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.
It's the only option for some artists to make a living. It's not about exploiting attendees, it's about building a sustainable business. You have to keep in mind that almost all of the vendors and artists travel hundreds of miles, carrying hundreds of pounds of luggage and risking sickness and injury to do this.
i havent been to an anime con since well before the pandemic and i was hoping things would get less crowded as the back-to-normal hype wound down...if this is how things are trending they may not be for me anymore.
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.
Yup, everyone's spending money is either being kept by their bosses or taken by the sellers of essentials (food, rent, education). The roots of the economy aren't getting watered, so the branches are starting to wither.
I didn't want to get into this in THIS video because this is SUCH a big topic but I think youre 100% correct this is a huge part of it, especially for 2024! I really appreciate the comment you put it perfectly! What I will say is that I think impossible times like this do bring out creativity and innovation in a unique way so I stay overall optimistic :')
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.
Yeah that's another thing I didn't really get to touch on coz it's so subjective but I think money-wise, a lot of people did poorly this year too. That was true for online as well, but it just means (again) that the cost of table + flights + hotels etc is really more of a gut punch
Given the state of the economy like... EVERYWHERE, this is not a surprise. Attending a con (artist or not) can be quite costly, and with everything costing so much (food, clothing, etc.) people have much less disposable income to spend. So they may not have much after the cost of the con attendance to buy much. So people will not buy or be REALLY selective. Which makes it harder for artists to make coming to a con worth it for THEM and it just... is gonna be a really bad cycle soon...
@@IceQueen975 Going to our local fur con once a year for the whole weekend costs us as much as traveling out of state for the weekend. It gets very expensive very fast between hotel, food, merch, etc. Easily at least $1k. This is counting room block discounts, no long distance traveling, etc. It's INSANE but we do it because it's our one weekend out of the year where we can go escape life for a bit in a hotel full of people barking lmao. There are so many awesome things at cons that I would LOVE to buy and have to physically force myself to walk away from, but I can't drop $150 on custom art, $300 on a custom figure, $50 per plushie, etc, etc, etc :/
@@IceQueen975 Yeah this is it. I love cons, I love art, but at the same time I am an adult with a mortgage so I can only let myself buy $100 of art at the one con I go to every year. And honestly? If my groceries get much higher I won't be spending that $100 either.
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...
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!
I know a few people that do these regularly!! Especialy coz it's JUST a market, and one that's serving a specific audience, people really come to shop, and that's kind of the secret going forward i think (i hope!)
+1 for Oddities and Curiosities! The art is incredible and weird and utterly unique. Everything from pickled fetal pigs in jars to cutesy sparkley necklaces. It's also a cool place to go dressed in unique fashion, loads of goth and lolita enthusiasts there.
I mainly do these Oddities expo and that's the good thing about them if you do dark/spooky art...people are there to shop, money isn't going towards signings etc.
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)
its never even bothered me when people make merch of popular things, but i know for a fact there are artists out there just going down lists of what's trendy so they can draw it without really engaging with the media, let alone participating in the fandom. and to that i'm always like bro what is even fun about this for you lol
@stasiaholl I agree. I understand business means pandering at times, but you hopefully do something to make it interesting and fun for yourself as an artist. So many people show their lack of interest once you start trying to chat to them about it and it kinda hurts, ngl.
I realized recently why we see a lot of Hoyoverse and Vtuber merch. Obviously it's because they are popular, but also Hoyoverse and vtubers actively encourage fan content and have openly given permission for people to sell merch of their stuff. So artists don't have to worry about getting cease and desist if they want to sell that merch outside of anime conventions. I've been to a con before in Orlando where Disney sent people to comb the artist alley and ask them to take down Disney prints and merch stuff. An extreme example of course but selling fan content has always been a grey area legally and artists may just be doubling down on 'safe' IPs for cons.
the smaller cons ive been to there have been like. maybe 2 artists that do niche stuff out of the dozens there. and each time ive gotten alot more out of the interaction and purchase in comparison. it's better business to do whats trendy but when it's something that you love that stands out i think you can get alot more out of your time there.
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.
Just a few years ago, you’d get bullied for liking cartoons, anime, or anything deemed “nerdy”. Now, everyone and their dog is into it, and it sucks. I’m hoping the hype dies down, soon
I always find it so bizarre when things become mainstream how the vast majority find regular fandom culture like cosplay and such “weird”. Like know your roots
I honestly think that anime becoming mainstream is the only way the market could've survived outside of Japan and is the best case scenario. As someone who's been into it long enough to remember the early 2010's... it's much nicer now. It _sucked_ to only be able to talk about anime with stereotypical "nerd" types because those spaces were rediculously hostile to people like me (black, queer, and neurodivergent.) Now that the scene is so much bigger there's more of a buffer between myself and those aformentioned hostile types that made liking anime unfun. Talk to cosplayers of color or queer cosplayers about their experiences in 2010 (or god forbid, the 2000's) compared to now. Cons are so much more chill
It's the product life-cycle, just spread across decades and with the added problem of the late-adopters harassing and bullying the early-adopters. I'm old enough to have gotten bullied in school for liking science fiction, Star Trek, comic books, and anime. Now they've cut out the middle-man and just get bullied BY science fiction, Star Trek, and comic books 😆Thankfully there is a little bit of a buffer with anime because a lot of progressive normie types are racists, treat Asians like Schrodinger's White People, and think anime is corrupting the youth. As you said, they want to be seen as cool for liking it but don't actually LIKE it in the unnerving way that an actual fan does. "Everyone thinks it's cool to be a geek until I start talking about my unironic Garfield plush collection."
I'm a cosplayer, not an AA artist (I do have art alt but it's mostly just a hobby so not monetized), but I feel like inbetween cons in 2024 vs 2023 the culture just FEELS different and I've only been going to cons a few years. Literally nobody socializes. I don't even get people coming up to me anymore for photos or just to chat. Literally nobody said hi to me at all last Anime Expo. I wasn't even cosplaying obscure/niche characters, I was pretty mainstream. In 2023 I had TONS of people interacting with me and making friends, none of that happened this year. Maybe it's because I was a couple of my friends, I dunno... but it's kinda depressing. People absolutely recognized me, but nobody wanted to chat and it was honestly super disappointing :( I did NOT have this issue in 2023 and everybody KNOWS how bad AX23 was in terms of crowds. Meanwhile cons are flooded with "normies" who do NOT respect the space or etiquette. I'm seeing people in the cosplay space being utterly disrespected from every possible angle and being made fun of for being "cringe" at an ANIME CON?? This is a fandom issue as a whole to be honest, I've been in fandom for over a decade, and people now just have no fucking etiquette at all. I'm not trying to knock on the newbies but a lot of people, with anime being more mainstream, just... don't really understand? The culture? I feel like if I go to an anime con now I risk being made fun off for being a little too open about my interests. There's def weird people at cons and online, but to be honest, it kind of feels like the more serious target demographic is being phased out... and that kinda sucks? To be fair, this also might be an issue because I go to bigger anime cons. Unfortunately, smaller anime cons near me either don't exist or have a shady background so I don't go to them. This might just be an issue with big cons, but the vibes felt different! Even online, it's just awful. Everyone is so rude. Content is either ragebait or popularity contests. I just kinda stick to my circle now, but that's counterintuitive to the point of fandom. I don't know where to go anymore to have fun, and with the rise of tickets/prices... It just doesn't feel like fun. Where else are nerds/alt people even supposed to go anymore? :(
i totally agree with you but i'll expand it and say it's beyond even a fandom issue- i see people complaining about this at concerts, in college, at their retail jobs etc. the pandemic really broke western, like, decorum! (also, in my experience, small cons are better ONLY when they really do care about curation and experience!)
@@stasiahollI’ve heard similar things online and from friends in other social spaces, pandemic 100% contributed across the globe and it sucks !! I have a friend who is involved in the indie/local music scene with us and it is truly a STRUGGLE over there too :(( I’ve been going to small local events outside of cons to socialize more but it really sucks that things won’t return to pre-pandemic times The fact that this is happening to basically every single community is utterly wild… it feels like the issue is so big it’s eating itself a life and I can’t even pinpoint the cause
This is basically why gatekeeping is important. As an older anime fan, imo things began to get bad once we stopped gatekeeping for the sake of "inclusivity". The thing is, gatekeeping isn't about keeping out X demographic; it's about keeping out people who don't have actual interest in the hobby/topic. People can ALWAYS tell between a newbie vs a "normie" (for lack of better terms). A newbie will be interested to learn, ask questions, show genuine enthusiasm. The normie will not, and then demand the space conforms to THEM. We need gatekeeping back. Not just in anime, but in other hobbies as well as they, too, have this issue.
speaking for myself, I attended an anime con for the first time in over 10 years recently, and I saw a number of cosplays that I was really excited about. I wanted to compliment them, even if just in passing, but I thought that it might be annoying for cosplayers to have people running up to them or calling out to them. I was worried that perhaps I had just been an annoying kid when I went to cons before and I wanted to give people their space...maybe that's something about the culture has changed?
like @stasiaholl said in her reply, and as a retail worker, the unwillingness to interact and being alienated almost is absolutely something happening outside of fandoms too about 60% of customers coming through my line as a cashier dont interact in anyway with me when i greet them like i dont know their situation, but not even a simple hello?? idk its kinda a sad state were in rn, im optimistic though since we're having a discussion about it here to begin with, we'll hopefully start seeing the winds of change at somepoint in the future cause we're tired of it
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. :)
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.
This is so real. I tried dipping my fit back into cons for the first time since the pandemic and all the tables at these itty bitty cons are $250-$300(and no table sharing :/ ) and it's like 10 years ago that would have been a $50 table max. Like it's a burden on one of the attractions. You can't get a bunch of neat artists if they can't afford to even attend.
Artist Alley doesn't seem to welcome Illustrators anymore, but rather, Designers. I see less people in AA with unique art styles creating unique illustrations, and more people with a huge variety of products like tshirts, bags, pins, etc. It's more focused on the Product, and not Illustration, which is not how AA was back in the 2000s to mid 2010s. Which is fine if that's where AA wants to go, but it's pushed out a lot of diversity. No offense meant here, but it's a lot easier to start a "kawaii art" business with simple drawings made into charms and stickers than it is to study illustration for years to become a print artist. So why bother learning how to draw, when AA doesn't even want print artists anymore anyway (or the print artists that do get in are drawing generic busts of every fandom character) It just feels like illustration isn't valued anymore at anime cons.
as a "kawaii artist" I do in fact miss seeing more illustrators and actively seek them out when I go to cons because of the art I tend to collect for myself.
Prints used to be my favorite part of cons. I literally have portfolios filled with art. However, the yearly con I go, the AA is filled with the guests' booths and vendors. There aren't really artists anymore which crushed me.
We're definitely still out there. Full illustrations and paintings, however, take a long time to conceptualize and finish, let alone getting mass produced into prints (especially for artists who do in-house printing and traditional artists). I would definitely want to see a wave of people welcoming a "slow" movement of art again. It feels like AAs have been emulating what fast fashion has done-giving rise to microtrends and mass designed then produced products. I don't mind design being blended with illustration, but these are still two separate art disciplines/practices. People have expected artists to be in both departments for too long.
This is the change I have noticed as well. Even majority of the popular AA vloggers I watch all have that kawaii art style. It's either that or people that print the same 5 characters on stickers/car decals. Really downplays my excitement to see what is in AA.
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.
yeah i literally heard people around me say this too!! it makes me sad to hear, because i do think every artist has their vision but you have to have the context and experience to showcase them.
Yep, I used to always love browsing through aa and would always be able to find at least a few things to buy, but I don't think I've found anything of interest in the past 2-3 cons I've been to. I also just dont really see many people doing anything new? I did meet a lady making hand painted mugs though, she was cool I really liked that.
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.
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.
