Quality control for artists

Whenever you create products to sell, you always need to perform quality control over your items. What does this mean and how to do it?

You know I have my own shop, and even if you don't - it is here on this very website (wink-wink). Something I pay a lot of attention into is the quality of the products I use. This goes for clothing, prints, stickers- everything. When people trust me enough with their hard earned money to buy something I made it is a huge honor, and I want to show myself in the best light possible and make them happy with a great quality product! This is how a trust between seller and returning customer is being build, and it is essential to be successful in your small business and respectful to your clients.

Whenever I go into creating a new product or have to start using a new material, I always go though a testing period before starting to offer it for sale. I would be mortified if a poor quality item comes out of my shop!

When I first started making t-shirts was definitely the most sweat inducing process when it comes to quality checking. What t-shirt should I get for the base? There are a million options! What type of print should I do - screen print, transfer, folio? It was overwhelming!

I hate when fabric wears off fast, and get that horrible bubbly texture- you know what I am talking about. This is the thing I wanted to avoid in my fabrics I use, so I invested in t-shirt bases that are drastically more expensive than I expected to, but I wasn't happy with offering low-quality material. Remember to not pick the cheapest option - at the end it would cost you. If you have the option to touch the material when you're choosing you could get an idea of the quality. Also you can read the labels- if it says 100% cotton or organic, you should be good!

As for the printing option, I tested a transfer once and it peeled of pretty fast. I am aware that all types of print or transfer have different sub-options and various quality levels, but this really put me off. So this is pretty much how I turned to screen printing again- because I would do it myself, it would depend on me and not some unknown company, I would choose the ink and it would all be in my control.

To be 100% sure everything would go smoothly, after making my first screen printed shirt, I wore it myself for a while, washed it a bunch of times, and overall tested how it would behave over time before starting selling it as an item on my store.

You can apply the same logic to other products! If you're making stickers or art prints for example, make sure the print quality looks good - this would depend both on the paper and the printer. Make a few tests on various materials, and pick the most suitable option.

Why is quality important?

No matter what you do, if you are a seller you need to create a sense of trust between you and the customer, and keep them happy. What you offer is somewhat of a representation of you, this is how customers would think of you. If someone buys your product, and it is low quality or it breaks, this person probably would never buy from you again. They might not even complain, or ask for a refund, or do anything at all- you get to keep their money, but if they do not return to you it would be your loss.

On the flipside, when you satisfy the shopper and they are happy with their purchase they might even share with their friends, and get you more customers. The connection and the trust are being built! Make sure you do everything in your power to leave a great impression in the people who are ready to support you in such a way!

Interesting packaging, little gifts such as a sticker, attention to detail are some extra steps you could take to make the experience of shopping at your store even more enjoyable. People do pay attention to this and would definitely appreciate it!

Good luck!