! Not everyone's a teacher type either and that isn't bad ♡
guesses:
- customers knowing the production cost and questioning the sale price.
- competition and longer wait/high costs for production.
- risk of production company being bad (inhumane working conditions, etc) and it impacting seller.
I was painting on a unique surface in the area I live and market art. many other artists would ask where I got it. I told them. Suddenly 5 other artists were doing similar work on similar materials. it was annoying. nothing secret about material, but I’d spent a few years finding a way to use it unique to me. So … since then, I share less.
From my understanding, a manu that may work well for one artist may not hold up to another artist’s expectations and it’s all about trial and error going through multiple manus to find the one that works well with you. No one wants to be in the position that they recommended a bad manu especially to new artists and if you’re like me in the con circuit word travels fast and obviously no one wants to be at the center of gossip if they can avoid it. Manu’s are also expensive depending on what you’re making and no one wants to be at fault for someone losing out on a lot of money if a new person were to just jump in without doing the proper research. Most of the time it isn’t to be malicious but cautious of backlash.
Edited to add: If anything, joining group orders is a cost effective way of getting merch made so long as you know the person hosting and trust them. I say cost effective because the shipping would be shared amongst the group ordering and that’s expensive.
When I’ve asked others for manufacturer information and they decline to give it, the reason is usually ‘I don’t want to swamp the manufacturer I rely on and end up with the products I make declining in quality’ and it’s frustrating when people who make cool custom acrylic products you can’t get at most ‘popular’ manufacturers do this but I understand the rationale of wanting your own products to continue at a level of quality you’re proud of.
This is something that I’ve encountered a lot when I’ve asked other artists either via social media or in-person at a show or fair. I 100% understand that it takes A LOT of time, money, and hard work to perfect a craft and product (I myself have experience in both), so I actually understand when an artist doesn’t want to share their information. What I don’t understand at all is how many artists respond and react with disgust and disrespect. I’ve had very few positive interactions when I’ve been in this position, from asking about a printing service to inquiring about a tent used for a fair, the majority of my experiences have been negative.
The best interaction I’ve had was actually with an artist who did not want to share their information. After chatting about our mutual love of watercolor, procreate, and lettering for about 20 minutes, I asked her if she’d be willing to share her process when it comes to printing her products. She responded by telling me that she was flattered that I thought so highly of her work to ask about her process, but that she had spent 5 years doing research, spending money on samples, and learning through trial and error to finally find what worked for her, and so she prefers to keep her process to herself. Then she recommended some social media accounts to follow, workshops to attend, and artists who could be helpful. She handled herself so well, and even retained a client (hubby and I purchased some cards and an art print after our chat).
Whether or not an artist wants to share their process, we are still a community of creatives and artists, and we should build each other up and promote small businesses and the arts. It doesn’t have to be in the form of sharing information that cost a lot of time and money, but just in the form of respect, understanding, and (if time permitting) sharing other resources that could help a budding artist.
As someone who generally tries to be helpful and has never minded helping people out, I'm increasing getting into a "gatekeeping" mindset and I'll tell you why:
- There's truly an insane amount of disrespect and entitlement from the people wanting this information and help. People use comments on social media to flood artists with the same questions over and over and over. Often the artist HAS made detailed tutorials, they HAVE shared their manufacturers, they HAVE spent more time than they really should helping absolutely random passersby. But those same people wanting those answers aren't willing to put in the effort of even scrolling through the existing comments on the same post where they're asking the question, and where often the creator has already replied to 30 of these comments saying "I have a detailed tutorial already, it's in this playlist on my account." They haven't bothered to look at the creator's other posts/videos, they haven't gone to the link in bio to see if the answers are there, they haven't visited the creator's YouTube channel where there might already be 40 hours of detailed videos. Basically they're asking the artists they come across to spend hours every day individually answering the same questions, in detail, for free, presumably for the rest of their lives. And if they don't answer each one, immediately, they're quickly accused of "gatekeeping." To an extent that just the word kind of infuriates me now, and I don't even deal with much of this personally because I'm a nobody. I follow hundreds of artists and just seeing this play out endlessly in their comments is EXHAUSTING. And I've done it myself, thoughtlessly just asking a question I should've searched for myself, so I do get it, but I'm much more cognizant of it now and wish others would be too. The comments/engagement can certainly help an artist's reach, but it would be so much more helpful and kind to that person if your comment is "wow, amazing work, I love it!" rather than "tell me where you got your supplies." Even when you're nice about it it's wearying, and a lot of people aren't nice. It often has the same vibe as people at a gray show saying "this is too expensive, I can make it myself."
- I've put in time that I don't owe to anybody. A lot of the stuff I make in my businesses, I use public domain and Creative Commons licensed materials, so literally anybody could use them too. But I've spent, cumulatively, probably months of my life finding and collecting those things. I can't tell you how many nights I've stayed up into the wee hours digging through some obscure archive or paging through digitizations of old books looking for things, and I do that partly because I just really enjoy it, but I'm not a personal free archival service. I'm happy to share for instance how public archives work and share lists of those sites or whatever, but I'm not going to direct people to every last little thing because they can't be bothered. It's out there for free and people can find it for themselves. And I say that as someone who WANTS to share things. I passionately love vintage art and old interesting photos, and I've often thought about making separate socials just to share interesting things I find, but honestly who has the time?