This video was super interesting and as someone who been selling anime figures at conventions since 2022. What's made me frustrated these pass years is the influx of "cute sticker businesses/artists" like everyone complains about hoyoverse but nobody is complaining ALL the "chibi, kawaii" tables. 7:40 To play the devil in this video for a second. Cosplayer, VA, content creator (vtuber, streamer, youtuber) guests are SUPER important to convention runners (i work with a local convention runner and he said the same goes for "most" show runners) and make about 30% of ticket sales. Arguably, that 30% of attendees aren't gonna buy from artists or vendors but it's better for that 30% to know that you exist then not knowing at all from my experience.
thanks for playing devils advocate- you're 100% correct and people turn up ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE VTUBERS. Ultimately, they're not for me which is mainly just a part of why cons are not the place FOR ME but when I was editing I felt like I was repeating that too much lmao. its important to bring up too because it sounds like attendees are feeling really split on cons- if half of them are really into these things, amd the other half aren't at all, idk what that means lmao
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)
i totally understand why artists would rather build up an online presence. I think doing that and attending a bigger cons AA would be a good strategy. One artist that i loved had a line at her both that was comparable to the line I stood in at the ATLUS both for Persona lanyards and photos.
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
i feel like cringe culture kind of played a hand in why we don't get "weird nonsense" in artist alleys anymore (i mean, besides stuff like the ballooning costs of tabling, "normies" invading the scene, etc...). everyone is afraid of being laughed at on the internet for having the confidence to sell weird stuff.
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.
i've also been in AA for like 10-11 years now and the fact i could make more money selling buttons and prints maybe a few charms in 2017 than i do now selling T Shirts, manufactured prints, plushies, etc. says alot about the shift. i feel like pre 2020 you couldn't buy anime merch in any meaningful way outside of maybe hot topic? bootleg amazon? maybe a few manga in target? now i feel like everyones game has had to step up to the level of a big box store in terms of item quality if not better in order to even have their foot in the door. unless their art is strong enough to stand on it's own as a print only place. and applying for events was definitely easier/cheaper, i only do AA for like 4-5 events a year but trying to make your whole living off cons is just not as realistic as it once felt it could be. I'm definitely re-evaluating what kind of events i want to do? my art leans into gym apparel and fitness so im kind of looking at fit expos n stuff to try and sell at.
Emirichu did a video about a con that’s just one massive artist alley, I know that craft fairs and art markets exist but nothing on the scale shown in her video and I’d love to see cons like that appear in the outside of Japan. Ideally in the UK because that’s where I live.
Oh is it the design festa one? I saw that/have talked about that a lot with people! As someone who identifies as a (accessories) designer moreso than illustrator, design festa is like a dream. Im in the USA and I just dont think it would work here- we're all too isolated. I bet the UK is similar ;-;
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.
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.
AA artist since around 2005 or so, if this comment reaches you and you dont mind, where have you been going instead? Ive been trying to get a foot in the door in other types of markets but Im not even sure where to begin searching. Im old so they used to be called "craft shows" when i was younger, I niched down too close to the sun and now I havnt had my finger on the pulse of the catagories of vending events in a long time.
while i still spend usually around $300+ individually at a convention, that is usually my One Big Thing of the year, so depending how you cut it thats not a lot. I struggle to find things that connect me to the culture i desire. like you say in 5:00 . im only 23 and have been to 3 conventions lol but i dont think cons are dying; the crowds are So Huge. but i do think theyre doing Other things. i think people are buying less, i think people are a little more broke.. I recently went to Otakon, and it felt very monotone. very similar. a lot of hoyoverse (big sad). . ifyou go to a "big" convention, you will likely meet an artist multiple times. thats okay, but it also lacks variety. You can tell there is something stopping diversity. i think many people ignore OC content, ESPECIALLY if its not to their specific art style liking. its a little sad. a lot of the vendors ignored me, which, i have no hate to them, i worked retail all my life, artist alley is still "retail" and i know how it is from an artist pov as ive vended before. and yes, it sucks. it seems like everyone is getting tired, but i also think thats because of how life is getting in terms of expense. Then, i go to Holiday Matsuri, a more local, smaller, to my state convention, and i find So. Much. More. So much more diversity, love, creation, and connection. people seemed much Happier there. i would like to see a less "company" view on conventions or like you said art markets, etc. something i noticed in otakon was a fight for a "gimmick" a booth gacha, a booth badge, a booth photocard, etc. that seems tiring. and expensive. an artist shouldnt have to gameify their passion and store for the average consumer. (beyond something like tip jar wars, those are not costly) i personally want to do more events as an artist, but i also think i will stick small. it seems conventions dont actually care to represent many artists and instead what brings the crowd. i love ground work as an artist as i love connection, but if it wasnt for that i probably wouldnt. very insightful video thank you!!
From what I've heard, Otakon, specifically, is trying to become the AX of the East Coast. And AX is very industry-heavy. Far less creativity, for fans, by fans, stuff.
I'm so glad to hear that about HolMat! I do think the small cons I went to in the last couple years had more of that vibe as well. One think I wanted to comment on was artists being rude to you and the note that it's still retail- you're spot on! I've worked in the service industry and yapping with strangers is just a part of the job. There's ways to be an artist without interacting with customers, AA is not one of those ways lol and I know it sucks and is hard and draining to do, but it's part of the job u-u ive heard people complain about entire alleys with rude/cold artists like this and IT REALLY DOES TURN PEOPLE OFF FROM SHOPPING like we're all responsible for the vibes. you don't have to be a social butterfly, just be kind u-u
I totally agree, especially with the otakon part. I’ve attended otakon and other dmv area cons for years now and it saddens me to see them all kind of just blend together? Especially with artist alley and vendors all selling more and more similar merchandise every year. also the artists have absolutely gotten more tired or something because I rarely don’t get entirely ignored at their stands anymore, which is understandable. I hope I can get out of my state to go to a con like holmat but plane tickets are rough
There was a time where I would've loved to vend at an AA at an Anime con...but now, Im older (millenial age), and I don't draw much anime fanart anymore. I prefer to draw my own original characters, maybe some Final Fantasy stuff (which I don't think is super popular)..so Im better off vending at smaller events, which Ive done all last year. The table fees at smaller events are less expensive, and I get to see different types of art, not just anime stuff. Hell, I barely go to anime cons anymore, and if I do, its to work staff, not as an attendee. So I get where youre coming from.
honestly that’s why i really want to go to places like Design Festa in Japan bc it seems to lively there and a genuine appreciation of the arts (Emirichu made a lil video series visiting there and all three times i just adored it) like genuinely it’s amazing to see so many artist from so many backgrounds just exist in one place also additive thing Design Festa needs you to be original with your work, even cosplayers need to not do media already created, it is a place for homegrown art and artists who aren’t similar
Same with COMITIA! I went multiple times when I lived in Japan! Only original work is allowed there. I purchased so many original comics each time, and I would love to make some myself. American art and storytelling might become better if there were such things here.
As an *attendee* my main issue with artists alleys at ANIME cons is the lack of ANIME merch. No offense, but I don't want current tiktok trends, pride flags, pronouns, and AI-generated trash. I want to see an artist's UNIQUE ORIGINAL IDEAS, ANIME merch, GAMING merch, funny lmao internet meme merch. I don't mind anime-of-the-season merch as long as it's in their own original style. I do highly dislike the super clean, generic, popular Instagram style. (You know what I mean...) I still go to anime cons and go straight to the artist's alley, but I'm finding it hard to find the stuff I used to find 10+ years ago. I used to go to cons for all 3 - 4 days, but I normally only go for 1 day. Hell, even Anime Expo has gone down in quality and I'll never get to experience the golden age of AX. Anime conventions aren't dying, but they're losing what made them special imo. The price increase sucks too... sigh. It sucks that anime cons have gone down in enjoyment for both the artists and the attendees.
Dude I’ve been going to cons since I was like 7 and if definitely noticed the change even when it comes to comic-cons like there’s a bunch of very average looking people looking at me and other cosplayers like freaks while their in line for some big time actor while all theee amazing comic artist and one of the artist from one of the most og recognizable venoms art styles is in the corner selling his autograph for ten bucks with some prints!? Like the COMIC artists of COMI-con are being practically ignored and then there’s a booth right by with drop shipping just over all artist alley has been so gained I’ve spoken to other artist about it once I can actually find someone who’s not a drop shipper and we speak on it and how I always wanted to be a con/expo booth artist but it’s not even worth it anymore it just rly sucks man.
about the “i went to x con and they only have content from y and z and its harder to find niche stuff” other than like the import vendors (whatever to call them?) when i went to awa i checked every single table and of the hundreds i saw like Four with any yuri 😭 i think its as you said though where its like they must be marketing to different brackets than you as a consumer, and i assume that too bc i do like niche stuff, but even some popular stuff id expect was there wasnt!
haha ive been having little conversations all year and im like ok let me just....say it a little louder.... and see where we're all at.... especially from people that have one to two decades to compare to!
I've been feeling that across all types of cons~ Even the more niche furry cons have started to balloon and I've seen a lot of anime artists enter into that fandom trying to fill where the AA markets are starting to lack for them, which in turn has made furry cons crazy competitive now too. Thankfully I'm finding more success in that market than I am at anime cons to the point that I stopped applying for anime cons all together. It was crazy times when you could get an AA booth and badge for under $100. lol I'm glad to hear the digital marketing was really working for you!
Dude I've seen a few people pivot to furry cons this year and sometimes it feels so disingenuous, and similarly seeing longtime furry artists not getting into cons! yeah now we're paying 500 badges not included for some reason lmaoooo i get that prices go up but it so quickly becomes obviously not worth it
i still love going to conventions (and i've even started to host panels!!) but i for sure hear what you're saying. i think my biggest gripe with recent cons is before the pandemic, you wouldnt have to rely on whatever overpriced crap the con or hotel provided, because there would be food trucks! and it was one of my favorite parts, but after the pandemic we're lucky to even get one....this is particularly a problem at anime frontier, because the convention center food is....well, aside from the pretzel, i just dont trust it, because one year i tried the fried rice and when i tell you it was the absolute worst fried rice of my LIFE, it was so bad i couldnt even finish it.....please bring back food trucks!!
I love seeing niche and less popular artwork at artist alleys (especially original art), but I don't blame anyone for making popular fanart of series (even if it's overdone) because artists still need to make their money and people simply buy what they like, which happens to be what's popular at the moment (most of the time). Over the years, I have changed from someone who used to attend conventions for the cosplay and other events like panels etc. into someone who goes to cons almost exclusively to see the artist alley and dealer's room (mainly artist alley), and everything else is secondary. I am aware that I'm the minority of convention goers who do this; however, I believe that this trend will continue to grow as the older generation of the convention subculture (I'm a millennial) gains a greater appreciation for art/artists, and become less interested in the activities primarily enjoyed by the younger crowd. Eventually there's going to be a huge shift. Plus the older crowd (such as myself) have a lot more money that we are willing to spend on things like art to decorate our homes, add to our collections, and just admire and appreciate VS kids who may not fully acknowledge the value of work artists can produce. To me, places like artist alleys are a goldmine of creativity and happiness. I could spend literally the entire convention time in there, especially since I have a bank account exclusively labeled "For Artist Alley ONLY." 🤣
It’s tough; feels like artists need to collaborate and make the alley ‘mobile’, or their own, but then the cons provide the fans/footfall… Reminds me of what’s happening on Etsy. I like the sound of the ‘artists first’ market you mentioned
Dude yes! This totally makes sense. I just started doing cons again this year but I did do a few in 2018 and it was sooo different back then. I do love going to artist alleys now and finding those gem artists that stand out though. Loved your video!
Hey! I use to DIY cosplays and go to pretty much all comic & anime cons in Australia since 2010. Same thing is occurring here in Australia. Our artist alleys used to be amazing, and found some really unique art. Now it has become more difficult to find different artists, with a majority of the crafted products not being handmade. Really sad stuff as everyone appreciates artists.
They literally doubled the size of the exhibition hall without doubling the size of the con attendance, don't know why they didn't think that would be an issue. I get they couldn't stay at the galleria but they definitely bit off more than they could chew with this new location. Also, kind of sucks that our 2 major anime cons are both in the same giant boring building now.
My first time attending a con was in 2008 as an attendee and the culture feels completely different. I started artist alley in 2019 I joined at an awful time. It was my dream to join the artist alley but it after doing a few it just doesnt feel worth it. The only upside i feel now is meeting everyone and reconnecting with other artists.
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.
I started going to cons in 2009 and tabling in 2015 and I feel you. I honestly don’t think we’re the target audience anymore. I grew up in it and am sad to see it happen, and just trying to redefine what it all means to me now. I also do a lot of original art now and niche fandoms I want to see represented. It makes me stand out but I definitely miss out on the money that would come from keeping up with the current big thing!
