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We're trying something new today by kicking off the edition with a question from the field, this one from a Thread friend.

"Am I better off focusing [selling art] locally rather than online or online over local?" - Dustin G.

The almost non-answer is that it should be both because even in a busy metropolis like Los Angeles or New York, you may not find enough venues to sell the work locally to make a good living. That said, selling in person is much more rewarding because you get to talk to people in a way that is not possible online.

If you can participate in local art fairs and events, do it. If you love it, do more. If you don't love it, double down on your online presence.

This edition's partner is Creative Market.

Quitting and restarting is the new black

Vanessa Lau, a rising star on YouTube in the business influencer space, suddenly quit her online presence in 2023. She disappeared for an entire year with speculation as to why the sudden departure occurred.

​Lau suddenly showed up on YouTube after a full year away from the platform to talk about her disappearance, and surprise, surprise, the reason was complete and total burnout from trying to hustle on a thing she no longer cared about.

Many stories have been published recently of YouTubers quitting or taking a break. For some, it's burnout; for others, it's a shifting of priorities and needs. Some people want a new job after working at the same one for years or decades.

If there are people we follow on social media because they consistently show up and provide good content, we almost rely on them being there. Still, it's wild to think anyone would want to continue doing the same job indefinitely.

Call it coincidence or irony, but this past week also marks my own departure from my YouTube channel , and I also had a clue to start making videos again, but under different terms. Before I left, I made videos about print-on-demand and design software, which is cool but not my passion. During the pandemic, though, I had some success with a couple of videos talking about those things.

Instead of accepting it as a one-off and continuing to make the videos I wanted, I leaned into the algorithm until I got bored and tired.

I don't know how many, if any, of the YouTubers that have quit will return. Some likely will, but in a different capacity. If I do, though, it will be on my terms and not the algorithm.

Smarter Faster

AI is inevitable, but the future is not as dim as we perceive it. Jim Macleod is one of the leading voices on the topic, especially on how it will affect creative work.

After Design – Helping Designers Adapt to an AI Future Jim MacLeod AI is redefining the design landscape. Stay ahead with this weekly newsletter on trends & how to prepare your career for an AI future. Subscribe​

The one where we discuss pay-to-play schemes in art and why Julie stalks people on dating apps.

A new episode of Not as Interesting as We Think just dropped this morning, and we get into some heavy topics, including how to avoid becoming a victim of pay-to-play schemes, turning free content into products, and if mimicking the process of others can make you a better artist.

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PARTNER

​Creative Market Has the Feels​ Explore more than 53,000 textures in various styles and colors to use on websites, social media profiles, and book covers. These texture sets include watercolor, paint, marble, stone, and more for eye-catching backgrounds. Join Today.​

Biz Bites

• What I appreciate most about Printify's product guides is that they introduce uncommon ways to think about what, how, and why to sell different products.
• So many love to hate AI, but the reality is that it's software, and there is nothing inherently wrong about it. The bad things happen when people make it do bad things, but there are plenty of good uses for tools like ChatGPT if you can keep yourself from embracing the dark side.
  • ​DesigningFriction.com is a manifesto about creating stop gaps in our lives where technology is trying to take over.
• Do you remember when Fortnite pulled their content off the Apple App Store because they were tired of the extortion Apple pulls in the way of exorbitant fees? If not you, I'm sure your kids complained like mine. Now Meta is doing something similar, suggesting you undercut Apple by placing your ads via desktop instead of boosting through the apps.
• I missed this earlier, but Pinterest Predicts is a creative take on the trends the platform sees for 2024.
• One thing I dig most about Beehiiv* is the CEO's newsletter, which comes out a few times a week, and it always gives great advice on how to use the platform to its full potential. Coming from someone who has used many of these email service providers, there isn't another CEO doing it like this.
• Are you completely dead for ideas on what to share on your blog, newsletter, or social media posts? Here's a simple list to kickstart some ideas.
• Want to start a newsletter, but the fees are too much to bear? Making money with a newsletter can be easy if you put in effort. Can you guess how many of these strategies we use on The Hungry?

Art Bites

• ​I'm building a second newsletter/blog in public so people can see how I would grow one from scratch, and this one is all about the creative projects I'm working on and the mindset of juggling multiple chainsaws at once.
• Do you find that others try to tear you down whenever you strive to rise above societal norms? Or maybe you're the one pulling others down from their greatness. The Aussies refer to as Tall Poppy Syndrome, and Frankie Mag has an alternative take on handling it.
• Sometimes, doing the thing you're not supposed to do while at your day job is EXACTLY what you should be doing.
• What's the single biggest threat to museum and gallery art? If you guessed theft or climate change protestors, you'd be mistaken. It's actually that selfie you're taking with the Venus de Milo.​
• If you've seen any of my recent art, you know I like to use found scraps in my work, and though it's not a revolutionary idea, I think it's a trend we'll see more of in the future.​

Dessert

• ​You can never be too careful​