All I do all day is work on our cat book π This is the library. I know it doesn’t look like much yet but it will be amazing.
Working on our book #4 – Library
Cats
Working on our book #3
Hygge
Hygge means enjoying the present, being cozy and comfortable. If you google it, you will see lots of photos of people snuggled in blankets with a cup of hot beverage nearby.
Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment.
–Wikipedia
My mom heard about it on the radio recently and told me about it. I hadn’t known the word before that.
I don’t know about you, but for me sitting comfortably and being cozy, and not doing anything, isn’t relaxing. I always feel there’s something I should be doing, and wasting time just makes me anxious.
King Cat
I drew a cat in a crown for a Threadless Competition π
There’s always tomorrow
See the whole design on Threadless π
So tragic, so funny
We all get sad, we all have doubts, we are demotivated, confused. But we don’t necessarily want to wear it on our t-shirts for all the world to see. That would be like telling everyone you meet that you are depressed or endlessly complaining about your life.
But if you can make a bad situation funny, you create a distance. I keep it in mind when designing. I touched on this subject when I wrote about “Not Today” and “Overthinking and Also Hungry”. Designs need to be relatable β overthinking and not feeling motivated are things that everyone deals with.
But sometimes I take it even a step further.
I wouldn’t wear a t-shirt with just the “despairing” word, unless maybe in an ironic sort of way. But that’s the thing, I can only show my emotions when I create some distance: if it’s either somehow ironic, or humorous. I don’t really want everyone to see that I am in my “despairing” mood, but I can wear a funny t-shirt that encapsulates this mood.
Working on our book #2
Work on our book continues. It doesn’t look like much yet, but it will be so pretty π
See how it looked before: Working on our book #1
Vaguely Aware of Social Norms
Before the pandemic there used to be parties and gatherings. It’s not like I miss them because I didn’t really use to go to that many. I like spending time alone, in my apartment, working on things and drawing. So I didn’t go out often, but every now and then I went to meet my friends. Sometimes, if there were a lot of people or loud music, I would get tired of the noise and the talking. I can’t count the number of times that someone asked me if I was feeling alright or “why are you sitting alone and did something happen, you seem sad“.
It often seemed to me that others are better in social situations, more cheerful, know what to say, how to behave, they can talk with others for hours, and not get tired. That is, sort of, what inspired my design “Vaguely Aware of Social Norms”.
I must not be the only one feeling this way because when I posted this design on Threadless, people loved it. I like drawing something personal and then finding out that it’s relatable for others too.
Existing
Recently Threadless added one of my designs to their store. I wrote about that here.
Now, Threadless selected another one of my designs:
It’s a cat that has no motivation to get up. So, it’s relatable.
It has already been for sale in my Artist Shop. Threadless adding it to their own store means that more people see the design and more people buy it.
It’s good to have as many designs as you can create in your Artist Shop so that Threadless can browse them and select something for their store.
Also, when your design is selected, you usually get a $250 gift code, which is a nice bonus. I keep spending them on hoodies and t-shirts for my friends π
Get “Existing” here.
Overthinking and also hungry
When my “Not Today” design suddenly got so popular, I created more cat designs, like this one here:
Cat designs are popular because a lot of people love cats. But it’s not enough to just draw a cat, you need to add something relatable to a design.
I always try to think of a story for a design. That’s why I add texts that reflect feelings that all of us have. I sometimes lie on my bed and don’t feel motivated to get up, I overthink stuff I said or stupid things I did. From what I know, a lot of people sometimes feel like that too.
You can never predict what will be popular, but you can sort of see why a design like the one above was so well received. We worry, we overthink, we don’t feel like moving at all.
You can get this design on Threadless or Hot Topic.