I used to do artist alley, starting back around 2010-2011. My last one was in 2016, even then I saw some of the points you brought up, especially the lack of variety in AA. I agree about the application process, it’s terrible. And I hadn’t thought of it before but you made a good point about the rise of popularity for anime changing things. Great video!
I went to a local anime con a couple months back, and tbh they should’ve called it Helluva Con, because the artist alley was overwhelmingly Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel merch. That and all the re-sellers. Meanwhile I only found 2 artists selling Dungeon Meshi prints.
The big London comic con that I used to vend at now has their dealer tables going for £700+ if you're 'lucky' enough to get a spot. They can keep them.
I’ve been doing cons for ten years, sewing for twenty. There’s been shifts and ebbs and flows in that time. I do feel another change is coming, but also I have never felt more appreciation for my big handmade plush pieces as I had in 2024. I feel like people are really appreciating handmade more than ever before to that point I’m pulling back from manufacturing any plush aside from my keychain jellyfish. But I do feel I am still finding growth and I just enjoy doing this. But I also do have brony cons and furry cons thrown in alongside the anime so because of that it stays fresh. I start missing anime by the time it’s time for the next one and so that variety really helps. All I know is I’ll be here doing cons until my body no longer allows me. I love doing them. I did feel I spent less in cons myself this year than any other. I just found less things I wanted to buy. Suppose that was good for my wallet haha!
4:37 This is true of furry conventions these days too, from my experience. Attendance has skyrocketed from pre-pandemic levels, and that's hurt by the smaller cons that died. there's fewer cons to go to right now, so those few cons have way MORE people, and way more applicants to their artist alleys and vendor halls too. So artists that used to make vending at furry cons their living are struggling not only because of the economy in general, but also because it's harder than ever to get into conventions.
I got burnt out after a decade working artist alley fulltime because of the reasons you listed. It's relieving to hear I'm not the only person who feels this way about the scene now.
At animenyc last year i actually had an amazing time with artist alley, this summer was the first time I’ve been to a con in ages because I was too anxious to really enjoy them when I got into it ages back. But I def agree it felt way too homogenous in subject. Every booth had something genshin, hazbin, or digital circus. And yeah a lot of it was good but it was tricky to find stuff that branched out. But it is there if you look! Def feel anime is losing its unique appeal due to mainstream attention sorta sanding down its more defining traits as a medium but we’ll see how things progress. Great vid!
So I personally retired from artist alley like almost 10 years ago, after doing it for 10 years (gawd I'm old) because a lot of my favorite cons got bought up by event companies and were no longer owned and run by anime fans. The tables double in price and got smaller. We used to get 8ft tables now 6ft is the standard, ugh. I do miss tabling at cons because I like that personal interaction you get as an artist with other people that you can't quite get online. BUT omg I had the same feeling you are talking about like yeas ago before it got THIS bad and I'm impressed you kept at it for this long honestly. I'm thinking stupidly of trying cons again BUT I'm eyeing local art shows or smaller cons if the table price is within my budget. It also needs to be within 1 hr driving distance and I'm lucky that I live in a city that has a lot of events going on in general and is known for local art and music.Thankfully I don't have to chase after making what is popular to make sales, because it wouldn't be my main source of income. Because let's be honest everyone is doing the same thing in artist alley because that is what sells. I'm going to making merch of niche shows and games I like, market it online to those communities. And then when i have a con do a limited run f those items.
3:41 this. 3:48 THIS. Ever since i was 14 going to cons since 08 its always been this way with artist alleys and when tumblr blew up the art became even more homogeneous. Its like every era
I've been pretty lucky with local cons having decent indie artists with the niche things I'm into, I don't watch anime so it's really exciting to find things I like out in the wild. There was a local cup sleeve event for Transformers and it was so much fun! Everybody was really nice and it turns out one of my fav indie Transformers artist was local!
First of all, hi! I didn’t expect to see you pop up on my TH-cam suggested! 💖 Secondly, this video reflects a lot of what I’ve been thinking not just about artist alleys, but anime cons in general. Not only has the variety of artists gone down, but so has the variety in content overall. As someone who brings music and panels to conventions, it’s like pulling teeth to get a chunk of time at a con. Competing with VTubers, VAs, and the same new anime panels is exhausting. I feel like conventions these days are focused more on profit over community, and that’s especially true of newer events that started after covid hit. We’ve been losing a lot of long running non-profit events and the difference in the way these for-profit events are run is so blatantly obvious. I hope I can make it to some of your pop ups this year!
Thank you for this video, Im an artist alley artist since 2005 and have been really struggling this year with the lack of sales, lack of interest, low attendance and even lack of feedback (I can usually shrug off a low sales con if i made some cool connections while vending) after anime dallas I had a huge breakdown about it and ive been trying to really re-route and recover what it means to be an artist with anime influences and how to find my home again in a space after conventions got sucky. Its really validating to know this isnt a unique experience to to hear some of what other artists are doing to keep from "going down with the ship" more or less. Please keep making videos and if you find some more types of venues that work better for sales and lead to more personal connections I think the greater AA community would love to hear about them.
As a comic creator, I can attest to it being realy bad on even just the general creator side. Conventions stay afloat on the backs of artists and table rates are outrageous for some cons. There's like 5 shows in the US that justify a table rate over $250...but even small cons are asking this.
As more of a craftsman than an artist I can relate to this (I make tabletop gaming stuff and epoxy resin furniture). I stopped selling my dice rollers because so many copied the design 😅 heck maybe someone came up with the idea before i did. Cons back in the 2010s just hit different. You always saw something new and unique in every AA. Now it feels totally different
The convention circuit definitely has changed - there are a lot more artists who want to 'cash in' on making their own products, AI/art theft, lack of personability from customers and vendors, ( like everyone boasts about being introverted and flipping out if a vendor talks to them and vice versa), inflation; the pricing of the tables for artists/vendors to be there; having a social media presence and etc etc. as well as artists all doing the same goddamn produc tlike 50 million vendors with acrylic charms or enamel pins but nothing else. It wasn't that fun and becomes stressful when you're trying to get in to + have an interesting set up which also costs $$$$ to buy/transport + make ends meet / make the costs of travel and table back and etc
I feel the same way we’ve been in artist alley for 10 years now and it’s just such a financial risk for a bad con. Our most expensive base booth has been $700! I would have never imagined to ever spend that much on artists alley. It makes me sad that we will probably have to dial back because the jfashion community isn’t really represented anymore and it’s killing us financially. Our 2025 plan was vending again but we have only managed to get in 3 events for the entire year and one is a one day event 😭 definitely leaning into digital marketing for sure this year. On top of that is seem like so many cons are being run poorly we were scammed like 3 times last year and one event didn’t even happen.
Im from a smaller country that has mabye 6-3 cons a year but since we are small its also useally the same people at every con so the big struggle for the community here is not a over use of the same fanart/characters (sometimes we do cross fandoms but we all got our niches) but that we stuggle to keep up! every con we basically need an entierly new catalog! since our old one has already been seen by all those who go to the con and if we dont have anything new how will we keep thier eyes on our work?
I've been making money off my art since I was about 20. I've been doing events for 10 years (with a large break from 2015-2018, and consistently for the last 3 years.) I sell on Etsy and have a few passive income sources. I do pop ups and markets, probably about 8-10 a year. My numbers were awful in 2024. I have been quiet quitting, too, but I don't think I've realized that. I LOVE grinding... but I'm not going to put in a LOT of work if a little work brings the same results. Problem is, I like working. But it's not fulfilling other than just enjoying the work myself. But that's doesn't help my diminished savings account. I don't have a lot of anime art, and I've only tabled at one comic/anime con combo event in a medium metro area. I have some kawaii art. I also have unique, colorful animal paintings.
I’ve been struggling a lot with conventions lately, I’m lucky to break even with all my merch. Not to mention the jury system is tiresome since the portfolio requirement is ridiculous since its against thousands of artists with the bloated table prices. I remember many of these cons would cost about 125$-200$ at most for a weekend, now its half a grand per table. Don’t get me started on the rules againsr table shares! Its so much harder to start off as an artist compared to back then. I barely do anime fan art anymore because by the time I draw it its everywhere or out of fashion, or youre placed in a “bad” spot because the cons overbloated their artist alleys for the sake of greed
not to mention it's just a bunch of junk now, when almost half the vendors are just whole sale resell items instead of actual small businesses that make their own cool stuff. Sucks the fun out of everything sometimes.
At the cons I went to this year I made my own stickers and gave them out to artists in artist alleys to give them a lil seratonin boost because *damn* the conditions are getting bad for folks in them
It's been a few years since I last went to an anime con and I've been considering whether or not I wanna go to the big one near me this year or not. This video has given me a lot to think about in a good way. Last year I ended up going to something called The Anime Rave, it's a kinda traveling event that goes to different cities, and it was really really fun. It felt a lot like the anime raves I went to as a teen in the 00s-10s. Probably because being an adults only event, there were plenty of people my age there. It's harder to be active in the anime community now cuz it feels so hard to find other people my age who still like the same old stuff I tend to prefer over a lot of newer titles. Like you said, it's so hard to really find the more niche stuff represented anywhere and it's really disheartening especially if you aren't a fan of what's popular.
I've been attending cons since 2009, and everything you've said is so true from the perspective of just a regular attendee. The past few times I've gone to cons, I've only been interested in artists like you who don't cater to specific fanart. But maybe it's because I'm also getting older and am less interested in the most popular series of the time. Either way, I'm totally at peace going to fewer cons now and just supporting artists I like online.
1. LOVE seeing another artist who does TH-cam and wears EGL 2...my actual thoughts. I've only just done my first year in artist alley so I can't yet give a strong opinion, but I have been attending for 10+ years also and agree, it just isn't the same anymore. I do also wonder if I'm just not their target audience anymore (because after a few years, you really have seen it all!) Is there a potential oversaturation of these kind of events? but I mainly wonder/think about how much of this is financial. Would absolutely love to see a rise in Illustration and Craft events though, a place where people go to buy actively buy hand made goods whether it be fandom or otherwise. Your stuff is so cute btw and I'm eyeing your pink bat bag HARD!
I had to take a break from tabling because of how overwhelming and oversaturated everything felt. Chasing trends, making a bunch of new stuff only to risk it not getting attention, and being surrounded by non-stop anime art and even copy-paste meme "art" gets really stressful after a while.
I finally became a full time artist Feb 2024 and did a few conventions and other events. I did 50 events in total and 19 were a complete bust and I lost over $1,100 in table costs. 😢 Not to mention all the time during the events, prep and all the art I sold that got eaten up in table costs.
My brief attendances to anime cons in high school and early college was 2012-2016. My dream back then was to vend at artist alleys, but circumstances didn’t permit it. Then I grew out of anime in a fandom sense, moved back into some more tangible hobbies, and really cut back on video games. I’d thought that my dreams shifted, and that anime cons were a total thing of the past for me because I “outgrew” anime for the most part. Until…. I realized exactly where the marriage point on the Venn diagram of all my hobbies lie for my art business. I feel over the moon about my product plans. I was really excited to maybe try some artist alleys just to prove to my younger self that things can come full circle, even if they look different (and better) than you imagined them. Then all of my current research is full of advice on the death of artist alley in general. I really appreciate your real chat on this. It’s given me pause and a realistic expectation. But it’s also encouraging that MAYBE my botanicals will be something new and different enough to stand out and be worthwhile to vend. It’s also reassuring that I want to enter AA’s as a side thing from my own original places instead of banking on them. Great video!! I really really wish you and all of the viewers luck in 2025.
I'm an artist who only had the guts to start vending this year, but have been attending cons since 07. I agree with all of your statements. Things have changed considerably. The art is all the same, the plagerized merch is on display for all to see, and most people only show up to see the celebrity actors (for bigger cons) and ignore AA all together. It makes for a depressing (and not very cost effective experience).
I'm a vendor and vendor room coordinator for a niche con, not anime, but yes - the past few years have difficult. I noticed when cons came back in 2021/2022, attendees were thrilled to have cons back, and sales were good. But the past two years sales, my sales have dipped lower than before the pandemic. On the event organizer side of things, prices have gone up everywhere. Rentals, hotels, insurance, printing, etc. So the cost of tables and booths have been raised to adjust for this. But now your con attendee is also paying higher prices for tickets, travel, hotel, food, etc. It deeply cuts into what extra money someone has for AA or the vendor room. Also, the fandom our con is for has a very DIY community, so as an artist or vendor, you need to have something really unique to earn those sales. But yes, the pain is real, costs are up and sales are lagging, and it really sucks for both artists and attendees.