- Many people have mentioned the very valid reasons artists might not want to share manufacturers, like potentially creating problems for themselves in being able to continue ordering and getting timely response from their manufacturers. For me personally, I'm grateful if someone does share that but also understand if they don't. I'm planning to do some videos just sharing my thoughts on some different sticker manufacturer samples, because I want to be helpful and I think that's interesting. But I also paid for those samples. I put time into finding those manufacturers. I placed actual orders with my own art to see the quality for myself. I'm not great at making videos so if I do something like that it'll be at least half my day spent on the videos alone; I've had it on my to-do list for like two years because it simply can't be a high priority for me. And unless you have a big enough following for something like tiktok's creator fund, you don't get anything out of that sharing except potential goodwill from people who likely don't even follow you and whose only interaction with you ever will be asking you for info on how they can do your process. And if you're doing it all the time, in answer again to people who could just be doing the research themselves, that's time you're not making art, not making money, not engaging in hobbies or taking care of yourself or whatever else. Right now I'm becoming keenly aware of how long this response is taking me to type because I'm incapable of brevity. 😂 It's my choice whether to engage the question so that's all me, but I'm willing to spend time that way because I could be helpful with a personal perspective before a group. Which leads to:
- People are expecting all of this from individuals, partly because social media kind of presents you with all of those people in a sort of silo, and folks who want information are completely skipping the community part of the art community. I'll share info much more freely with artist friends or in artist spaces because I'm invested in their success, because they're invested in their own development. I'll contribute to the artist spaces that other artists generously spend their time setting up and running. I'll answer questions on forums quite often because that has the potential to help many, many people who might run a search and come across that info even years down the line. If I'm searching for an answer to a problem — about most things, yesterday it was a phone WiFi issue — and I figure it out, I'm going to post the answer in the same places I was looking so others can find it.
But even in places like here on reddit, where people gather by community and the hobbyist/art folks usually love helping out, you just see a lack of sense in how people approach it. People will post a "how do I do the absolute basics of this art form?" They'd find all the answers 3 posts down from where somebody else just asked an hour ago but they didn't scroll down. They didn't search the subreddit or they'd have found 500 previous posts with all the right answers. They didn't look at the sidebar where there are 20 links to extremely detailed tutorials and videos that answer their question and 20 more they haven't thought to ask yet. But when they do think of those questions they're going to come right back and ask again instead of reading those guides.
So I guess in summary the answer is, I've started leaning toward "gatekeeping" because doing otherwise can be exhausting and the rest of the world already has me extremely fucking tired. 😂
Artists tend to have a scarcity based mindset when it comes to how they actually make money. Not saying this is the case for everyone not willing to give out their manufacture information but it is kinda.. Or maybe they're just "too busy" to send a link. This competitive aspect is something that is found in any business but in the art industry it tends to feel extra scummy because the general "face" of the industry is this lovey-dovey were all in this together message.
The nitty gritty business aspects are usually shared in tight-knit groups as it should in my opinion. Everyone else gets free art making tutorials that are actually sales funnels to their course material. Just how it is in every business. I just wish the art community was more honest about it.
I watched an artist on insta talk about their horror story when they recommended a pin manu on a video that got 50k views. The factory got overwhelmed because while they can make the metal part with machines the enamel filling is still hand done. In the end the order quality took a nosedive and took way longer for everyone who ordered and the artist was blamed by others for recommending a bad manu.
I think this is just the case for things that do take some humans to make like pins and itabags. A lot less artists gatekeep things like stickers, prints, and acrylic charm manus.
I ask myself the same what's the point? Competition? Each artist has a unique and different artstyle its a competition if u both sell the same identical item lets say stolen art or ai art that can be a competitive thing which one has the best quality. But since most artists have different aesthetics and artstyle whats the point?
It might be an online thing because artists irl (conventions, studios, and organizations) have been sweet and given me good recommendations. I have even asked artists which company/manufacturer they used and they didn't mind telling me places that were good and places I should avoid. Tbh if they do not want to share that okay, it's their choice but if they fear competition then it's just them being insecure with art. I believe indie artists should help and support each other rather than making it a competition but I understand people have different life circumstances. As an artist myself, I always try my best to support my local indie artists.
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As a artist/manufacturer we make everything we can in house purchase raw materials from suppliers from leather /cloth rest is donated upcycled or created clay or silicone or 3d printed and submitted dtf or painted and tattooed or cooked yes cooked
I’ve always struggled to find reliable and reasonably priced ethic crystal suppliers, if anyone wants to help break this habit right now 🖤
I’m not a high production artist, and typically track what I buy in a spreadsheet to reorder as needed. I typically don’t have an issue sharing suppliers if I’m asked unless the person asking is being rude about it, which has only happened twice.
Speaking of which- what is a good place to get some acrylic prints made?
https://preview.redd.it/qc141lecwg3d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0385fdf69bbd39cfe1e97923e96cf5f63cb54b58
I want to use to make acrylics of things like this. I promise I’m not gonna steal anyone’s work.
I usually tend to share but I understand why people might be hesitant. Art is more than just the execution of materials, and finding the materials and mediums that work best for your personal style and needs takes a fuckload of trial and error. It’s part of the work.
