Full disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links, but all opinions expressed here are my own.
I wrote a post in November of 2020 comparing the subscriptions from Design Bundles and Creative Fabrica. As of today, Design Bundles has made big changes to their Plus Subscription! There is now an unlimited option, and it also includes an AI tool you can use! There are still lower tier subscription options available which will continue to utilize the plus credits. Even the lower tiers have access to the new AI tool, but will need to spend credits in order to utilize it. I've been playing around with it a little bit tonight and it's pretty fun! At this point, Design Bundles is hands down the best option if you're looking for a subscription that offers unlimited resources. Even after you cancel the membership you retain a lifetime license to use the resources you've downloaded. If that's not enough, they've also added a new AI tool you can use to generate images with your own prompts! What I'm REALLY excited about though is that Design Bundles is now inviting certain designers into a partnership with the Plus subscription. This means that there will be TONS more Plus products added very soon! High quality designers are selected for participation, but they are not forced to participate in the subscription model. If they desire, designers can choose to continue selling outside of the subscription model just like they have previously done. I love that Design Bundles isn't forcing it on the designers who prefer not to be included in the subscription. But I also love that they are inviting select designers who DO wish to participate into this new partnership! It's giving designers more opportunity for earnings, and it's giving customers more plus products to choose from! For now, I'm sticking to one of the lower tiers simply because I really don't need unlimited. But I'm super excited that the number of options for spending my plus credits is about to increase with all of the new designer partnerships. I have over 900 credits saved up and I can't wait to go shopping! By the way, they are still working on this as I'm writing this blog, so if you look at it right now you're not going to see all the new products. But over the next few weeks and months, tons of new products should start to appear in the Plus section! I'm also having fun using my credits to play around with the AI tool. Side note: as far as AI goes, I still have a lot of mixed feelings about it and fears about what it might do to the future of art and design, but it's definitely fun to mess around with and see what it's capable of. If you'd like to take a look at the new subscription options, you can view them here:
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I've got something special for you today! I've collaborated with a few other designers to bring you a freebie pack full of files that are great for sublimation. It includes t-shirt designs, tumbler designs, brush strokes, backgrounds, and more! The following designers contributed to this freebie bundle. Thank you all for being so generous! Meraki Reverie Studio Designs by Ira Enliven Designs Little Type Factory Scroll down to see what's included and you'll find the download link at the bottom. If you're on Facebook, check out this group ---> Freebies and Discounts for Crafters and Designers Like what you see? Click here to grab your freebie pack now.
Don't forget to share this post so your friends can get it too! *Post contains affiliate links* A little before Christmas I got an Epson ET-2720 to use for sublimation. I bought Cosmos Ink to go with it and it was super easy to set up. I believe this is one of the most inexpensive setups you can get for sublimation. I am really happy with the printer and how bright and true to color my projects have been so far. Here's one I made for my dad. "Hooked On" Kit - https://designbundles.net/moonlarkdesigns/618372-hooked-on-daddy-grandpa-fishing-pole-lures-names-p?ref=aVNUai
"Hey! Pumpkin" - https://fontbundles.net/beckmccormick/876431-hey-pumpkin-script-font?ref=aVNUai I'm planning a sublimation freebie pack soon, so don't forget to check back! *Post contains affiliate links*
Funny story: I've probably had these shirts for 2 years now and was eventually going to make the kids some matching shirts when they grew into them. Forgot about them and stumbled across them this week while organizing my craft room. Since they are suddenly now about to grow out of them, I decided I should probably make them some last minute Christmas tees. The font is Elf Squad, available on FontBundles. https://fontbundles.net/.../998609-elf-squad.../rel=aVNUai (AD) I've just posted a new design: Buffalo Plaid Reindeer! You can see the full version here which includes file types SVG, PDF, PNG, and EPS in several color variations:
Check out the full version here (affiliate link) But you can download a sample here. It's a high quality PNG (3600 x 3600 pixels) of the red buffalo check reindeer. If you like it, check out the full version which includes the layered cut files. Enjoy! Get it here ----> Red Buffalo Plaid Reindeer PNG Here's another great tutorial for you! I am really excited to try this one.
I've actually had a screen printing kit for a year now and have never used it. I couldn't ever decide what I wanted to put on the screen that I would want to use over and over, and the screens were a little expensive for one time use. But if I can get the hang of this, I think it will be a great option for more of a disposable setup for making one-time custom things. Watch the video tutorial here.