It's really interesting because I completely agree that this is super apparent with Anime cons, however, every gaming con I've been at still has the really fun community convention feel that I grew up with lmfao. Luckily there are still some small cons in my area that also feel like a blast from the past and less cooperate!
Applications suck. Some want intensive portfolios - link every social or link to a specify website dedicated to showcasing your art and table displays. It’s hard when on mobile / phone cuz sometimes you’ll be at another show applying to one as another show just dropped their apps and sometimes they’re fcfs so you’re typing as fast as you can but again some are not mobile phone friendly. Others make you apply almost a year out but don’t get back to you until like the month of the show. So unless you plan on hotel and other travel in advance they may be sold out or super expensive. Some apps charge your card right away. Refunding you later which is like wtf. Others ask for your card to charge upon acceptance but we all apply to as many shows as we can and some shows overlap so that stinks when you either get in or don’t but now have to deal with potentially picking and choosing which show to go to if you got into multiple on the same weekends. The sameness of art I feel that. And I’ve gotten lucky as I drew some older series - soul eater and ouran host. So some people get excited cuz I offer older stuff. But to be fair we draw the most current trends cuz that’s what people want. Before they get over saturated by stores like target, hot topic and Boxlunch we try to ride the high of the hype of said popular new shows. If it makes us money we make it. It’s also why we do series like Genshin - the company is ok with fanart and it’s still popular. So a win win.
That's a big problem for me too! I hate how they wait until basically the last second to say if you got accepted or not! I realize they probably have a lot of applicants to go through but I can't help but think that there must be a better way to get results out sooner?
thank you so much for your comment- it was impossible to touch on all the ways applications suck because it's crazy how much the process sucks, but you really nailed it lol
Before Covid, I helped vend tastypeach at an anime con and I loved it! You’re so right!! It was a collection of niche! There were so many homemade fun cosplays and original characters! I went to a con last year and I saw so much of the same cosplays, merch, characters. Honestly this video is so validating to me because I thought I was getting old and misremembering how wonderful cons were lol
I started doing Artist Alley in 2023 and it was SO MUCH FUN and I was super excited to do it again in 2024 only for 2024 to completely steamroll me. The vibes were off, people either didn't attend the same cons I did in 2023 or just weren't buying. It was so awful and I lost so much time and money just traveling around locally. I'm taking 2025 off after just starting and loving it so much.
I’m just so bad at the digital marketing, and it feels like places like IG are just harder to actually get seen on than ever 😭 I also think 2024 was just a particularly bad con year, so Idk if it’s all that good for comparison, but Idk if 2025 is going to be any better…… I’m going to give some more cons a try this year, but Idk, making your own small curated events is really sounding like the way to go, I think you’re right
especially if you ARE focusing so much effort on online marketing to grow a following there, driving them to your own popups or more niche events makes sense! fwiw I think you're doing great marketing!! agian, nothing i did in 2023 "popped off" in any spectacular way, but it paid off steadily in the end! this year I'm spending time looking at my own content and looking at people i admire's content and asking myself how i can push my own comfort zone.
@ Thank you, I’m glad it’s looking good! I’ve just had much better online sales years in the past, so even without hoping for vitality, online sales just never took off this year unfortunately. But I think the approach you’re talking about sounds great, just trying new things and getting yourself out of your box! I’ll have to try challenging myself, too!
I can only speak from my experience. But vending cons when traveling alone is so fkn hard. Outside of the setup and tear down each day, being at the hall 2 hours before and after each day, bribing people to get you food or to watch over your stuff to go to the bathroom, and the ever increasing price of tables. Whats not to love?
PREACH! As someone who has been attending cons for the same about as time as you and in the process of growing an art business. conventions have changed so much! I get appealing to a newer audience to stay afloat, but the newer scene hits different. I am so glad you mentioned how marketing helped your business more and how you have essentially grown out of the target demographics for most anime conventions! There is nothing wrong with that at all. At the end of hte day we have to do what is best for our businesses.. and if anime cons aint it no more than its time to make adjustments. So glad you made this video. As someone building an art business I have already felt like where I want to be does not 100% align with selling at anime conventions. I want to do more of the original art than fanart but I include fanart because I still want to create art of the series I am super into and I know it will sell( plus I can connect with fellow fans through them) Times are a changing 🤔
I used to do cons from like 2012-2014 and it was super fun. I've been thinking of getting back into it but all the "guides" I've been finding on how to do artist alley nowadays make it sound so overwhelming and I'm really not down for how much social media you're expected to do. I'm a hermit lol. Also all these artists have the exact same style of boba tea with a happy face on it if you know what I mean so I get the impression that AA now looks very samey and also that I wouldn't really fit in with the young kawaii social-savvy girlies. Do you have any thoughts on comic cons, furry cons, gamer cons etc? Were they any different?
Honestly, it’s a big shame that conventions and art alleys lately have been such downhill. The last few anime conventions I went to had the same problem. There will be at least 10 “maybe” of actual artist and the rest of it. It’s just a bunch of random anime stuff. Not even sticking to the theme just random anime stuff. One of them was a horror anime convention, and there was only about five unique artists that actually had good and cool stuff. The rest of it was just random anime junk. And then the last big convention I went to was a cat convention. It was honestly probably the worst one I went to because there was barely anyone or anything there. But there was about five or six booths selling AI cats… and that’s a whole other problem with the AI art.
I only started tabling in 2023 and I agree with a lot of what you said. In 2024 I tables 10 events and more than half of those were serious duds (didn’t come close to making table, and it was a mix of different themes of cons). In 2025 I’m definitely doing less events and going to try the online marketing more. I would seriously love more like individual pop ups. Sounds like fun!
I actually just got back from holmat; there were so many artists doing popular things and while I definitely understand why and many of the artists do love the things they're drawing, I came home with tons more original art *and* cards to purchase more originals from (I had already spent 1100$ at AA and could not physically justify spending more than that at one convention). I cannot stress how much more excited I was when I would walk to a booth and see something creepy or gorey that I loved and ask the artist if it was from a fandom. Usually if it was, it meant it was something I couldn't justify purchasing because if I didn't know the fandom, then it feels "weird". But whenever they told me no it's just original art, I would get a thousand times more excited and often buy it. I left the convention with more original art than fandom art; there was some fandom art but it's for a fandom that I've been in since like 2018 and honestly it became more difficult to purchase that because of how that fandom originally wasn't allowed to make merch for profit (so everything originally had to be paid for production which meant it was extremely cheap) so I have a hard time with that. I think there's definitely a cultural shift; there's been a massive cultural shift in fandom since it became much more mainstream. I've been attending conventions since 2008 and I don't think cons are dying insofar as the people running the convention are often times not running it for the right reasons which trickles down into the AA, cosplayers and panelists. I do think the world we live in is definitely affecting things.... it's just... all around an awful couple of years with all the economic crisis we're all dealing with
One thing I wish was mentioned in this video is the office politics that happen in Artist Alley and how some people should not be running cons. I have seen first hand an AA head being extremely awful to an artist because they hated the artist. On top of being awful, they discriminated against the artist, who is trans, disabled and can't list heavy objects, by refusing to send staff to help them carry their inventory and displays to their table and using the incorrect pronouns. This AA head complained about the artist the entire con weekend. Another instance is a con head falsely advertised the table and space we artists would receive. I brought the concern up to the con head, with screenshots and proof of my payment. Their response was essentially “if you don’t like it, leave.” The same con doesn’t want any victims of sexual assault or harassment taking their concerns to social media, as said on their website.
Same, spent at least 6=7 years doing it full-time only to realize.....I'm losing money doing this but more importantly......I'm not having fun any more :/
For me, artist alley for anime and comic shows has changed. A lot or fan art is generic, or AA is filled with acrylic charms. No one wants to create anything new (comic, etc). A lot of the Anime shows are not run by fans anymore. Just greedy trade show people.
I'm not sure if anime cons are dying or if they're just evolving. A lot is changing rapidly in these spaces and communities and I just hope it's for the better. I definitely agree with you about being very selective in the events you go to. I tried different things last year and decided after hearing other people talk about their experiences with packing their year full of cons and markets, that it's probably better to keep it to a smaller number and leave time and focus for other parts of the business like creating and marketing. I'm still gonna apply to some bigger events I think are worth it and a few local small events, but I agree that I don't think it's worth it to fill the calendar year with so much that probably doesn't have enough return. Ugh yes the curation of AA. I too have heard a lot of complaints that it's too samey in art style and subject matter/themes. I attended a con and basically skipped over a lot of tables because they either weren't my style or were a pokemon or genshin table. (no offense, just not for me) A lot of artists had a very similar style which didn't encourage me to actually spend time looking at everything (especially since it was so hard to move in that room) There were a few stand outs that i really appreciated, but I was really disappointed that there wasn't more variety. I was also disappointed in the skill levels there, and I don't mean this to be mean, but when I'm buying something I do want it to be at least a certain level. There was another con I have vended at a few times that keeps increasing it's AA size even though attendance is very slow to grow and every year they have people pack up on the second and third day early and don't seem to learn that their artist to attendee ratio is off. Some cons either don't care and just want your money and will let in anyone to fill up the space... and some cons need better staff to realize the problems and correct it. Speaking as someone who has never been in a convention staff position, they really need to have better people in the AA application area to properly sift through and curate a good mix of quality products and aritsts. I'm okay if they cap off applications to make it easier. I'm okay if they do part curated and a small part lottery to allow the chance of first timers in. I'm not okay when they don't seem to put in the effort to ensure both the artists and attendees have a good time and want to return. Personally I am looking more and more into retail spaces. I'm reaching out to more businesses to get my product into their shops because It's easier in the long run than booking and attending conventions. Art collectives do seem to be appearing more and more around the country. I have seen some small businesses do pop ups centered around certain themes and series and I'd LOVE to see more of that. makes it easier to find your target audience and maybe find new friends.
Tbh, yeah. Artists alley has sucked but so has the regular vendor room. It’s all temu/ali express crap, poorly made 3D printed stuff, and 50,000 pop vinyl figures. I’ve even seen in the artist alley now very clearly AI art being sold. It makes me not want to go anymore, especially with entry tickets being so expensive ($65+ for one day). I try to go to panels etc, but I hate the audience Q&A sessions because without a doubt at least 10 people will queue in line with no questions but just to gush about how the celeb has ‘saved their life’ and how much they love them. Maybe I’m horrible IDK but I don’t care about you…I’m here to hear the celeb tell us stupid behind the scenes stories. 😂
My local con isnt too too bad. I see some of stuff you're talking about but I think the main thing that keeps it from slipping is that the people running my local jfashion comm have a strong foot in the door. If that ever changes tho I can see myself not attending. Something I do appreciate about newer conventions is that kids and teens have to have an adult chaperone. I started attending cons in the late 2000s/early 2010s before that was implemented and it was a mess.
100% trash now. I have been selling for 18 years. The entire con system sucks now. I only do 10x10 or 10x20 booths. Artist alley or anything at these shows is not worth it now.
I’ve been attending the London comic con for 20 years now and I’ve noticed at least in the last 5 years it’s changed a lot. I enjoy buying the comics and manga artists sell but recently it’s become less and less. You see more people selling prints and stickers of this seasons hottest anime, which I’m not against, I’m happy for Dandadan stickers, but it’s just fan art. I came for original content.
I liked to browse AA as someone without super specific goals in what I’m looking for, I still have a few pieces that were eye catching with no correlation to fandom. I kind of prefer those I think...
Animecon artist alley and alike for the past 10 years just spam flavor of the month popular fan art in the same three styles, weird indie stuff no one likes, and overall safe boring stuff. I like fan art as much as the next person but I want some cool original stuff. Also some people were selling ai art at Comic Con AA. They were pretending like they were hand made, lol. Some poor sap bought one, and I told them it was AI art. They didn’t care.