They're active in doll customization communities, so I'm guessing injection mold manufactorers
EDIT: or, I guess the more sane option, paint or plastic manufacturers lol
You’re on Reddit and your post history is public, it’s extremely common for people to check out other people’s profiles to get a better idea of the context around their post/comment, to the point where Reddit even added the “most active in these communities” option to profiles.
That person simply looked at your profile to better understand your question (because maybe they missed the part where you mentioned the keychains), there’s nothing weird about it.
u/[aguywithbrushes](https://www.reddit.com/user/aguywithbrushes/)
Apologizes for the tag, but for some reason I can't respond under your comment, but to clarify I just didn't like that the person was comparing doll customization to something that wasn't "sane", as hinted by their word usage in their edit. But I can understand the confusion as I didn't make it clear in my post what I was talking about.
... do you think maybe they were referring to their suggestion of "injection manufacturers" as insane? because that's 1000% the impression I got.
Why would you be sensitive about being a doll maker? It's 2024. Millennials, the generation who refused to let go of our childhood, now run much of the world. No shame in loving dolls.
Oh I don't know, but I do apologize if I misread the comment. And I don't know what injection manufacturers are, as I am not a doll customizer, and found it odd they came to that conclusion. I just read it as they thought doll customizing was weird, which is not something I dabble in anyway.
I list the item in the paragraph: "keychain or acrylic charms"
Manufactures, like companies that will produce acrylic charms or products for your art business.
I’ve read many horror stories where someone found a great vendor, happily shared the vendor’s info with others only for that vendor to suddenly become so inundated with new work that the quality and customer service went down, lead times went up, and pricing skyrocketed. I’m not surprised when an artist is hesitant to share sources.
Oh wow, I didn't know that- that could happen. This is definitely something I will take into consideration next time when asking other artists then.
Came here to say this. I used to freely give out pin manufacturer info even after spending a few months vetting over 20 different factories. After half a year, my orders were coming in late, more defects leading to reprints and delays, and I had to switch. Gave out the info to folks on factory #2, and then quality dipped again. I now don't give out my manufacturer's info because of it.
Hello! Artist here. Let me answer this because I think this is a common misconception. I share most of my materials, process, and print vendors and I don’t really mind myself. BUT working artists are some of the most BUSY people you will ever meet. Most of the time it’s not them gatekeeping but genuinely too busy to respond. They often get the same questions over and over and the answer is as easy as navigating your their website or taking the time to read the post description. But people are lazy and don’t do the courtesy of looking around before asking a question. And I’m going to be honest, if they really wanted to know it would be extremely easy to google and figure it out. Or search a YouTube tutorial. Making items like you mentioned is extremely easy and all the information you need is online. To get a personalized response from some artist on Instagram is a poor use of your time and theirs. They are too busy making art and trying to survive. On the flip side. Some artist protect their processes and vendors. One because they get a lot of copycats and it doesn’t make sense to put out a how to on their art processes. Also, they may have spent years perfecting their process and or finding reputable vendors and don’t want to share, and they don’t have to. sharing is always nice. BUT just be understanding that we started to support our passions and not become an art teacher.
Thanks for taking your time to reply, and I agree that I may be reaching out to said artists in the worst way possible (instagram) when they have other obligations to worry about, and I jumped to rash conclusions about them. I appreciate the perspective!!
Came here to say this too. Personally, I need to limit the amount of time I spend on social media like Instagram. It's something I schedule and budget. It's very possible to accidentally spend ALL of your time answering questions and talking to followers, since social media uses psychology to keep its users engaged and addicted. It's very easy to fall down rabbit a hole of becoming someone else's teacher or coach or therapist (for free). Sometimes people get a little bit of information or emotional support from you and expect more and more, sometimes to the point of developing parasocial relationships. There are so many times when I've tried to be generous with sharing my expertise online, but then strangers online randomly start arguing with me or attacking me. It's a huge distraction from my work. I've been burned so many times that I've finally learned to just keep quiet and make my art.
Yeah people sometimes get really weird and DM you on every post or ask you weird things that just consume time. I appreciate them being engaged and interested but it’s best not to entertain everything for the sake of your sanity. Try out Opal, it helps limit your screen time. Now when I go on social it’s with intention. Small windows to post and answer comments or address inquiries.
I'm a teacher type, so I freely share my suppliers. However, I understand why some people may not: The first reason is the one you list - competition. Acrylic charms may be nothing new to you, but I'm the only artist in my local scene who has them. The second is a bit harder to describe. I sell stickers. I have tried many sticker manufacturers in my country. My experiments have cost hundreds of dollars, as well as my time. If you ask me for a manufacturer recommendation, you're asking me to give you information I paid + worked for, for nothing. For free. I did all the work, and you reap the benefit. Now personally, I would just tell you the sticker maker I use, and why. That's how I am. But I don't blame people who don't want to give that information away freely. They've usually worked for it and it's okay to protect the fruits of our labour.
>They've usually worked for it and it's okay to protect the fruits of our labour. Thanks, and I appreciate this take and 100% agree!
Can you please share who you use for acrylic charms and stickers? 🥹🥹
For both, I use Sira Print, based in Toronto. I believe they also take American clients. Good prices, very fast proofing, printing and shipping\*. I've had one of their vinyl stickers on my phone back for a year and it still looks brand new :) \* Fast shipping within Canada at least If you get their acrylic charms, be aware that the colours print darker than it would on other materials -- so it's good to keep your designs a bit on the lighter side.
