WEEK 46 - Want to make your passions ready-to-wear? Open up!
Hey HOMwork friends, happy Friday!
(If this is your first time joining us, take a peek at our Challenge Archive for all previous assignments.)
I'm excited to introduce the amazing Dina Rodriguez as this week's guest #HOMwork teacher!
Dina is the artist behind Letter Shoppe, an apparel brand in Michigan that focuses on celebrating mental health, body positivity, and cannabis culture. When she's not creating new products you can find her championing her podcast and Instagram community Women of Illustration that helps female artists be heard and get paid.
From Dina:
It’s been my dream since I was in high school to make my own clothes, but I let fear get in the way for way too long. Fast forward a decade later, and I finally have the lifestyle brand of my dreams with over 3,000 units sold so far in my first year. Nowadays I make the majority of my income creating the kind of artwork I always wished existed and I’d love to help you do the same.
Designing your own apparel is so much easier than you might think. You just have to make something so relatable that people want to be a walking billboard for your design. To do this, you highlight something that feels real for you that makes your audience go, “oh I love that too”, or “I feel the same damn way!”
For my own brand, I use a print on demand partner Printful (affiliate link) that way I can focus more on the making than the not so fun shipping and fulfillment. So if your post engages well, then you have the kick in the butt you need to make that shirt a reality without any crazy upfront costs or shipping headaches.
FREE VECTOR TEXTURES
Awww yeah - as a HOMwork subscriber, you get two FREE digital assets to play with every week, courtesy of DesignCuts.
<< Click here to download them!
Your Assignment: Create your own shirt design and get featured!
For your assignment, I want you to design a shirt and make it feel real to your audience with mockups. Plan out not only the jaw-dropping design, but the kind of apparel you would like it printed on, and the story behind what that art means to you so you can double down on the relatability factor.
Some questions that might get your juices flowing:
What is your favorite thing to do these days? Whether you love the great outdoors or the safety of your couch, create art that attracts people with the same interests.
What are you struggling with right now? We’re all human and have a lot of the same struggles whether its social anxiety, procrastination, or a fear of failure to name a few.
What core values are important to you? This could be your politics, religious beliefs, or just the values you live by that can align with other people’s ideals.
Let’s do a Shirt Collab for @womenofillustration !
I run a community and podcast called Women of Illustration where I feature female artists to help them get more exposure around their work. Recently, I’ve introduced a brand new shop featuring hand-illustrated apparel made by female talent where a big portion of the profits goes directly to support these women and the amazing art they create. Each artist makes $5 for every shirt sold, or $10 if the purchase came from their account that's tracked using a special referral link I provide.
I’d love to include more artists to this collaboration and think this #HOMwork assignment would be the perfect opportunity to help more women make income from their art with products. So I’ll be choosing my favorites to turn into actual apparel for WOI and I’m so excited to see what you create.
Don't forget to tag @homsweethom, @womenofillustration, and @lettershoppe in your posts, then follow and use the hashtag #HOMwork so we can see your designs come to life. We’ll be sharing our faves in our Stories all week!
x
Dina and Lauren
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P.S. Make passive income selling products using Printful!
Learn all my making and marketing strategies for how I made over $40,000 in sales from print on demand products in my first 6 months. By the end of this 2-hour video course on Women of Illustration, you'll learn how to build an audience, choose the right products to add to your shop and trigger an impulse buy helping you make money from your art.
Use code HOMWORK for 25% off this $50 course.
