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hey so this has been bothering me for a while so i’m actually going to say something about it. wanna hear why i don’t really actively try to push my merch designs anymore?
i love doing shirts and i love working with wrestlers and promotions etc and ive almost never had a bad experience. maybe i got lucky.
i say “almost” never because i worked with a wrestler over the spring/summer that really killed the love and passion for it.
i say “almost” never because i worked with a wrestler over the spring/summer that really killed the love and passion for it.
i spent many hours over several months working with a wrestler on a design he gave me no direction or even critique for. impossible to know what he wanted, but i worked my ass off anyway.
eventually we came to a finished design which he said he liked but i could tell he didn’t love but he still wouldn’t tell me anything. eventually it came to shirt colour for the mockup, and payment. at which point he ghosted me for MONTHS while i tried to track him down.
eventually i canned it. i didn’t get paid and he didn’t get a shirt, no harm no foul right?
except, no. i still put probably 12 hours into that design. on top of that amount of unpaid labour it also killed my spirit and any confidence i had.
except, no. i still put probably 12 hours into that design. on top of that amount of unpaid labour it also killed my spirit and any confidence i had.
to give the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just didn’t understand why thats a dick move. so i’m saying now, wrestlers, that sucks. give your designers a little respect. there’s a good chance it won’t be me anymore, but i can tell you how far a bit of decency goes.
if you don’t like where something is going, say so. if you have a concept or examples you like, say so. it’s a dialogue, and no one is going to be happy if you just don’t care.
also, pay. credit. appreciate. understand the workload. our designs are your investment.
also, pay. credit. appreciate. understand the workload. our designs are your investment.
i had a great time with 99% of the wrestlers i got to do work for. they almost always paid on time, no one argued a price and a couple even negotiated my prices UP. i still love doing it (although i cant imagine i’ll get many requests after this.)
at the end of the day i design and draw etc because i love it and because i love wrestling and i want to contribute to that and give back. i love seeing people wearing my shirts. i’m not pissed off that i didn’t get paid, that’s not the part that stings.
when you do something because you love it, and that thing seems like it couldn’t care less about you or your effort, it makes it a lot harder to continue putting your heart into it. pretty simple.