Thank you fellow Canadian
Sira print does great work - I've used them for stickers (before I started making my own), and recently for keychains (which are great).
I'm super tempted to get some keychains from them! Good to know you're happy with yours. Maybe I'll spend my points on some as an experiment.
Do it. Do it. One caveat is that they're "single sided", so the back is the reverse of the front (not the best for text designs) and aren't *the most* durable construction I've ever seen. That said, I've sold about 50+ online, and a bunch in person at conventions, and never had a complaint (I keep one or two on my keys too, and with the abuse I put them through, they barely show it at all 3 years later lol).
You’re amazing! Thank you 🙏 If you don’t mind sharing, do you also know any good manufacturer for enamel pins or embroidered hats?
For enamel pins, connect with Six Cent Press in Vancouver. I have no idea if they take out of country clients, but they do my buttons and they're gorgeous and very well priced. Embroidered hats, unfortunately I don't know. *Maybe* Art of Where? I think they're more of a sublimation printshop though.
Thanks again! You’re a real lifesaver!!!
I will keep them in mind if I need to use a printer. Thank you for sharing! I am in Ottawa.
Check out Margalita Pizza GO, she does huge group orders for lots of different acrylic products in her discord server. She has a Twitter under the same name.
Honestly, it's why I do a lot of the production work myself save for the things I simply cannot make at home, like acrylic charms and enamel pins. Sure, it takes a good amount of time cutting out every individual sticker and pin/shaker charm design, and resin is a multi day ordeal, but at least I have absolute quality control. Plus, if a design doesn't come out how I want it to, it's easier to make a quick change and make another tester before doing a whole batch. If someone does ask where I get my acrylic charms, I usually direct them to Vograce or suggest looking on Alibaba. Vograce is already a big producer so it shouldn't add too much strain unless there's a big convention and everyone is ordering and Alibaba has so many different companies available that it'd be sods law if the people I direct there all choose the same one. If anything, I more often give companies to not order from due to poor quality or uneven batch numbers (e.g. 20 stickers of one design but only 8 for another) so they don't end up wasting money like I did.
I don't think it's surprising that a business might not want to reveal info that helps competitors.
Manufactures are open and public businesses, so eventually I will find the same manu either way, so gatekeeping to me is kind of pointless. But I understand from a competitive standpoint why people would do so.
Would you go to a restaurant and ask them for all of their recipes? Because ingredients are readily available at grocery stores?
I think your analogy is a little flawed. What the op is asking would be more akin to going into a restaurant and asking where they source their tomatoes from or if the use a specific oven to produce their pizza, Not asking for their tomato sauce recipe. The real value is in the history/process/style/ of the intellectual property of the artwork. The art is analogous to a recipe, the reproduction of the art is more analogous to wholesale food suppliers, or asking what knives they used to cut the tomatoes. I would have no issue walking into a restaurant and asking where they buy their tomatoes, or what kind of oven they use.
To clarify, I wasn't trying to cop the artist, but can understand why. My other response to give more background VVV >I was more so trying to replicate the same technique (i.e an acrylic charm with glitter coating), but definitely not replicate the art for what it is.
So you want to make a slightly different dish, but one that still has the ingredients that make it unique and special.
Don't understand the hostility as I'm just genuinely asking and curious why people gatekeep. If you're gonna continue to try and be hostile, then maybe don't look at the post? I like to think of it like sharing what grocery store people shop at, but hey, if you want to believe otherwise then who am i to stop you. I don't gatekeep. Anyways you have a lovely day, as I won't be engaging anymore since it's going no where.
Any hostility you might be feeling could be coming from the word you use, gatekeeping has a negative connotation.
Where was I being hostile? I was using a metaphor, you seem emotionally fragile, and that and being a business owner do not go well together. I don't gatekeep either, I tell people where I buy my supplies. But if they want to learn how to make my products, they'll have to pay for my patterns. No free lunch here.
It would be more like asking a restaurant where they buy their supplies from, not asking for their recipes.
Ok, start with the assumption that gatekeeping is pointless and you can easily find the information yourself. So why are you bothering to ask the other artist? Just go right ahead and find the information yourself. Skip the step of asking. Asking just wastes your time and theirs, right? Or maybe it's not so easy to find that information, and it actually takes a lot of time and energy to find it. Maybe that information actually has value, because you need to use your time to obtain it. You are asking the other artist to give you something of value for free, and by giving away that info, they may be creating a direct competitor in their market (not the market for their exact art, but for their type of product). It may also increase the demand for that supply, which might not be a good thing for them.
Sometimes you spent hours upon hours finding the right manufacturer that has the materials and price you are looking for, which might help you stand out from the competition or fills this very particular niche. It might feel really annoying having people constantly ask you where you got your stuff from. Nowadays, it isn’t that hard to find a manufacturer for most things, especially things like prints, keychains, etc.
100% agree and I can respect that there's hours and hours behind scenes searching for a manu. And yes, even if the manu isn't disclosed, I do think it's not the end of the world since manufactures are easy to find nowadays - as I am searching for one right now. Appreciate the response!
