artist alley sucks now

in honor of the new year, I'm checking in with myself after swearing off artist alley nearly 2 years ago! it's a good time to think about strategy for the new year but also i think about anime cons and building community with my brand a lot so here's some thoughts :D

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[harriyanna]

i dont think anime cons are dying, but i will say they are changing in a way that's concerning. because they have gotten so much more popular in the last 3 years, the vibes are just, different. everything feels like its about trends, clout, and making the most money from the attendees.

[chocomints]

I think it’s a combination of things:

It’s expensive to manufacture things such as prints badges, stickers, etc. As an artist, you look to make a profit and that means pricing your stuff at a higher price to not only make back what you spent on manufacturing, but also to account for your labour and skills. But this goes into my second point; people have less to spend. We are all in a cost of living crisis and most people can’t afford to buy a bunch of prints and art like they could in the 2000s to 2010s. As somebody who has both been an artist in the artist alley and a consumer, people just can’t afford things now and fewer customers = less fun because you’re having less interactions about your art. It truly has become the case that only the wealthy can afford art, as nobody else currently can afford to pay for a piece of art that isn’t priced with slave wages.

There were so many artists I wanted to support at a recent con but couldn’t because I couldn’t afford their stuff. I can’t afford to put $20 down on a small keychain, or $35 on a medium print. And I’m not blaming the artists, they’re in the same economy we’re in. Rent is expensive and travel to the con, getting a table, and materials to set up their table is rlly expensive. But this leads to the crisis where nobody can afford anything because the artists can’t lower their prices if they want to make a profit, and nobody can buy their items anymore.

The event organisers have also been increasing the prices of their tickets not just for attendees but also for artists. This makes sense considering they would want to pay their employees higher wages to keep up with the rising inflation rates but this means the attendees and artists have less money to spend and more money they need to make back in the con, further exacerbating the situation. I’ve also seen cons look for volunteers, meaning they can’t afford to pay more workers the same competitive wage, so I’m not blaming the organisers either.

I’m also not blaming the food vendors or other stalls brought in by the organisers. This includes food stalls, cosplay repair areas, etc. We are all under the same economy and they need to make money too.

The cost of living crisis has given us less and less money to be able to spend on our hobbies and interests, and has forced us to try to make back as much money as we can because the investment amount is so high now.

Less people are buying because less people can afford to. Less people are selling niche things because people can’t afford to take the risk that something might not sell. Artists almost *need* to include anime of the season art if they want any sort of attention among the growing number of con goers that only watch the mainstream shows. Artists can’t afford to make 50 prints of some niche show because that’s way less likely to sell and they would likely end up with a deficit. Likewise, artists can’t afford to experiment with their art style because they need to appeal to the newer, ‘normie’ audience (not derogatory, I just don’t know how else to put it). They aren’t used to art styles with exaggerated features, neon colours, and experimental proportions. They’re more likely going to buy the 70th chibi rendition of their favourite character. The most they’ll likely go is a semi-American cartoonised style (thick lineart, comic book neon colours).

But I’m not blaming them either. These industries (anime, art, cons, etc) need a lot of people to keep afloat as most of their profits come from numbers and word of mouth.

It’s just another unfortunate biproduct of the economic state of the world right now. Nobody can afford anything, so nobody can afford to do anything special. This leads to more of the same and less of the experimental as people can’t afford to risk not making a profit.

[harriyanna]

oh im GLAD someone has brought it up cons have felt so off this year ESPECIALLY for the artists. it makes me so sad when artist talk about how they're not making much.

[MsMvsc]

I hate the lack of variety in fandoms. I miss when niche series were sprinkled well in AAs. Now its just hoyoverse, vtubers, and what ever flavor of the month anime is popular (until it crumbles bc its over represented in AAs)

[gizmogal]

Agree on all of this! Also the slow creep of AI "art" prints and goods, so stomach-turning to witness those being sold by vendors or in artist alleys. The horrid icing on the cake has also been the creep of bootleg goods into both AA and vendor spaces: in the 90s/00s/10s, most cons had VERY strict no-bootleg-goods policies and now a blind eye is just turned. Such a slap in the face to young collectors starting out who don't know how to spot fakes...

[Kerorolife]

As someone who loves creepy original art, I cannot emphasize enough that people visit ‘the oddities and curiosities expo’ that travels around the USA. After seeing the work their artists had to offer, I swore off anime convention artist alleys for good. Every artist was doing their unique thing and there was so much love and passion poured into every booth. Strongly recommend!