Full disclosure: I'm an affiliate for both websites, and this post may contain affiliate links. That means that if you follow one of my links and make a purchase, I'll receive a commission at no extra cost to you. However, these are my honest opinions and I hope they are helpful. First let's talk about Creative Fabrica. The way their subscription works is that you pay a set price/month for unlimited downloads. Sounds great! The downside is, the license to use those resources only lasts for as long as you continue to pay for the subscription. If you design something during that timeframe, you can continue to use your design. But after your subscription ends, you are not allowed to create new designs using the resources you've downloaded. This can be complicated to keep track of. If you go this route, my recommendation would be to make a specific folder on your computer labeled "Creative Fabrica Subscription" where you put everything that you download. Then once you stop your subscription, just delete the whole folder. The other thing I'll say about Creative Fabrica's subscription is that I truly think it takes advantage of designers. Designers make very little from the subscription. Once upon a time, designers could choose whether or not to include their products in the subscription. Then one day there was no longer a choice and all products on the site were suddenly included. As a designer, I don't recall being notified of this change. Of course, if designers aren't on board and don't feel it's worth it, they can always remove their products from the site as a whole. This is one of the reasons I've started to remove my products from the marketplace and I'm not planning to add new resources to the site unless something changes. Long term, I do believe Creative Fabrica will have more difficulty hanging onto really good designers because of this. So while the Creative Fabrica subscription may offer unlimited downloads to a great quantity of resources, I don't think the site will have the best selection of quality resources long term. Now let's talk about Design Bundles. It's entirely different than Creative Fabrica. Their subscription is called the Plus Membership. You can choose from three different levels and you get a certain number of "plus credits" per month which can be used in the Plus store. These products are exclusive to the Plus store, and they are owned by Design Bundles. Designers who have contributed their work have been well compensated, which is definitely a plus. Unlike the Creative Fabrica subscription, you have a license to use these resources after you end your membership, which is another plus. At the Bronze tier, plus credits cost $0.79. At the Silver tier, plus credits cost $0.59, and at the Gold tier, they only cost $0.37. Since most plus products only cost 1 credit, you are spending less than a dollar per product regardless of what tier you choose. And again, the license you are buying extends beyond the membership period, which is really great. In addition to credits, you receive a discount on all purchases made through the Design Bundles marketplace. As you can see, these two subscription models are very different. With the Creative Fabrica subscription, you need to consider how much time you have to design each month and whether you'll really be able to get your money's worth out of it. Since you aren't licensed to use the resources after your subscription ends, it's not really such a great deal unless you have lots of time to work on your designs while your subscription lasts. If you are designing full-time, it's probably well worth your money. However, my personal preference is the Design Bundles Plus Membership for two main reasons: 1. I know designers have been well compensated for their work 2. I like that I have a lifetime license to use the resources I buy with my plus credits. Here's a little breakdown of the main points discussed above:
Are there any other questions you have? Feel free to leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer. After what you've learned here, do you think a subscription is worth it? Which one do you think is better for your situation and why? I'd love to hear your opinions. If you want to learn more about either subscription model, just click the buttons below and you'll be taken straight to the information page for each.
Wow! It's been a while. I have been busy with life and designing and I've neglected this little blog.
I've listed a few new things on Design Bundles, but don't have Etsy up to date yet. I'm beginning to drift away from Creative Fabrica, as I'm not finding it to be my favorite place to sell. So you may start to see my products disappear slowly from there. I may continue to list my older designs there but I won't continue to list new designs there. For now, the first place my new designs will come out is Design Bundles, though I'll try to get everything updated on Etsy at some point. Have I mentioned how much I love Design Bundles? I was a customer for years before I started selling my digital products there, but now that I'm a seller I love it even more. The community of designers is amazing, and it's a company that truly cares about people. If you are interested in selling your digital products, please reach out to me and I'll be happy to share my experience so far with each marketplace I've tried. As far as being a customer, I've been meaning to do a little rundown on the subscriptions offered by Creative Fabrica and Design Bundles. They are very different, so it may help you decide which is the best fit for you if a subscription is something you're considering. I'll do a blog post on it soon, so be on the lookout. As always, please let me know what you would like to see more of on my website / blog. Feel free to reach out via the comments or using the "contact me" page if you want to chat about something!
I've just created and uploaded my first video tutorial to my new Youtube channel. You can click on the image to view the video. I welcome your feedback! I tried to go super slow so it would be easy to follow for beginners. Let me know how I did.
Featured resources (with affiliate links): Font used in cover image is "Secret Soup" by Meraki Reverie Studio (me). Font used for text cutout is "King Basil" by Missy Meyer Fonts. Ballerina silhouette can be found in "Ballerina Silhouettes: Volume 4" by Meraki Reverie Studio (me). I've also added to the "Learn" section of my website. It includes tutorials from a variety of sources. For now I have a section for Inkscape, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Photo, but I may add additional tutorials for other programs in the future such as Silhouette and Cricut. Please let me know in the comments what you want to learn and what you'd like to see more of. Thank you! |
AuthorHi, I'm Margaret. I'm an artist, crafter, designer, and lover of all things unique or beautiful. Archives
July 2023
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