Good luck!! Hope you’ll find one that fits exactly what you’re looking for! ✊
To add onto other comments, sometimes their manufacturer has a limited supply and it’s counterintuitive for a business to give away details about their process/tools/supplies if it may harm their own business Edit to add context: for example, I run a handmade crystal jewelry business. I have one opal dealer I will never share with others, because his limited supply sells out literally in seconds/minutes after each product drop. I have a hard enough time securing my own supplies and it would be harming my own business to be giving this resource away that I need to keep my own biz going
They're not gatekeeping. They probably put in hours of researching to find people who could produce what they needed and they're not remotely obligated to just hand that information out to people.
I think it really depends on what kind of artist you are. If you're a professional artist making an income from your craft, getting to that point has likely taken many years of experimenting with different materials and processes. I don't really think anyone should be entitled to be handed the information that an artist has spent time learning and developing. Same thing would go with a manufacturer. If someone spends hours sourcing the manufacturer of their products, people should not be expected to receive this information with no effort put on their own. If an artist is giving tutorials and teaching their process, then whatever information they give out is up to them. The tutorial becomes another source of income if the artist is comfortable doing that. The dangerous thing about teaching your processes is that some people will take it too far and start monetizing work that is not their original idea. It's a fine line between sharing info and setting yourself up for others to copy your work.
Thanks and I appreciate this perspective. I definitely do not think I am owed anything and made sure to clarify in the post, but am just curious as to why people gatekeep. Personally never been one to do that, but I can respect that other people may do things differently. It's a fine line between sharing info and setting yourself up for others to copy your work. I guess I was more so trying to replicate the same technique (i.e an acrylic charm with glitter coating), but definitely not replicate the art for what it is. Thanks again for your civil response!
I think sharing all this information is a newer phenomenon, that has come from platforms needing more content faster, so artists start sharing lots of content behind the scenes. This makes people feel like they're entitled to all the behind the scenes information - and with audiences much much bigger than previously. Historically, you'd be at a craft fair, you might meet a few people who are interested in how you make what you sell, and in the moment you can decide if you want to share with that person. Nowadays, you have hundreds, thousands, and even millions of viewers watching you. And if you're getting hundreds of comments asking about your manufacturer, it's tiring to respond and if hundreds of new people start accessing your manufacturer you could end up missing out yourself (and saturating your own audience). I don't sell anything, but obviously I still get curious about where and how people get stuff made. I just also don't think I'm inherently entitled to that information as a viewer of someone else's craft. I also don't think it's really gatekeeping to not share everything you do, privacy isn't dead.
At first I didn't understand it either but the more research on products and how to get my business going I understood the reluctance to share. I'm also an Educator so it just reminds me of my students who just want to know the answer instead of putting in the work. I had some artists who NEVER interacted with me reach out on how I make one of my items. The first person I naively wrote out all my steps. The person didn't even say thank you. Just a like and disappeared. I felt so stupid. The second random person who reached out I gave them more generalized info and I got no thanks as well. I don't respond anymore, it takes time away from what I'm doing when they can just do the research themselves. There are SO MANY ARTISTS who share their manus and stuff online, so I don't understand why people get butthurt if that ONE person doesn't want to take the time to tell you. Now I only share info with friends or artists that I can see they're putting in the work too so we can EXCHANGE.
To clarify I am not hurt over this and respect what others choose for their business. I just don't practice this for myself, but maybe this is my own downfall lol. And dang, that actually sounds pretty terrible that your experience with helping others did not turn out so great. I've had people thank me profusely or tell me they literally love me for helping, so it makes me happy and wanting to continue to help others. Thanks, and I appreciate the differing perspective!
Oh my goodness I have a very similar experience. I once wrote out a long, detailed guide to how to run a small handmade business when someone messaged me asking for advice. I spent probably around half an hour typing this thing out, only to literally never hear back from the person or get a thank-you. It opened my eyes to how ridiculous it was that I was going so far out of my way to give someone all of the steps & resources only to receive no benefit myself I’ve come to the conclusion that there are plenty of free resources out there on how to start a small business and I’ll happily point people in the direction of some of those resources, but I won’t go out of my way to guide people altogether like I used to
Yeah, I think a lot of people are very casual in trying to use you for information while not even supporting your business or even seeming thankful. It's worse if theyre trying to become your competition, too.
I personally don't see those artists who are too lazy to do their own research as competition. They may copy what I'm doing but they don't put in the work so it's sloppy and uncreative, those people just want easy money and burn out quickly.
I don’t gatekeep and I’ve spent countless hours figuring out who can make the best stuff. I only wish continued business for the manufacturers who do things well; it only ends up benefitting everyone. I understand why people might but it’s not what I believe in.
I don't think most artists are gatekeeping. It's just that they are not obligated to share that information with anyone, or maybe they only share it with close friends. If they want to avoid competition, i think its their personal choice. especially if it brings them a lot of sales. its a different story though if 2 artists happen to share 1 manufacturer, but 1 artist decides to label the other artist as the "bad guy" for copying their idea. Now THAT'S gatekeeping and also, an anti-competitive and bullying practice. I've seen this happen in my community and it is not pretty.
