@@RAVENOIR13 thanks for watching! It depends. If it’s a small or independent band, you can reach out to them directly. For bands that are signed to a label, most of the time, they also have a contract with a merchandise company who handle the merch designs. That’s who you’ll want to contact. Preferably an art director at the company.

@@BrentGalloway How do you get the art director contact? Usually the band merch website does not provide a contact to submit the design.

@@RAVENOIR13 at the bottom of most online shops, you can find the merch company’s name. With that, you can usually find a way to reach out to them. You can also do some digging to find a manager contact. And in some cases, it might just take some old fashioned word of mouth. Depends on the band you’re trying to reach out to.

@@tessmcdonald8953 I have a video on my channel of how I got into the industry. In a nutshell, for me, I designed some shirts and built my portfolio around merch for the music industry. Then through word of mouth, I landed a couple of projects for semi-large indie bands. Then with that work, I approached merch companies, introducing myself. Some replied back with work and it snowballed from there!

Thank you! My desk is 61"x29.5"-it's the Gerton table top from Ikea with ergonofis standing desk legs!

That’s so awesome to hear! Appreciate you taking the time to watch.

This design was made with Adobe Photoshop.

That's so awesome to hear! I appreciate you watching my stuff over the years! Payments depend on the client relationship. With long-term clients like merch companies, they usually pay invoices on a Net30 (30 days after receiving the invoice) or they may pay you every month on a retainer. For any other client, my go-to method is to have them pay 50% upfront to start the design process, then the remaining amount once the project is finished BEFORE I send the final art files. I do all my communication through email and use the "zero inbox" method to manage projects. I did a whole video about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5S0lpuue9dpb8Usi=v1yqcr3SHeP59n1- To deliver files, I also use email. If files are large, I use an app called "Zight" to upload files, then share a link for the client to download them. Or you could use something like Dropbox. Hope that helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out through my website. I'm happy to answer whatever questions you have. Take care and best of luck!

​​@@BrentGalloway Thanks for the reply ❤

About 3 lbs

That's awesome to hear! Being a "jack of all trades" is actually a huge advantage. Finding a niche is super valuable for branding yourself, but that doesn't mean you have to restrict yourself. So if you focus on one area to attract clients, you can then offer those bonus services like icing on the cake. And you can show those additional skills off in your work while still focusing your branding around a targeted area of work or industry. I'm also a jack of all trades. I brand myself as a merch designer. 99% of my work is t-shirt design. But I've designed so much more for my clients once they hire me. I've done album artwork, social graphics, stage banner designs, product packaging, and the list goes on. But what attracted them was the merch design. Hope that helps! Feel free to reach out if you ever have additional questions.

@@BrentGalloway wow! I see... That's makes a lot of sense. Thanks so much for the insight. I will incorporate this in my branding henceforth.

This is so awesome to hear! The only thing that's really changed is how powerful social media has become. The best thing you can do right now is create as much work as possible and share it online to grow an audience and start building connections. Specifically for creators and streamers, you can open that door quickly just by creating fan-made designs that resonate with their audience. If you can do that, most creators would love to connect and either purchase your design or pay you to create something official. Tapping into the music industry is a lot harder, but doing the same is a great way to get your foot in the door. The important part is that you're building a body of work, so when your dream clients notice you, they see you're a go-to person for merch design, and it increases your chances of getting hired. The best route would be to create designs for people, then let them handle the printing and distribution. It's far too complicated to handle the technical, financial, and customer support side of things for clients. You should focus on just the design aspect of things. If you want to find consistent work in merch, then you'll want to connect with art directors at merch companies. Large creators and musicians have managers who work with merch companies to create and fulfill their merch. So you want to connect with those merch companies because they're the ones hiring freelancers for designs. My top tips are to get a portfolio online solely focused on merch design, create as much work for your ideal clients, and share it online. Then once you have a solid body of work, begin reaching out and connecting with art directors at merch companies. You can also introduce yourself to your ideal creators and let them know exactly what it is you do and how your work can benefit them. Another tip is, communication, transparency, and how you brand yourself is everything. It's tough to get into this and connect with the right people if you're not putting your true self online or branding yourself professionally. Hope this helps, and best of luck with everything!!

@@BrentGalloway Thank you so much! That helped alot, I will totally follow your tips and tricks and hopefully make this into a reality down the line. No time to lose, time to get to work! Thanks alot and I will as I said look through all your videos. You will totally be a rolemodel I will take both inspiration and motivation from! Thanks for doing what you do and taking time to answer! <3