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Whatever kind of design job you have, whether it be art director or 3D artist, the time comes when you ask yourself: "Why am I working for a boss when I could sell design work I've created directly to the public?" There are loads of ways to make money from your talents, and it's simpler than ever to sell design work online.
You no longer have to invest huge amounts of time and money building your own online store: there are many existing ecommerce websites which will allow you to reach a wider market and sell your products.
So whether you're looking to publish a book, create your own T-shirts, or sell a series of art prints, the following sites offer a tried and tested way to make the most of your design work and start generating an income from it.
01. Creative Market
Popular site Creative Market is a brilliant place to sell your designs online
A favourite among designers, Creative Market is a brilliant place to sell your designs online. Whetever it is you're creating – graphics, fonts, photos – get it online at Creative Market and infront of its thousands of daily visitors. There's no exclusivity lock-in, you set your own prices and take home 70 per cent of each sale.
06. Unbound
Designers and artists who are looking to publish a book or graphic novel – but don’t have the funding – should make a beeline for Unbound. Like a kind of Kickstarter for books, this site helps you find people to fund your project and see it come to life.
07. BigCartel
Create and customise your own store on BigCartel's website
Launched in 2004, Big Cartel is one of the most popular platforms for any creative looking to sell design work online. Unlike a lot of websites, it allows you to build your store and customise it to give it a unique feel as well as it adapting to your existing website.
Giving you all the professional tools you need to conduct market research – such as a tracking and social networking – you're given total freedom and control over the ways in which you choose to sell and promote your work. The price plan ranges from free to $29.99 a month depending on the support and facilities you wish to use, as well as the number of products you are offering.
08. Threadless
Jake Nickell set up the crowdsourced T-shirt site Threadless way back in 2000, giving designers in particular an opportunity to sell design work within a relevant and targeted audience.
Open to the community of artists and designers globally, Threadless gives you the opportunity to submit your designs to a public vote. If you get enough votes from the community you'll get the chance to make money through their online production and promotion of your products. It's definitely a site to look into if you have designs hidden away and wanting exposure, as well as being a great networking resource.
09. Society 6
Society 6 takes care of the manufacturing and logistics for you
Society 6 is another online platform for creatives to sell design work, focusing on "affordable art prints, iPhone cases and T-shirts". It's free to set up, and the products are produced made, shipped, and managed for you - leaving you with only the designing to do.
With the site only taking a small percentage of what you sell back, this is a great place for designers and creatives looking to get their work featured onto a vast range of products.
10. Etsy
Launched in 2005, Etsy is a global ecommerce website that caters for the needs of creatives looking to sell design work, focusing on handmade goods, vintage items and art and craft supplies. Essentially it's an online version of a massive craft fayre. It could also be characterised as a folksy version of eBay.
The site charges 20 cents per item listed, while for every item sold Etsy collects an additional 3.5 per cent commission.
11. Zazzle
Zazzle is an online marketplace that lets you sell your designs on hundreds of products. It's free and easy to create an online store on Zazzle, and its powerful tools make it possible to sell your art on t-shirts. stamps, posters. mugs, business cards. skateboards, calendars. tote bags. hats, and more.
13. Redbubble
On Redbubble you can set your own commission for all product types – avoiding any dodgy percentage cuts. It also has an array of artist groups that host challenges to inspire your creativity. It's free to join, with the site sending you your earnings every month.
14. INPRNT
INPRNT is a moderated gallery with a three part submission process.
First, sign up for an INPRNT account and submit three of your best pieces for review. That submission is then voted on by artists already on the site. The artists that currently have accounts help curate new submissions to the service.
Once the submission is approved, the new member's account is automatically upgraded to an artist account and they can upload work to their gallery straight through the site and it's available for sale instantly.