Up til earlier this month, Pittsburgh’s Tekko was the only con i’d ever gone to , two years in a row and both times i was stunned by how. like… lame it was. all the fanart i saw looked so similar that i found myself comparing prices of almost identical-seeming art which felt… weird. like that is *not* the situation i envisioned. and the artists didn’t seem like they were enjoying themselves at all! i mean interacting with a lot of people like that is probably rather tiring and overwhelming, but i don’t know. the whole thing just felt devoid of any actual passion. i dunno what the “norm” is because again, i am pretty new to attending these kinds of things and i’ve never been on the vendor side of things, but i do know that i was so disappointed by the lack of atmosphere that i was almost tempted to just cancel the plans travel i’d made for Galaxycon in Columbus earlier this month (thankfully, i couldn’t get refunds and it ended up being a blast!) But if this is becoming a trend with anime conventions, then I don’t know. That… sucks.
oh my god "comparing prices of almost identical-seeming art" like that should NEVER HAPPEN AT A MARKET LOL i get having a budget but I think as a showrunner, if you have artists that are so similar that customers are literally having to do this, you've mega failed as a curator. There have always been cons that suck and cons that have atmosphere and fun- i wish I knew what the future was but I think people who care about curation and atmosphere should focus their energy on events that arent "anime cons" just for the sake of being anime cons
I agree! I've been doing Artist Alley since 2014, started attending conventions in 2006 when I was a kid. My favorite events now are not corporate owned with focus on community. I'm trying to avoid a lot of corporate shows since they're so soul-less. I still make the most at Anime cons, despite doing other types of markets & events - even without doing a lot of Anime fan art. 🤷♀
Another commenter mentioned doing Oddity events and I’ve been eyeing them recently. I was suppressing my surrealistic art to focus on my cartoony stuff over the last 4 years. I totally agree with this video and recently decided, well if I’m always barely going to make table with my original art at artist alleys, I may as well say fuck it and just make whatever the hell I want and try different vendor events. The mainstream audience just doesn’t like my original work, they want more of my fan art but I want to create my own ideas. ALSO, is it me or do a lot of these artist alleys have mostly young and inexperienced artists? Sometimes I wonder if cons target these younger people intentionally.
You know what’s worse than lottery? Rebookings 😬 The comiccons on the Canadian east coast are basically 75% (one location was 100%) rebookings. So every year, the artist alley is identical to its previous edition, and the one before... I’m an artist myself who wishes I could eventually sell at bigger cons, but with this rebooking system I don’t even bother browsing the AA anymore.
I went to a small con this past weekend and it was way too expensive for a table and I didn't make the cost back, and many people didn't. It made me realize the small cons with small con prices are gone. If the artist alley table at this con I went to had been 100-150 it would have been much better for everyone. I did the math to compare it's price to Otakon, 375 table/25k attendees means the 275 table would fit a con with 18k attendees, but this con clearly had less than 5k attendees. WHICH IS FINE. Small cons are great, but they aren't great when they come with big con prices. Like back in 2008-2010 this con would have been maybe $50 for an artist alley table and attendance would have been maybe $30. Things like that don't exist anymore. Everyone is making their little con have big con prices and it doesn't help anyone. No one can make money in that enviorment. No one will want to go back. It's too dang expensive for everyone. 275 table with $60 passes to enter??? Like that's nearly Otakon prices for a con that is less than 5k attendees(I think it was more like 2k attendees.) Like I like small cons. I got to chat with a bunch of people, but it's just not worth the cost of attending. It sucks because I like talking to people at cons, but I can't afford it.
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.
this too! this is what makes it feel very mainstream to me- everything i the world has moved to micro trends, anime cons included lol
it's just been hot topicified. it's just hyper mainstream and nobody gaf
It's the only option for some artists to make a living. It's not about exploiting attendees, it's about building a sustainable business. You have to keep in mind that almost all of the vendors and artists travel hundreds of miles, carrying hundreds of pounds of luggage and risking sickness and injury to do this.
Not even 3 years its really been like 10 or so years. Peak for me was like 2006-2010 but there were some ok years after that.
i havent been to an anime con since well before the pandemic and i was hoping things would get less crowded as the back-to-normal hype wound down...if this is how things are trending they may not be for me anymore.
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.
Yup, everyone's spending money is either being kept by their bosses or taken by the sellers of essentials (food, rent, education). The roots of the economy aren't getting watered, so the branches are starting to wither.
Exactly. Couldn't have summed it up better myself.
I didn't want to get into this in THIS video because this is SUCH a big topic but I think youre 100% correct this is a huge part of it, especially for 2024! I really appreciate the comment you put it perfectly! What I will say is that I think impossible times like this do bring out creativity and innovation in a unique way so I stay overall optimistic :')
Very well put and I completely agree.
this is so well written and as an artist who tables at cons, I very much agree.
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.
Yeah that's another thing I didn't really get to touch on coz it's so subjective but I think money-wise, a lot of people did poorly this year too. That was true for online as well, but it just means (again) that the cost of table + flights + hotels etc is really more of a gut punch
Given the state of the economy like... EVERYWHERE, this is not a surprise. Attending a con (artist or not) can be quite costly, and with everything costing so much (food, clothing, etc.) people have much less disposable income to spend. So they may not have much after the cost of the con attendance to buy much. So people will not buy or be REALLY selective. Which makes it harder for artists to make coming to a con worth it for THEM and it just... is gonna be a really bad cycle soon...
@@IceQueen975 Going to our local fur con once a year for the whole weekend costs us as much as traveling out of state for the weekend. It gets very expensive very fast between hotel, food, merch, etc. Easily at least $1k. This is counting room block discounts, no long distance traveling, etc. It's INSANE but we do it because it's our one weekend out of the year where we can go escape life for a bit in a hotel full of people barking lmao.
There are so many awesome things at cons that I would LOVE to buy and have to physically force myself to walk away from, but I can't drop $150 on custom art, $300 on a custom figure, $50 per plushie, etc, etc, etc :/
@@IceQueen975 Yeah this is it. I love cons, I love art, but at the same time I am an adult with a mortgage so I can only let myself buy $100 of art at the one con I go to every year. And honestly? If my groceries get much higher I won't be spending that $100 either.
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...
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!
I know a few people that do these regularly!! Especialy coz it's JUST a market, and one that's serving a specific audience, people really come to shop, and that's kind of the secret going forward i think (i hope!)
I’m going for the first time this year and I am so excited, I recommend trying Horror conventions too. Sometimes those can be really good for art.
Ok as a creepy cute creator that sounds more up my…alley.
I was always an odd fit for anime cons but used to do really well.
+1 for Oddities and Curiosities! The art is incredible and weird and utterly unique. Everything from pickled fetal pigs in jars to cutesy sparkley necklaces. It's also a cool place to go dressed in unique fashion, loads of goth and lolita enthusiasts there.
I mainly do these Oddities expo and that's the good thing about them if you do dark/spooky art...people are there to shop, money isn't going towards signings etc.
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)
its never even bothered me when people make merch of popular things, but i know for a fact there are artists out there just going down lists of what's trendy so they can draw it without really engaging with the media, let alone participating in the fandom. and to that i'm always like bro what is even fun about this for you lol
@stasiaholl
I agree. I understand business means pandering at times, but you hopefully do something to make it interesting and fun for yourself as an artist. So many people show their lack of interest once you start trying to chat to them about it and it kinda hurts, ngl.
im so SICK of hoyoverse filling up all the artist alleys
I realized recently why we see a lot of Hoyoverse and Vtuber merch. Obviously it's because they are popular, but also Hoyoverse and vtubers actively encourage fan content and have openly given permission for people to sell merch of their stuff. So artists don't have to worry about getting cease and desist if they want to sell that merch outside of anime conventions. I've been to a con before in Orlando where Disney sent people to comb the artist alley and ask them to take down Disney prints and merch stuff. An extreme example of course but selling fan content has always been a grey area legally and artists may just be doubling down on 'safe' IPs for cons.
the smaller cons ive been to there have been like. maybe 2 artists that do niche stuff out of the dozens there. and each time ive gotten alot more out of the interaction and purchase in comparison. it's better business to do whats trendy but when it's something that you love that stands out i think you can get alot more out of your time there.
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.
Just a few years ago, you’d get bullied for liking cartoons, anime, or anything deemed “nerdy”. Now, everyone and their dog is into it, and it sucks. I’m hoping the hype dies down, soon
I always find it so bizarre when things become mainstream how the vast majority find regular fandom culture like cosplay and such “weird”. Like know your roots
Fr they don’t understand cons were like the OG safe space for us weirdos 💔
I honestly think that anime becoming mainstream is the only way the market could've survived outside of Japan and is the best case scenario.
As someone who's been into it long enough to remember the early 2010's... it's much nicer now. It _sucked_ to only be able to talk about anime with stereotypical "nerd" types because those spaces were rediculously hostile to people like me (black, queer, and neurodivergent.) Now that the scene is so much bigger there's more of a buffer between myself and those aformentioned hostile types that made liking anime unfun. Talk to cosplayers of color or queer cosplayers about their experiences in 2010 (or god forbid, the 2000's) compared to now. Cons are so much more chill
It's the product life-cycle, just spread across decades and with the added problem of the late-adopters harassing and bullying the early-adopters. I'm old enough to have gotten bullied in school for liking science fiction, Star Trek, comic books, and anime. Now they've cut out the middle-man and just get bullied BY science fiction, Star Trek, and comic books 😆Thankfully there is a little bit of a buffer with anime because a lot of progressive normie types are racists, treat Asians like Schrodinger's White People, and think anime is corrupting the youth. As you said, they want to be seen as cool for liking it but don't actually LIKE it in the unnerving way that an actual fan does. "Everyone thinks it's cool to be a geek until I start talking about my unironic Garfield plush collection."
I'm a cosplayer, not an AA artist (I do have art alt but it's mostly just a hobby so not monetized), but I feel like inbetween cons in 2024 vs 2023 the culture just FEELS different and I've only been going to cons a few years. Literally nobody socializes. I don't even get people coming up to me anymore for photos or just to chat. Literally nobody said hi to me at all last Anime Expo. I wasn't even cosplaying obscure/niche characters, I was pretty mainstream. In 2023 I had TONS of people interacting with me and making friends, none of that happened this year. Maybe it's because I was a couple of my friends, I dunno... but it's kinda depressing. People absolutely recognized me, but nobody wanted to chat and it was honestly super disappointing :( I did NOT have this issue in 2023 and everybody KNOWS how bad AX23 was in terms of crowds.
Meanwhile cons are flooded with "normies" who do NOT respect the space or etiquette. I'm seeing people in the cosplay space being utterly disrespected from every possible angle and being made fun of for being "cringe" at an ANIME CON??
This is a fandom issue as a whole to be honest, I've been in fandom for over a decade, and people now just have no fucking etiquette at all. I'm not trying to knock on the newbies but a lot of people, with anime being more mainstream, just... don't really understand? The culture? I feel like if I go to an anime con now I risk being made fun off for being a little too open about my interests. There's def weird people at cons and online, but to be honest, it kind of feels like the more serious target demographic is being phased out... and that kinda sucks?
To be fair, this also might be an issue because I go to bigger anime cons. Unfortunately, smaller anime cons near me either don't exist or have a shady background so I don't go to them. This might just be an issue with big cons, but the vibes felt different!
Even online, it's just awful. Everyone is so rude. Content is either ragebait or popularity contests. I just kinda stick to my circle now, but that's counterintuitive to the point of fandom. I don't know where to go anymore to have fun, and with the rise of tickets/prices... It just doesn't feel like fun.
Where else are nerds/alt people even supposed to go anymore? :(
i totally agree with you but i'll expand it and say it's beyond even a fandom issue- i see people complaining about this at concerts, in college, at their retail jobs etc. the pandemic really broke western, like, decorum!
(also, in my experience, small cons are better ONLY when they really do care about curation and experience!)
@@stasiahollI’ve heard similar things online and from friends in other social spaces, pandemic 100% contributed across the globe and it sucks !!
I have a friend who is involved in the indie/local music scene with us and it is truly a STRUGGLE over there too :(( I’ve been going to small local events outside of cons to socialize more but it really sucks that things won’t return to pre-pandemic times
The fact that this is happening to basically every single community is utterly wild… it feels like the issue is so big it’s eating itself a life and I can’t even pinpoint the cause
This is basically why gatekeeping is important. As an older anime fan, imo things began to get bad once we stopped gatekeeping for the sake of "inclusivity". The thing is, gatekeeping isn't about keeping out X demographic; it's about keeping out people who don't have actual interest in the hobby/topic. People can ALWAYS tell between a newbie vs a "normie" (for lack of better terms). A newbie will be interested to learn, ask questions, show genuine enthusiasm. The normie will not, and then demand the space conforms to THEM.