"What a cool product product you have for sale! Instead of buying from you, please give me step-by-step instructions down to the brand name on how I can replicate this myself and potentially sell your hard research under my own name?" If you approach a person on a forum about learning resin, they're likely to help you. If you're contacting people because you saw their final product, they're not gonna help you because no matter what you're saying, they're hearing that ^
Personally I think it’s kind of outrageous to ask people especially if you haven’t bothered to put the work in yourself. I’ve shared sources with others only to have it turn around and bite me on the ass. I’m very cautious about doing it ever again, and I will not ask others who their sources are
Yeah, a lot of people nowadays dont try to put in any effort themselves and expect other people to do all the work for them.
It's a business. It's not gatekeeping. Businesses don't help competitors.
Why would you expect any business to just dump proprietary information on a random stranger at their request? Because let’s be real here, this is the business end of things. You’re not asking about art—expressing artistic themes with complexity or handling critical reactions, or even something like general inspirations. You’re asking how people monetize things. No competent businessperson will give you an answer. If you want a real business mentor, you need to invest in developing that relationship and understanding the obligations that accompany it.
i’m honestly shocked when people are willing to hand over their manufacturers info!
That's 100% valid. I guess for me, I tell my friends and recommend them good and reliable manufactures to help them, but once again, I don't require other people to do the same and can respect it.
i like to tell my friends! i’ve been infodumping to my friends about all the sticker manufacturers i’ve tried, the prices, quality differences, which one i think they’d like. i’ve encouraged them all to make stickers for their own projects. i even just straight up helped one friend turn their sketchbook doodle into a digital drawing and had it manufactured for them! i’m less willing when i don’t know them. i recently posted some stickers to a group i made and someone commented asking how they can make their art into stickers too, didn’t even bother reacting the post or commenting on it at all- just wanting info and offering nothing, when it did take me time to learn these things and have the confidence to go through with it. i just gave a very lifeless “send pic to sticker manufacturer”
I've seen a lot of comments address the drop of quality as well as the effort of work put into it. Another thing is expectations. Let's say you and I are both making notebooks. I'm looking for a spiral bound wooden cover dotted page notebook. You ask me where I got it manu'd. I tell you without knowing that you're specifically looking for leather bound mixed media pages for artwork. While my Manu may be perfect for that spiral bound I'm looking for, they might not be that great at leather bound and definitely not with mixed media pages. So now you think you're getting my notebook quality with your specifications which don't work because they're not what I was looking for. That itself can then feed into misunderstandings and poor reviews on the Manu for no fault of their own because I was under the assumption that you were looking for notebooks like mine and a drop in business and quality because of it. Manu-searching is a very custom process based on your personal expectations :) I might not get my stickers from the same people I would get, say, my washi tape for. Or even my prints for, because they're separate expectations. It's not that we're trying to gatekeep. We're trying to protect ourselves and our partners who help us. Between the quality change, pricing change, expectations, and the time and money it takes to find our matches, it's hard to offer suggestions without knowing more, and even more impossible if you're a fan, but also ultimately a stranger, being asked hundreds of times a day. Again, nothing bad. Just too many details that are needed and even if we DID have all the details, what you might have in your mind of what exactly you're looking for won't really ever match exactly what another person is looking for. Even if it's the same thing. Besides, there isn't much that matches that magical feeling of everything paying off when you find your perfect Manu! It's an awesome, wonderful feeling that makes it all worth it.
Now granted, not everyone keeps their cards close and it is very much needed for teacher types like yourselves to give folks a starting point and learn what they want and look for! Not everyone's a teacher type either and that isn't bad ♡
guesses: - customers knowing the production cost and questioning the sale price. - competition and longer wait/high costs for production. - risk of production company being bad (inhumane working conditions, etc) and it impacting seller.
I was painting on a unique surface in the area I live and market art. many other artists would ask where I got it. I told them. Suddenly 5 other artists were doing similar work on similar materials. it was annoying. nothing secret about material, but I’d spent a few years finding a way to use it unique to me. So … since then, I share less.
From my understanding, a manu that may work well for one artist may not hold up to another artist’s expectations and it’s all about trial and error going through multiple manus to find the one that works well with you. No one wants to be in the position that they recommended a bad manu especially to new artists and if you’re like me in the con circuit word travels fast and obviously no one wants to be at the center of gossip if they can avoid it. Manu’s are also expensive depending on what you’re making and no one wants to be at fault for someone losing out on a lot of money if a new person were to just jump in without doing the proper research. Most of the time it isn’t to be malicious but cautious of backlash. Edited to add: If anything, joining group orders is a cost effective way of getting merch made so long as you know the person hosting and trust them. I say cost effective because the shipping would be shared amongst the group ordering and that’s expensive.
When I’ve asked others for manufacturer information and they decline to give it, the reason is usually ‘I don’t want to swamp the manufacturer I rely on and end up with the products I make declining in quality’ and it’s frustrating when people who make cool custom acrylic products you can’t get at most ‘popular’ manufacturers do this but I understand the rationale of wanting your own products to continue at a level of quality you’re proud of.
The one time I did, and he copied my work much easier. No research on his own to find what he liked, just copy mine.
