Hello all in this wonderful forum.
I'm new to the sub game but have always done my home designs and Cd covers, the odd t shirt etc and used to work in DTP and design so have the technical knowledge also. Several people have suggested that I should make it more than just a hobby as some of my designs are unique and would appeal (Maybe they are massaging my ego though... Friends and family can do that). I am in a position where I'm no longer employed and have some cash to invest in a new venture doing something that I am passionate about.
I have been looking into different equipment and maybe I should ask elsewhere on the forum... In fact I will but wanted to ask the following.....
Is it a venture to be getting into or is it a massively over saturated market? It seems to be littered with people giving up after buying loads of equipment and selling it off. Even established people! Do the people selling mugs and t shirts for £5 on ebay just kill off sales for everyone else? (They can only be making £1 on each sale from what I can tell). Or is it a case of people jumping on the bandwagon and then realising it isn't as easy as they thought/make expensive mistakes/get loads of returns due to bad manufacturing etc, so just give up.
I want to do this properly and know Illustrator, Photoshop, QuarkXPress and numerous other packages really well. I've even designed T shirts/Mugs/Slipmats for well established bands so have form, so to speak. What I don't want to do is shell out a few thousand pounds to find out that the market is now dying due to over saturation.
What are peoples thoughts? If you have a good enough product, it will sell or buy cheap equipment and just do it as a hobby?
Any thoughts greatly appreciated. I will ask about equipment choices elsewhere.
Jaminist