We need gatekeeping back. Not just in anime, but in other hobbies as well as they, too, have this issue.
speaking for myself, I attended an anime con for the first time in over 10 years recently, and I saw a number of cosplays that I was really excited about. I wanted to compliment them, even if just in passing, but I thought that it might be annoying for cosplayers to have people running up to them or calling out to them. I was worried that perhaps I had just been an annoying kid when I went to cons before and I wanted to give people their space...maybe that's something about the culture has changed?
like @stasiaholl said in her reply, and as a retail worker, the unwillingness to interact and being alienated almost is absolutely something happening outside of fandoms too
about 60% of customers coming through my line as a cashier dont interact in anyway with me when i greet them
like i dont know their situation, but not even a simple hello??
idk its kinda a sad state were in rn, im optimistic though since we're having a discussion about it here to begin with, we'll hopefully start seeing the winds of change at somepoint in the future cause we're tired of it
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. :)
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.
This is so real. I tried dipping my fit back into cons for the first time since the pandemic and all the tables at these itty bitty cons are $250-$300(and no table sharing :/ ) and it's like 10 years ago that would have been a $50 table max. Like it's a burden on one of the attractions. You can't get a bunch of neat artists if they can't afford to even attend.
Artist Alley doesn't seem to welcome Illustrators anymore, but rather, Designers. I see less people in AA with unique art styles creating unique illustrations, and more people with a huge variety of products like tshirts, bags, pins, etc. It's more focused on the Product, and not Illustration, which is not how AA was back in the 2000s to mid 2010s. Which is fine if that's where AA wants to go, but it's pushed out a lot of diversity. No offense meant here, but it's a lot easier to start a "kawaii art" business with simple drawings made into charms and stickers than it is to study illustration for years to become a print artist. So why bother learning how to draw, when AA doesn't even want print artists anymore anyway (or the print artists that do get in are drawing generic busts of every fandom character) It just feels like illustration isn't valued anymore at anime cons.
as a "kawaii artist" I do in fact miss seeing more illustrators and actively seek them out when I go to cons because of the art I tend to collect for myself.
Prints used to be my favorite part of cons. I literally have portfolios filled with art. However, the yearly con I go, the AA is filled with the guests' booths and vendors. There aren't really artists anymore which crushed me.
This makes me so sad because I prefer painting and illustrations.
We're definitely still out there. Full illustrations and paintings, however, take a long time to conceptualize and finish, let alone getting mass produced into prints (especially for artists who do in-house printing and traditional artists). I would definitely want to see a wave of people welcoming a "slow" movement of art again. It feels like AAs have been emulating what fast fashion has done-giving rise to microtrends and mass designed then produced products. I don't mind design being blended with illustration, but these are still two separate art disciplines/practices. People have expected artists to be in both departments for too long.
This is the change I have noticed as well. Even majority of the popular AA vloggers I watch all have that kawaii art style. It's either that or people that print the same 5 characters on stickers/car decals. Really downplays my excitement to see what is in AA.
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.
yeah i literally heard people around me say this too!! it makes me sad to hear, because i do think every artist has their vision but you have to have the context and experience to showcase them.
It's been like this over 10 years ago. And why I left
Yep, I used to always love browsing through aa and would always be able to find at least a few things to buy, but I don't think I've found anything of interest in the past 2-3 cons I've been to. I also just dont really see many people doing anything new? I did meet a lady making hand painted mugs though, she was cool I really liked that.
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.
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.
i feel you- from the artist side, sometimes it feels so futile to advertise because even when we do post about events no one sees it LMAO x~x
This video was super interesting and as someone who been selling anime figures at conventions since 2022. What's made me frustrated these pass years is the influx of "cute sticker businesses/artists" like everyone complains about hoyoverse but nobody is complaining ALL the "chibi, kawaii" tables.
7:40 To play the devil in this video for a second. Cosplayer, VA, content creator (vtuber, streamer, youtuber) guests are SUPER important to convention runners (i work with a local convention runner and he said the same goes for "most" show runners) and make about 30% of ticket sales. Arguably, that 30% of attendees aren't gonna buy from artists or vendors but it's better for that 30% to know that you exist then not knowing at all from my experience.
thanks for playing devils advocate- you're 100% correct and people turn up ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE VTUBERS. Ultimately, they're not for me which is mainly just a part of why cons are not the place FOR ME but when I was editing I felt like I was repeating that too much lmao. its important to bring up too because it sounds like attendees are feeling really split on cons- if half of them are really into these things, amd the other half aren't at all, idk what that means lmao
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)
i totally understand why artists would rather build up an online presence. I think doing that and attending a bigger cons AA would be a good strategy. One artist that i loved had a line at her both that was comparable to the line I stood in at the ATLUS both for Persona lanyards and photos.
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
i feel like cringe culture kind of played a hand in why we don't get "weird nonsense" in artist alleys anymore (i mean, besides stuff like the ballooning costs of tabling, "normies" invading the scene, etc...). everyone is afraid of being laughed at on the internet for having the confidence to sell weird stuff.
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.
i've also been in AA for like 10-11 years now and the fact i could make more money selling buttons and prints maybe a few charms in 2017 than i do now selling T Shirts, manufactured prints, plushies, etc. says alot about the shift. i feel like pre 2020 you couldn't buy anime merch in any meaningful way outside of maybe hot topic? bootleg amazon? maybe a few manga in target? now i feel like everyones game has had to step up to the level of a big box store in terms of item quality if not better in order to even have their foot in the door. unless their art is strong enough to stand on it's own as a print only place. and applying for events was definitely easier/cheaper, i only do AA for like 4-5 events a year but trying to make your whole living off cons is just not as realistic as it once felt it could be. I'm definitely re-evaluating what kind of events i want to do? my art leans into gym apparel and fitness so im kind of looking at fit expos n stuff to try and sell at.
Emirichu did a video about a con that’s just one massive artist alley, I know that craft fairs and art markets exist but nothing on the scale shown in her video and I’d love to see cons like that appear in the outside of Japan. Ideally in the UK because that’s where I live.
Oh is it the design festa one? I saw that/have talked about that a lot with people! As someone who identifies as a (accessories) designer moreso than illustrator, design festa is like a dream. Im in the USA and I just dont think it would work here- we're all too isolated. I bet the UK is similar ;-;
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.
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.
AA artist since around 2005 or so, if this comment reaches you and you dont mind, where have you been going instead? Ive been trying to get a foot in the door in other types of markets but Im not even sure where to begin searching. Im old so they used to be called "craft shows" when i was younger, I niched down too close to the sun and now I havnt had my finger on the pulse of the catagories of vending events in a long time.
while i still spend usually around $300+ individually at a convention, that is usually my One Big Thing of the year, so depending how you cut it thats not a lot. I struggle to find things that connect me to the culture i desire. like you say in 5:00 . im only 23 and have been to 3 conventions lol but i dont think cons are dying; the crowds are So Huge. but i do think theyre doing Other things. i think people are buying less, i think people are a little more broke..
I recently went to Otakon, and it felt very monotone. very similar. a lot of hoyoverse (big sad). . ifyou go to a "big" convention, you will likely meet an artist multiple times. thats okay, but it also lacks variety. You can tell there is something stopping diversity. i think many people ignore OC content, ESPECIALLY if its not to their specific art style liking. its a little sad.
a lot of the vendors ignored me, which, i have no hate to them, i worked retail all my life, artist alley is still "retail" and i know how it is from an artist pov as ive vended before. and yes, it sucks. it seems like everyone is getting tired, but i also think thats because of how life is getting in terms of expense.
Then, i go to Holiday Matsuri, a more local, smaller, to my state convention, and i find So. Much. More. So much more diversity, love, creation, and connection. people seemed much Happier there.
i would like to see a less "company" view on conventions or like you said art markets, etc.
something i noticed in otakon was a fight for a "gimmick" a booth gacha, a booth badge, a booth photocard, etc. that seems tiring. and expensive. an artist shouldnt have to gameify their passion and store for the average consumer. (beyond something like tip jar wars, those are not costly)
i personally want to do more events as an artist, but i also think i will stick small. it seems conventions dont actually care to represent many artists and instead what brings the crowd. i love ground work as an artist as i love connection, but if it wasnt for that i probably wouldnt.
very insightful video thank you!!
From what I've heard, Otakon, specifically, is trying to become the AX of the East Coast. And AX is very industry-heavy. Far less creativity, for fans, by fans, stuff.
I'm so glad to hear that about HolMat! I do think the small cons I went to in the last couple years had more of that vibe as well.
One think I wanted to comment on was artists being rude to you and the note that it's still retail- you're spot on! I've worked in the service industry and yapping with strangers is just a part of the job. There's ways to be an artist without interacting with customers, AA is not one of those ways lol and I know it sucks and is hard and draining to do, but it's part of the job u-u ive heard people complain about entire alleys with rude/cold artists like this and IT REALLY DOES TURN PEOPLE OFF FROM SHOPPING like we're all responsible for the vibes. you don't have to be a social butterfly, just be kind u-u
I totally agree, especially with the otakon part. I’ve attended otakon and other dmv area cons for years now and it saddens me to see them all kind of just blend together? Especially with artist alley and vendors all selling more and more similar merchandise every year. also the artists have absolutely gotten more tired or something because I rarely don’t get entirely ignored at their stands anymore, which is understandable. I hope I can get out of my state to go to a con like holmat but plane tickets are rough
There was a time where I would've loved to vend at an AA at an Anime con...but now, Im older (millenial age), and I don't draw much anime fanart anymore. I prefer to draw my own original characters, maybe some Final Fantasy stuff (which I don't think is super popular)..so Im better off vending at smaller events, which Ive done all last year. The table fees at smaller events are less expensive, and I get to see different types of art, not just anime stuff. Hell, I barely go to anime cons anymore, and if I do, its to work staff, not as an attendee.
So I get where youre coming from.
FF is very prominent at AAs. Especially 7 and 14.
honestly that’s why i really want to go to places like Design Festa in Japan bc it seems to lively there and a genuine appreciation of the arts (Emirichu made a lil video series visiting there and all three times i just adored it) like genuinely it’s amazing to see so many artist from so many backgrounds just exist in one place
also additive thing Design Festa needs you to be original with your work, even cosplayers need to not do media already created, it is a place for homegrown art and artists who aren’t similar
Same with COMITIA! I went multiple times when I lived in Japan! Only original work is allowed there. I purchased so many original comics each time, and I would love to make some myself. American art and storytelling might become better if there were such things here.
As an *attendee* my main issue with artists alleys at ANIME cons is the lack of ANIME merch. No offense, but I don't want current tiktok trends, pride flags, pronouns, and AI-generated trash. I want to see an artist's UNIQUE ORIGINAL IDEAS, ANIME merch, GAMING merch, funny lmao internet meme merch. I don't mind anime-of-the-season merch as long as it's in their own original style. I do highly dislike the super clean, generic, popular Instagram style. (You know what I mean...) I still go to anime cons and go straight to the artist's alley, but I'm finding it hard to find the stuff I used to find 10+ years ago. I used to go to cons for all 3 - 4 days, but I normally only go for 1 day. Hell, even Anime Expo has gone down in quality and I'll never get to experience the golden age of AX. Anime conventions aren't dying, but they're losing what made them special imo. The price increase sucks too... sigh. It sucks that anime cons have gone down in enjoyment for both the artists and the attendees.
tbh i used to love cons but the past few i've been to....sucked. the normies have ruined it. make anime weird again :/
MAWA :P
@ i forgot what i commented and i thought you gave me a little kiss 😭
Dude I’ve been going to cons since I was like 7 and if definitely noticed the change even when it comes to comic-cons like there’s a bunch of very average looking people looking at me and other cosplayers like freaks while their in line for some big time actor while all theee amazing comic artist and one of the artist from one of the most og recognizable venoms art styles is in the corner selling his autograph for ten bucks with some prints!? Like the COMIC artists of COMI-con are being practically ignored and then there’s a booth right by with drop shipping just over all artist alley has been so gained I’ve spoken to other artist about it once I can actually find someone who’s not a drop shipper and we speak on it and how I always wanted to be a con/expo booth artist but it’s not even worth it anymore it just rly sucks man.
about the “i went to x con and they only have content from y and z and its harder to find niche stuff” other than like the import vendors (whatever to call them?) when i went to awa i checked every single table and of the hundreds i saw like Four with any yuri 😭 i think its as you said though where its like they must be marketing to different brackets than you as a consumer, and i assume that too bc i do like niche stuff, but even some popular stuff id expect was there wasnt!
thank fuck someone said it. I've been feeling crazy
haha ive been having little conversations all year and im like ok let me just....say it a little louder.... and see where we're all at.... especially from people that have one to two decades to compare to!