[artizmilife]

I've been attending cons since 2011, and the difference is startling. I've notice more artists selling at local art markets and small events in the city rather then cons. You hit all the points. :)

[jackaleope]

the cost of tables has just become astronomical. that’s been the major lockout that ive been experiencing. its no longer accessible for me. and i’ve also been tabling at cons for 10 years now.

[_xiosa]

As an attendee, AA has become a mono culture. It’s normal to walk through artist alley and hear other attendees state that “everything looks the same.” The prevalence of generic kawaii merch/art has made AA less appealing.

I totally agree that anime conventions should branch out of AA, voice actors and panels. It lacks the community aspect.

[dents]

I hate to say it, but anime and nerd culture are mainstream. A lot of normines are into it now. A lot of things that were normal are now seen as too weird or even problematic now.

I have this friend, bless her. She's new to anime because it's popular, we went to a convention. All she talked about was how everyone was so 'weird'. Furries, cosplayers, certain sub cultures like bl and Fandom were just too weird for her. She sees anime and Japan as an aesthetic. We planned on going to Japan in a few years. I told her we have to act a certain way because the culture is different. She didn't seem to understand and made it seem like we could behave anyway because we were not from there.

Most of these new people are into it for a trend and because it's popular. They don't really appreciate what anime, conventions, and fandom are at it's core. And business will always follow the dollar signs so they cater to them.

Im happy that anime and other stuff are popular... but i do wish and hope that it goes back to the way it was. This stuff was spoke to the outcasts in a way, now its being taken over. I know this wasn't really the topic of the video but i had to get it off my chest.

[metaz]

I mostly attend my local anime cons for 1 day. I go to find niche fanart for fandom that isn’t anime or video games and I do find it! But my friend who goes to buy older anime is exhausted of only seeing anime of the season fanart. Like the same 5 animes, studio glibly, or funny stickers dominating artist alley. So she rather just buy online or spends little. We also like to go when we know certain artists are going but I feel most artists don’t advertise they’re even going until the day of so we miss out cause we’re busy already.

[miya_x]

attended AX LA this year and the artist alley was packed. More packed than the vendor halls, it was nice to have so many artists to possibly buy from; some were selling original pieces and some fandom. My main gripe with the fandom stuff was the lack of variety. Like why r there like 20 booths all dedicated to genshine acrylic key chains? Or like 10 boths of the same "orginal" products of a kawaii cow/frog/cats. If cons are going to make portfolios be apart of the process then why are all the products the same. Also ppl selling figures and official merch in AA instead of the vendor hall got under my skin. I go to artist alley to find something unique, made by an individual, not a marked up figure that is already in the vendor hall. The best part of artist alley was finding artist i followed online and buying in person. (the main reason why I found so many was bc it was a big con)

[ChrimsonFoxdon]

I started attending cons in 2012, and then tabling in artist alley in 2019, and there's definitely been a shift. As an artist, it's exhausting trying to keep up with whatever's popular at the moment and trying to make merch for it, especially when I'm just not that inspired. I love making merch for older and more niche shows and games, because that's what I'm mostly interested in!! I love it when someone gets excited cuz I have YYH or FMA at my table.

However, I've noticed that there's definitely a difference between people SAYING that they want a thing, and people who ACTUALLY buy said thing. Like I'm always hearing people say that they want more niche and older things, but then they don't actually buy it. But a lot of people will buy the more popular fandom stuff.

The economy is also just really rough right now for everyone. Tables are expensive, attendee tickets are expensive... life, in general...

At this point, with the expenses, time, effort, and such that goes into tabling at events, I've decided to just do local, one-day, and really big cons this year. Smaller cons charge like they're bigger events, and I'm just getting priced out. I'd love it if online sales picked up more, but it's been extremely hard to convince people to like my posts let alone share and buy things unfortunately. It's rough out here. But because of all this, I've also decided to mainly just make things for stuff I'm interested in, cuz if I'm going to put in all this effort, I might as well make things I'm passionate about.

[fillername]

As someone who doesn't watch many of the big anime or play any gacha games... I doubt I'll be going to cons much anymore. It just feels like what I see is more of the same over and over, even the non fanart things are often the same over and over (a lot of 3D printed stalls using the exact same dragon or fidget toy models and stands selling cheap dropshipped "kawaii" things.). It doesn't help that I don't live in a place where many cons come along in the first place.