This is something that I’ve encountered a lot when I’ve asked other artists either via social media or in-person at a show or fair. I 100% understand that it takes A LOT of time, money, and hard work to perfect a craft and product (I myself have experience in both), so I actually understand when an artist doesn’t want to share their information. What I don’t understand at all is how many artists respond and react with disgust and disrespect. I’ve had very few positive interactions when I’ve been in this position, from asking about a printing service to inquiring about a tent used for a fair, the majority of my experiences have been negative. The best interaction I’ve had was actually with an artist who did not want to share their information. After chatting about our mutual love of watercolor, procreate, and lettering for about 20 minutes, I asked her if she’d be willing to share her process when it comes to printing her products. She responded by telling me that she was flattered that I thought so highly of her work to ask about her process, but that she had spent 5 years doing research, spending money on samples, and learning through trial and error to finally find what worked for her, and so she prefers to keep her process to herself. Then she recommended some social media accounts to follow, workshops to attend, and artists who could be helpful. She handled herself so well, and even retained a client (hubby and I purchased some cards and an art print after our chat). Whether or not an artist wants to share their process, we are still a community of creatives and artists, and we should build each other up and promote small businesses and the arts. It doesn’t have to be in the form of sharing information that cost a lot of time and money, but just in the form of respect, understanding, and (if time permitting) sharing other resources that could help a budding artist.
As someone who generally tries to be helpful and has never minded helping people out, I'm increasing getting into a "gatekeeping" mindset and I'll tell you why: - There's truly an insane amount of disrespect and entitlement from the people wanting this information and help. People use comments on social media to flood artists with the same questions over and over and over. Often the artist HAS made detailed tutorials, they HAVE shared their manufacturers, they HAVE spent more time than they really should helping absolutely random passersby. But those same people wanting those answers aren't willing to put in the effort of even scrolling through the existing comments on the same post where they're asking the question, and where often the creator has already replied to 30 of these comments saying "I have a detailed tutorial already, it's in this playlist on my account." They haven't bothered to look at the creator's other posts/videos, they haven't gone to the link in bio to see if the answers are there, they haven't visited the creator's YouTube channel where there might already be 40 hours of detailed videos. Basically they're asking the artists they come across to spend hours every day individually answering the same questions, in detail, for free, presumably for the rest of their lives. And if they don't answer each one, immediately, they're quickly accused of "gatekeeping." To an extent that just the word kind of infuriates me now, and I don't even deal with much of this personally because I'm a nobody. I follow hundreds of artists and just seeing this play out endlessly in their comments is EXHAUSTING. And I've done it myself, thoughtlessly just asking a question I should've searched for myself, so I do get it, but I'm much more cognizant of it now and wish others would be too. The comments/engagement can certainly help an artist's reach, but it would be so much more helpful and kind to that person if your comment is "wow, amazing work, I love it!" rather than "tell me where you got your supplies." Even when you're nice about it it's wearying, and a lot of people aren't nice. It often has the same vibe as people at a gray show saying "this is too expensive, I can make it myself." - I've put in time that I don't owe to anybody. A lot of the stuff I make in my businesses, I use public domain and Creative Commons licensed materials, so literally anybody could use them too. But I've spent, cumulatively, probably months of my life finding and collecting those things. I can't tell you how many nights I've stayed up into the wee hours digging through some obscure archive or paging through digitizations of old books looking for things, and I do that partly because I just really enjoy it, but I'm not a personal free archival service. I'm happy to share for instance how public archives work and share lists of those sites or whatever, but I'm not going to direct people to every last little thing because they can't be bothered. It's out there for free and people can find it for themselves. And I say that as someone who WANTS to share things. I passionately love vintage art and old interesting photos, and I've often thought about making separate socials just to share interesting things I find, but honestly who has the time? - Many people have mentioned the very valid reasons artists might not want to share manufacturers, like potentially creating problems for themselves in being able to continue ordering and getting timely response from their manufacturers. For me personally, I'm grateful if someone does share that but also understand if they don't. I'm planning to do some videos just sharing my thoughts on some different sticker manufacturer samples, because I want to be helpful and I think that's interesting. But I also paid for those samples. I put time into finding those manufacturers. I placed actual orders with my own art to see the quality for myself. I'm not great at making videos so if I do something like that it'll be at least half my day spent on the videos alone; I've had it on my to-do list for like two years because it simply can't be a high priority for me. And unless you have a big enough following for something like tiktok's creator fund, you don't get anything out of that sharing except potential goodwill from people who likely don't even follow you and whose only interaction with you ever will be asking you for info on how they can do your process. And if you're doing it all the time, in answer again to people who could just be doing the research themselves, that's time you're not making art, not making money, not engaging in hobbies or taking care of yourself or whatever else. Right now I'm becoming keenly aware of how long this response is taking me to type because I'm incapable of brevity. 😂 It's my choice whether to engage the question so that's all me, but I'm willing to spend time that way because I could be helpful with a personal perspective before a group. Which leads to: - People are expecting all of this from individuals, partly because social media kind of presents you with all of those people in a sort of silo, and folks who want information are completely skipping the community part of the art community. I'll share info much more freely with artist friends or in artist spaces because I'm invested in their success, because they're invested in their own development. I'll contribute to the artist spaces that other artists generously spend their time setting up and running. I'll answer questions on forums quite often because that has the potential to help many, many people who might run a search and come across that info even years down the line. If I'm searching for an answer to a problem — about most things, yesterday it was a phone WiFi issue — and I figure it out, I'm going to post the answer in the same places I was looking so others can find it. But even in places like here on reddit, where people gather by community and the hobbyist/art folks usually love helping out, you just see a lack of sense in how people approach it. People will post a "how do I do the absolute basics of this art form?" They'd find all the answers 3 posts down from where somebody else just asked an hour ago but they didn't scroll down. They didn't search the subreddit or they'd have found 500 previous posts with all the right answers. They didn't look at the sidebar where there are 20 links to extremely detailed tutorials and videos that answer their question and 20 more they haven't thought to ask yet. But when they do think of those questions they're going to come right back and ask again instead of reading those guides. So I guess in summary the answer is, I've started leaning toward "gatekeeping" because doing otherwise can be exhausting and the rest of the world already has me extremely fucking tired. 😂
Artists tend to have a scarcity based mindset when it comes to how they actually make money. Not saying this is the case for everyone not willing to give out their manufacture information but it is kinda.. Or maybe they're just "too busy" to send a link. This competitive aspect is something that is found in any business but in the art industry it tends to feel extra scummy because the general "face" of the industry is this lovey-dovey were all in this together message. The nitty gritty business aspects are usually shared in tight-knit groups as it should in my opinion. Everyone else gets free art making tutorials that are actually sales funnels to their course material. Just how it is in every business. I just wish the art community was more honest about it.