I've been feeling that across all types of cons~
Even the more niche furry cons have started to balloon and I've seen a lot of anime artists enter into that fandom trying to fill where the AA markets are starting to lack for them, which in turn has made furry cons crazy competitive now too.
Thankfully I'm finding more success in that market than I am at anime cons to the point that I stopped applying for anime cons all together.
It was crazy times when you could get an AA booth and badge for under $100. lol
I'm glad to hear the digital marketing was really working for you!
Dude I've seen a few people pivot to furry cons this year and sometimes it feels so disingenuous, and similarly seeing longtime furry artists not getting into cons!
yeah now we're paying 500 badges not included for some reason lmaoooo i get that prices go up but it so quickly becomes obviously not worth it
i still love going to conventions (and i've even started to host panels!!) but i for sure hear what you're saying. i think my biggest gripe with recent cons is before the pandemic, you wouldnt have to rely on whatever overpriced crap the con or hotel provided, because there would be food trucks! and it was one of my favorite parts, but after the pandemic we're lucky to even get one....this is particularly a problem at anime frontier, because the convention center food is....well, aside from the pretzel, i just dont trust it, because one year i tried the fried rice and when i tell you it was the absolute worst fried rice of my LIFE, it was so bad i couldnt even finish it.....please bring back food trucks!!
I love seeing niche and less popular artwork at artist alleys (especially original art), but I don't blame anyone for making popular fanart of series (even if it's overdone) because artists still need to make their money and people simply buy what they like, which happens to be what's popular at the moment (most of the time).
Over the years, I have changed from someone who used to attend conventions for the cosplay and other events like panels etc. into someone who goes to cons almost exclusively to see the artist alley and dealer's room (mainly artist alley), and everything else is secondary. I am aware that I'm the minority of convention goers who do this; however, I believe that this trend will continue to grow as the older generation of the convention subculture (I'm a millennial) gains a greater appreciation for art/artists, and become less interested in the activities primarily enjoyed by the younger crowd.
Eventually there's going to be a huge shift.
Plus the older crowd (such as myself) have a lot more money that we are willing to spend on things like art to decorate our homes, add to our collections, and just admire and appreciate VS kids who may not fully acknowledge the value of work artists can produce.
To me, places like artist alleys are a goldmine of creativity and happiness. I could spend literally the entire convention time in there, especially since I have a bank account exclusively labeled "For Artist Alley ONLY." 🤣
It’s tough; feels like artists need to collaborate and make the alley ‘mobile’, or their own, but then the cons provide the fans/footfall…
Reminds me of what’s happening on Etsy.
I like the sound of the ‘artists first’ market you mentioned
Dude yes! This totally makes sense. I just started doing cons again this year but I did do a few in 2018 and it was sooo different back then. I do love going to artist alleys now and finding those gem artists that stand out though. Loved your video!
Hey! I use to DIY cosplays and go to pretty much all comic & anime cons in Australia since 2010. Same thing is occurring here in Australia. Our artist alleys used to be amazing, and found some really unique art. Now it has become more difficult to find different artists, with a majority of the crafted products not being handmade. Really sad stuff as everyone appreciates artists.
Just did AWA and it was...pretty awful for all artists
oh my god ive only heard horror stories from AWA this year i feel terrible for every artist and business that went
They literally doubled the size of the exhibition hall without doubling the size of the con attendance, don't know why they didn't think that would be an issue. I get they couldn't stay at the galleria but they definitely bit off more than they could chew with this new location. Also, kind of sucks that our 2 major anime cons are both in the same giant boring building now.
My first time attending a con was in 2008 as an attendee and the culture feels completely different.
I started artist alley in 2019
I joined at an awful time. It was my dream to join the artist alley but it after doing a few it just doesnt feel worth it.
The only upside i feel now is meeting everyone and reconnecting with other artists.
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.
I would honestly love this. I hope something like this can happen where Im at
I started going to cons in 2009 and tabling in 2015 and I feel you. I honestly don’t think we’re the target audience anymore. I grew up in it and am sad to see it happen, and just trying to redefine what it all means to me now.
I also do a lot of original art now and niche fandoms I want to see represented. It makes me stand out but I definitely miss out on the money that would come from keeping up with the current big thing!
I used to do artist alley, starting back around 2010-2011. My last one was in 2016, even then I saw some of the points you brought up, especially the lack of variety in AA. I agree about the application process, it’s terrible. And I hadn’t thought of it before but you made a good point about the rise of popularity for anime changing things. Great video!
I went to a local anime con a couple months back, and tbh they should’ve called it Helluva Con, because the artist alley was overwhelmingly Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel merch. That and all the re-sellers. Meanwhile I only found 2 artists selling Dungeon Meshi prints.
The big London comic con that I used to vend at now has their dealer tables going for £700+ if you're 'lucky' enough to get a spot. They can keep them.
I’ve been doing cons for ten years, sewing for twenty. There’s been shifts and ebbs and flows in that time. I do feel another change is coming, but also I have never felt more appreciation for my big handmade plush pieces as I had in 2024. I feel like people are really appreciating handmade more than ever before to that point I’m pulling back from manufacturing any plush aside from my keychain jellyfish. But I do feel I am still finding growth and I just enjoy doing this. But I also do have brony cons and furry cons thrown in alongside the anime so because of that it stays fresh. I start missing anime by the time it’s time for the next one and so that variety really helps. All I know is I’ll be here doing cons until my body no longer allows me. I love doing them. I did feel I spent less in cons myself this year than any other. I just found less things I wanted to buy. Suppose that was good for my wallet haha!
4:37 This is true of furry conventions these days too, from my experience. Attendance has skyrocketed from pre-pandemic levels, and that's hurt by the smaller cons that died. there's fewer cons to go to right now, so those few cons have way MORE people, and way more applicants to their artist alleys and vendor halls too. So artists that used to make vending at furry cons their living are struggling not only because of the economy in general, but also because it's harder than ever to get into conventions.
I got burnt out after a decade working artist alley fulltime because of the reasons you listed. It's relieving to hear I'm not the only person who feels this way about the scene now.
i totally agree we need more curated diy markets for artists
At animenyc last year i actually had an amazing time with artist alley, this summer was the first time I’ve been to a con in ages because I was too anxious to really enjoy them when I got into it ages back. But I def agree it felt way too homogenous in subject. Every booth had something genshin, hazbin, or digital circus. And yeah a lot of it was good but it was tricky to find stuff that branched out. But it is there if you look! Def feel anime is losing its unique appeal due to mainstream attention sorta sanding down its more defining traits as a medium but we’ll see how things progress. Great vid!
So I personally retired from artist alley like almost 10 years ago, after doing it for 10 years (gawd I'm old) because a lot of my favorite cons got bought up by event companies and were no longer owned and run by anime fans. The tables double in price and got smaller. We used to get 8ft tables now 6ft is the standard, ugh. I do miss tabling at cons because I like that personal interaction you get as an artist with other people that you can't quite get online. BUT omg I had the same feeling you are talking about like yeas ago before it got THIS bad and I'm impressed you kept at it for this long honestly. I'm thinking stupidly of trying cons again BUT I'm eyeing local art shows or smaller cons if the table price is within my budget. It also needs to be within 1 hr driving distance and I'm lucky that I live in a city that has a lot of events going on in general and is known for local art and music.Thankfully I don't have to chase after making what is popular to make sales, because it wouldn't be my main source of income. Because let's be honest everyone is doing the same thing in artist alley because that is what sells. I'm going to making merch of niche shows and games I like, market it online to those communities. And then when i have a con do a limited run f those items.
3:41 this. 3:48 THIS. Ever since i was 14 going to cons since 08 its always been this way with artist alleys and when tumblr blew up the art became even more homogeneous. Its like every era
I've been pretty lucky with local cons having decent indie artists with the niche things I'm into, I don't watch anime so it's really exciting to find things I like out in the wild. There was a local cup sleeve event for Transformers and it was so much fun! Everybody was really nice and it turns out one of my fav indie Transformers artist was local!
First of all, hi! I didn’t expect to see you pop up on my TH-cam suggested! 💖
Secondly, this video reflects a lot of what I’ve been thinking not just about artist alleys, but anime cons in general.
Not only has the variety of artists gone down, but so has the variety in content overall. As someone who brings music and panels to conventions, it’s like pulling teeth to get a chunk of time at a con. Competing with VTubers, VAs, and the same new anime panels is exhausting.
I feel like conventions these days are focused more on profit over community, and that’s especially true of newer events that started after covid hit. We’ve been losing a lot of long running non-profit events and the difference in the way these for-profit events are run is so blatantly obvious.
I hope I can make it to some of your pop ups this year!
Thank you for this video, Im an artist alley artist since 2005 and have been really struggling this year with the lack of sales, lack of interest, low attendance and even lack of feedback (I can usually shrug off a low sales con if i made some cool connections while vending) after anime dallas I had a huge breakdown about it and ive been trying to really re-route and recover what it means to be an artist with anime influences and how to find my home again in a space after conventions got sucky.
Its really validating to know this isnt a unique experience to to hear some of what other artists are doing to keep from "going down with the ship" more or less. Please keep making videos and if you find some more types of venues that work better for sales and lead to more personal connections I think the greater AA community would love to hear about them.
As a comic creator, I can attest to it being realy bad on even just the general creator side. Conventions stay afloat on the backs of artists and table rates are outrageous for some cons. There's like 5 shows in the US that justify a table rate over $250...but even small cons are asking this.
As more of a craftsman than an artist I can relate to this (I make tabletop gaming stuff and epoxy resin furniture). I stopped selling my dice rollers because so many copied the design 😅 heck maybe someone came up with the idea before i did. Cons back in the 2010s just hit different. You always saw something new and unique in every AA. Now it feels totally different
The convention circuit definitely has changed - there are a lot more artists who want to 'cash in' on making their own products, AI/art theft, lack of personability from customers and vendors, ( like everyone boasts about being introverted and flipping out if a vendor talks to them and vice versa), inflation; the pricing of the tables for artists/vendors to be there; having a social media presence and etc etc. as well as artists all doing the same goddamn produc tlike 50 million vendors with acrylic charms or enamel pins but nothing else.
It wasn't that fun and becomes stressful when you're trying to get in to + have an interesting set up which also costs $$$$ to buy/transport + make ends meet / make the costs of travel and table back and etc
The application process is so frustrating. I have a spreadsheet just of app opening and closing dates so i can stay on top of things!
I feel the same way we’ve been in artist alley for 10 years now and it’s just such a financial risk for a bad con. Our most expensive base booth has been $700! I would have never imagined to ever spend that much on artists alley. It makes me sad that we will probably have to dial back because the jfashion community isn’t really represented anymore and it’s killing us financially.
Our 2025 plan was vending again but we have only managed to get in 3 events for the entire year and one is a one day event 😭 definitely leaning into digital marketing for sure this year.
On top of that is seem like so many cons are being run poorly we were scammed like 3 times last year and one event didn’t even happen.
Im from a smaller country that has mabye 6-3 cons a year but since we are small its also useally the same people at every con so the big struggle for the community here is not a over use of the same fanart/characters (sometimes we do cross fandoms but we all got our niches) but that we stuggle to keep up! every con we basically need an entierly new catalog! since our old one has already been seen by all those who go to the con and if we dont have anything new how will we keep thier eyes on our work?
I've been making money off my art since I was about 20. I've been doing events for 10 years (with a large break from 2015-2018, and consistently for the last 3 years.) I sell on Etsy and have a few passive income sources. I do pop ups and markets, probably about 8-10 a year. My numbers were awful in 2024. I have been quiet quitting, too, but I don't think I've realized that. I LOVE grinding... but I'm not going to put in a LOT of work if a little work brings the same results. Problem is, I like working. But it's not fulfilling other than just enjoying the work myself. But that's doesn't help my diminished savings account.
I don't have a lot of anime art, and I've only tabled at one comic/anime con combo event in a medium metro area. I have some kawaii art. I also have unique, colorful animal paintings.
I’ve been struggling a lot with conventions lately, I’m lucky to break even with all my merch. Not to mention the jury system is tiresome since the portfolio requirement is ridiculous since its against thousands of artists with the bloated table prices. I remember many of these cons would cost about 125$-200$ at most for a weekend, now its half a grand per table.