[Momoyue]

I agree with your sentiments. I personally stopped attending cons after the pandemic when I realized just how physically and mentally exhausting they were as an artist. I enjoy doing things at my own pace online now since I don't feel like I have to rush for con prep anymore. I still do some cons on occasion, but even those aren't really worth it for me sale wise.

I have been selling in the artist alley for 20 years and I very much miss how they used to be. Early 2000s was peak anime cons for me. They were just so much fun and so interesting. Now they have gotten so boring and normalized. Back when the alley tables cost around $50-$80, I remember seeing a much wider selection of artists. There were actually a lot more craftsmen in the alley. These were people who made clay art, glass art, bead art, fashion, etc. A lot of these people did this as a hobby and would sell their crafts mostly for fun. Now that table prices have skyrocketed, you will only find people who sell as a business. That means you'll find a lot more artists catering towards the seasonal animes and having everything mass produced. No shame to those artists since I know they are only doing what makes them money. Changes like that though seemed to have sucked the soul away from the artist alleys. Alleys used to be such a unique treasure trove, it's so disappointing to see what they've become now.

[HeyLizardLeigh]

I love hearing AA perspectives, as someone who’s been con-going since 2009. As an attendee, I feel like I do see a lot of great non-fanart work BUT that might just be personal bias, since I seek that out much more as I get older! I can definitelyyyy see the homogenizing of art style, product offerings, and table setup trends, but to me it doesn’t feel too different from other trend cycles in AA that’ve come and gone? Time alone will tell yanno. Also this was so fun to see on my yt home page– I bought an ugly plants sweatshirt from you in I thinkikk 2017 or 2018 at anime nyc, and I am a proud long bear dad 😌 gl on the next ks!!!

[excellama]

i FINALLY got into an artist alley but i’m not a kawaii artist and have a very niche type of art and so many attendees came to my booth with a sigh of relief like “ohh my god something different” and did better than some of my neighbors . unfortunately alot of my applications get denied because im not the “vibe” the con is looking for. it’s strange .

[TheCuteycat]

Been going to cons since I was 13 in 2011 and it really has just stopped being fun to go to artist alley. I used to get so excited to save up and spend money on art in the artist alley but now... every arcylic keychain looks exactly the same as the last and also im tired of keychains. I want to see weird nonsense booths again that sell strange polymer clay figurines made be a 17 year old girl and her mom. I dont feel the same joy at the idea of making an ita bag because everything ends up as this homogous blob. Its also no longer fun to just hang out in the lobby and vibe. The constant push in my area to make hotel cons impossible to have fun and not let us in the convetion centers have really ruined things for me. Theres also just a problem that when i do go to a big con and i walk though an artist alley because everything is the same youre just left overwhelmed. As for cons dying... imma be real ive seen a major shift over the years from people making cosplays themselves for the love of the craft and the character to having people ask specifically which aliexpress vendor you went to. Which sucks. On the one hand i love cosplay being accessible but on the other it means a lack of creative expression. Meanwhile panel wise i think it really needs to be noted how people arent really volunteering new ideas into panel schedules but even also that getting your panel picked can be insanely hard if you're new depending on the con. Even if its a small one. Ive submitted 4 times to one local con for a panel about Joanne of Arc in anime. Its never gone through because that con is a nepo con for panels. People want to have fun at cons and be social and make friends but it really feels post covid everyone went ... no im tired

[pb]

We need original art doujin conventions here like COMITIA! I think it would bring back nerd culture to do it as it's done in Japan, where your entrance ticket in is the catalog of artists who'll be there, which you should buy ahead of time. Fan productions are not allowed at COMITIA. People sell original comics at a low price, usually 200 to 1000 yen, so people buy more from different artists. Selling 24 page books of comics here for around 8 to 15 dollars each would be great. Tables cost $50-75 each, which you can share with a friend.

[karakeii_cos]

As an artist that's part of a collective here in the Philippines, I totally get that, especially the application part. There's this big anime con that my group usually tries to apply for every year, but it's just super hard to get accepted since I heard that the convention prioritizes artists from outside our region, or at least outside our province. I mean I think it's good that they're reaching out to artists from all over the Philippines since our country is an archipelago but it just sucks for small local businesses that are trying to get into the scene. But I suppose, it is what it is.