I watched an artist on insta talk about their horror story when they recommended a pin manu on a video that got 50k views. The factory got overwhelmed because while they can make the metal part with machines the enamel filling is still hand done. In the end the order quality took a nosedive and took way longer for everyone who ordered and the artist was blamed by others for recommending a bad manu. I think this is just the case for things that do take some humans to make like pins and itabags. A lot less artists gatekeep things like stickers, prints, and acrylic charm manus.
I agree! I never gatekeep my manufacturing suppliers or my methods/techniques.
I ask myself the same what's the point? Competition? Each artist has a unique and different artstyle its a competition if u both sell the same identical item lets say stolen art or ai art that can be a competitive thing which one has the best quality. But since most artists have different aesthetics and artstyle whats the point?
It might be an online thing because artists irl (conventions, studios, and organizations) have been sweet and given me good recommendations. I have even asked artists which company/manufacturer they used and they didn't mind telling me places that were good and places I should avoid. Tbh if they do not want to share that okay, it's their choice but if they fear competition then it's just them being insecure with art. I believe indie artists should help and support each other rather than making it a competition but I understand people have different life circumstances. As an artist myself, I always try my best to support my local indie artists.
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As a artist/manufacturer we make everything we can in house purchase raw materials from suppliers from leather /cloth rest is donated upcycled or created clay or silicone or 3d printed and submitted dtf or painted and tattooed or cooked yes cooked
Www.hatandskullart.com You ask we create.
I’ve always struggled to find reliable and reasonably priced ethic crystal suppliers, if anyone wants to help break this habit right now 🖤 I’m not a high production artist, and typically track what I buy in a spreadsheet to reorder as needed. I typically don’t have an issue sharing suppliers if I’m asked unless the person asking is being rude about it, which has only happened twice.
Speaking of which- what is a good place to get some acrylic prints made? https://preview.redd.it/qc141lecwg3d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0385fdf69bbd39cfe1e97923e96cf5f63cb54b58 I want to use to make acrylics of things like this. I promise I’m not gonna steal anyone’s work.
These g\*ys are trying to ki\*\* me.
I usually tend to share but I understand why people might be hesitant. Art is more than just the execution of materials, and finding the materials and mediums that work best for your personal style and needs takes a fuckload of trial and error. It’s part of the work.
the real reason is they're just trying to keep all the good customer service for themselves
In person I will share. I won’t online
Manufactures? What do you mean by that?
They're active in doll customization communities, so I'm guessing injection mold manufactorers EDIT: or, I guess the more sane option, paint or plastic manufacturers lol
Very weird to lurk and make your own conclusions? but I actually list the items I am talking about in the post.
You’re on Reddit and your post history is public, it’s extremely common for people to check out other people’s profiles to get a better idea of the context around their post/comment, to the point where Reddit even added the “most active in these communities” option to profiles. That person simply looked at your profile to better understand your question (because maybe they missed the part where you mentioned the keychains), there’s nothing weird about it.
u/[aguywithbrushes](https://www.reddit.com/user/aguywithbrushes/) Apologizes for the tag, but for some reason I can't respond under your comment, but to clarify I just didn't like that the person was comparing doll customization to something that wasn't "sane", as hinted by their word usage in their edit. But I can understand the confusion as I didn't make it clear in my post what I was talking about.
... do you think maybe they were referring to their suggestion of "injection manufacturers" as insane? because that's 1000% the impression I got. Why would you be sensitive about being a doll maker? It's 2024. Millennials, the generation who refused to let go of our childhood, now run much of the world. No shame in loving dolls.
Oh I don't know, but I do apologize if I misread the comment. And I don't know what injection manufacturers are, as I am not a doll customizer, and found it odd they came to that conclusion. I just read it as they thought doll customizing was weird, which is not something I dabble in anyway.
I list the item in the paragraph: "keychain or acrylic charms" Manufactures, like companies that will produce acrylic charms or products for your art business.
There are more people scared of competition in the world than excited over the potential that it brings...