Don’t get me started on the rules againsr table shares! Its so much harder to start off as an artist compared to back then.
I barely do anime fan art anymore because by the time I draw it its everywhere or out of fashion, or youre placed in a “bad” spot because the cons overbloated their artist alleys for the sake of greed
not to mention it's just a bunch of junk now, when almost half the vendors are just whole sale resell items instead of actual small businesses that make their own cool stuff. Sucks the fun out of everything sometimes.
At the cons I went to this year I made my own stickers and gave them out to artists in artist alleys to give them a lil seratonin boost because *damn* the conditions are getting bad for folks in them
As someone who has never gone to an anime con but is planning to go to one in 2025, I'm a bit scared now 😭
It's been a few years since I last went to an anime con and I've been considering whether or not I wanna go to the big one near me this year or not. This video has given me a lot to think about in a good way. Last year I ended up going to something called The Anime Rave, it's a kinda traveling event that goes to different cities, and it was really really fun. It felt a lot like the anime raves I went to as a teen in the 00s-10s. Probably because being an adults only event, there were plenty of people my age there. It's harder to be active in the anime community now cuz it feels so hard to find other people my age who still like the same old stuff I tend to prefer over a lot of newer titles. Like you said, it's so hard to really find the more niche stuff represented anywhere and it's really disheartening especially if you aren't a fan of what's popular.
I've been attending cons since 2009, and everything you've said is so true from the perspective of just a regular attendee. The past few times I've gone to cons, I've only been interested in artists like you who don't cater to specific fanart. But maybe it's because I'm also getting older and am less interested in the most popular series of the time. Either way, I'm totally at peace going to fewer cons now and just supporting artists I like online.
1. LOVE seeing another artist who does TH-cam and wears EGL
2...my actual thoughts. I've only just done my first year in artist alley so I can't yet give a strong opinion, but I have been attending for 10+ years also and agree, it just isn't the same anymore.
I do also wonder if I'm just not their target audience anymore (because after a few years, you really have seen it all!) Is there a potential oversaturation of these kind of events? but I mainly wonder/think about how much of this is financial.
Would absolutely love to see a rise in Illustration and Craft events though, a place where people go to buy actively buy hand made goods whether it be fandom or otherwise.
Your stuff is so cute btw and I'm eyeing your pink bat bag HARD!
I had to take a break from tabling because of how overwhelming and oversaturated everything felt. Chasing trends, making a bunch of new stuff only to risk it not getting attention, and being surrounded by non-stop anime art and even copy-paste meme "art" gets really stressful after a while.
I finally became a full time artist Feb 2024 and did a few conventions and other events. I did 50 events in total and 19 were a complete bust and I lost over $1,100 in table costs. 😢 Not to mention all the time during the events, prep and all the art I sold that got eaten up in table costs.
My brief attendances to anime cons in high school and early college was 2012-2016. My dream back then was to vend at artist alleys, but circumstances didn’t permit it. Then I grew out of anime in a fandom sense, moved back into some more tangible hobbies, and really cut back on video games. I’d thought that my dreams shifted, and that anime cons were a total thing of the past for me because I “outgrew” anime for the most part. Until….
I realized exactly where the marriage point on the Venn diagram of all my hobbies lie for my art business. I feel over the moon about my product plans. I was really excited to maybe try some artist alleys just to prove to my younger self that things can come full circle, even if they look different (and better) than you imagined them. Then all of my current research is full of advice on the death of artist alley in general.
I really appreciate your real chat on this. It’s given me pause and a realistic expectation. But it’s also encouraging that MAYBE my botanicals will be something new and different enough to stand out and be worthwhile to vend. It’s also reassuring that I want to enter AA’s as a side thing from my own original places instead of banking on them. Great video!! I really really wish you and all of the viewers luck in 2025.
I'm an artist who only had the guts to start vending this year, but have been attending cons since 07. I agree with all of your statements. Things have changed considerably. The art is all the same, the plagerized merch is on display for all to see, and most people only show up to see the celebrity actors (for bigger cons) and ignore AA all together. It makes for a depressing (and not very cost effective experience).
I'm a vendor and vendor room coordinator for a niche con, not anime, but yes - the past few years have difficult. I noticed when cons came back in 2021/2022, attendees were thrilled to have cons back, and sales were good. But the past two years sales, my sales have dipped lower than before the pandemic.
On the event organizer side of things, prices have gone up everywhere. Rentals, hotels, insurance, printing, etc. So the cost of tables and booths have been raised to adjust for this. But now your con attendee is also paying higher prices for tickets, travel, hotel, food, etc. It deeply cuts into what extra money someone has for AA or the vendor room.
Also, the fandom our con is for has a very DIY community, so as an artist or vendor, you need to have something really unique to earn those sales. But yes, the pain is real, costs are up and sales are lagging, and it really sucks for both artists and attendees.
It's really interesting because I completely agree that this is super apparent with Anime cons, however, every gaming con I've been at still has the really fun community convention feel that I grew up with lmfao. Luckily there are still some small cons in my area that also feel like a blast from the past and less cooperate!
Applications suck. Some want intensive portfolios - link every social or link to a specify website dedicated to showcasing your art and table displays. It’s hard when on mobile / phone cuz sometimes you’ll be at another show applying to one as another show just dropped their apps and sometimes they’re fcfs so you’re typing as fast as you can but again some are not mobile phone friendly. Others make you apply almost a year out but don’t get back to you until like the month of the show. So unless you plan on hotel and other travel in advance they may be sold out or super expensive. Some apps charge your card right away. Refunding you later which is like wtf. Others ask for your card to charge upon acceptance but we all apply to as many shows as we can and some shows overlap so that stinks when you either get in or don’t but now have to deal with potentially picking and choosing which show to go to if you got into multiple on the same weekends.
The sameness of art I feel that. And I’ve gotten lucky as I drew some older series - soul eater and ouran host. So some people get excited cuz I offer older stuff. But to be fair we draw the most current trends cuz that’s what people want. Before they get over saturated by stores like target, hot topic and Boxlunch we try to ride the high of the hype of said popular new shows. If it makes us money we make it. It’s also why we do series like Genshin - the company is ok with fanart and it’s still popular. So a win win.
That's a big problem for me too! I hate how they wait until basically the last second to say if you got accepted or not! I realize they probably have a lot of applicants to go through but I can't help but think that there must be a better way to get results out sooner?
thank you so much for your comment- it was impossible to touch on all the ways applications suck because it's crazy how much the process sucks, but you really nailed it lol
Before Covid, I helped vend tastypeach at an anime con and I loved it! You’re so right!! It was a collection of niche! There were so many homemade fun cosplays and original characters! I went to a con last year and I saw so much of the same cosplays, merch, characters. Honestly this video is so validating to me because I thought I was getting old and misremembering how wonderful cons were lol
I started doing Artist Alley in 2023 and it was SO MUCH FUN and I was super excited to do it again in 2024 only for 2024 to completely steamroll me. The vibes were off, people either didn't attend the same cons I did in 2023 or just weren't buying. It was so awful and I lost so much time and money just traveling around locally. I'm taking 2025 off after just starting and loving it so much.
I’m just so bad at the digital marketing, and it feels like places like IG are just harder to actually get seen on than ever 😭 I also think 2024 was just a particularly bad con year, so Idk if it’s all that good for comparison, but Idk if 2025 is going to be any better…… I’m going to give some more cons a try this year, but Idk, making your own small curated events is really sounding like the way to go, I think you’re right
especially if you ARE focusing so much effort on online marketing to grow a following there, driving them to your own popups or more niche events makes sense!
fwiw I think you're doing great marketing!! agian, nothing i did in 2023 "popped off" in any spectacular way, but it paid off steadily in the end! this year I'm spending time looking at my own content and looking at people i admire's content and asking myself how i can push my own comfort zone.
@ Thank you, I’m glad it’s looking good! I’ve just had much better online sales years in the past, so even without hoping for vitality, online sales just never took off this year unfortunately. But I think the approach you’re talking about sounds great, just trying new things and getting yourself out of your box! I’ll have to try challenging myself, too!
I can only speak from my experience. But vending cons when traveling alone is so fkn hard. Outside of the setup and tear down each day, being at the hall 2 hours before and after each day, bribing people to get you food or to watch over your stuff to go to the bathroom, and the ever increasing price of tables. Whats not to love?
PREACH! As someone who has been attending cons for the same about as time as you and in the process of growing an art business. conventions have changed so much! I get appealing to a newer audience to stay afloat, but the newer scene hits different.
I am so glad you mentioned how marketing helped your business more and how you have essentially grown out of the target demographics for most anime conventions! There is nothing wrong with that at all. At the end of hte day we have to do what is best for our businesses.. and if anime cons aint it no more than its time to make adjustments. So glad you made this video.
As someone building an art business I have already felt like where I want to be does not 100% align with selling at anime conventions. I want to do more of the original art than fanart but I include fanart because I still want to create art of the series I am super into and I know it will sell( plus I can connect with fellow fans through them)
Times are a changing 🤔
I used to do cons from like 2012-2014 and it was super fun. I've been thinking of getting back into it but all the "guides" I've been finding on how to do artist alley nowadays make it sound so overwhelming and I'm really not down for how much social media you're expected to do. I'm a hermit lol. Also all these artists have the exact same style of boba tea with a happy face on it if you know what I mean so I get the impression that AA now looks very samey and also that I wouldn't really fit in with the young kawaii social-savvy girlies. Do you have any thoughts on comic cons, furry cons, gamer cons etc? Were they any different?
Honestly, it’s a big shame that conventions and art alleys lately have been such downhill. The last few anime conventions I went to had the same problem. There will be at least 10 “maybe” of actual artist and the rest of it. It’s just a bunch of random anime stuff. Not even sticking to the theme just random anime stuff. One of them was a horror anime convention, and there was only about five unique artists that actually had good and cool stuff. The rest of it was just random anime junk. And then the last big convention I went to was a cat convention. It was honestly probably the worst one I went to because there was barely anyone or anything there. But there was about five or six booths selling AI cats… and that’s a whole other problem with the AI art.
I only started tabling in 2023 and I agree with a lot of what you said. In 2024 I tables 10 events and more than half of those were serious duds (didn’t come close to making table, and it was a mix of different themes of cons).
In 2025 I’m definitely doing less events and going to try the online marketing more.
I would seriously love more like individual pop ups. Sounds like fun!
I actually just got back from holmat; there were so many artists doing popular things and while I definitely understand why and many of the artists do love the things they're drawing, I came home with tons more original art *and* cards to purchase more originals from (I had already spent 1100$ at AA and could not physically justify spending more than that at one convention). I cannot stress how much more excited I was when I would walk to a booth and see something creepy or gorey that I loved and ask the artist if it was from a fandom. Usually if it was, it meant it was something I couldn't justify purchasing because if I didn't know the fandom, then it feels "weird". But whenever they told me no it's just original art, I would get a thousand times more excited and often buy it. I left the convention with more original art than fandom art; there was some fandom art but it's for a fandom that I've been in since like 2018 and honestly it became more difficult to purchase that because of how that fandom originally wasn't allowed to make merch for profit (so everything originally had to be paid for production which meant it was extremely cheap) so I have a hard time with that.
I think there's definitely a cultural shift; there's been a massive cultural shift in fandom since it became much more mainstream. I've been attending conventions since 2008 and I don't think cons are dying insofar as the people running the convention are often times not running it for the right reasons which trickles down into the AA, cosplayers and panelists. I do think the world we live in is definitely affecting things.... it's just... all around an awful couple of years with all the economic crisis we're all dealing with
One thing I wish was mentioned in this video is the office politics that happen in Artist Alley and how some people should not be running cons.
I have seen first hand an AA head being extremely awful to an artist because they hated the artist. On top of being awful, they discriminated against the artist, who is trans, disabled and can't list heavy objects, by refusing to send staff to help them carry their inventory and displays to their table and using the incorrect pronouns. This AA head complained about the artist the entire con weekend.
Another instance is a con head falsely advertised the table and space we artists would receive. I brought the concern up to the con head, with screenshots and proof of my payment. Their response was essentially “if you don’t like it, leave.” The same con doesn’t want any victims of sexual assault or harassment taking their concerns to social media, as said on their website.
Same, spent at least 6=7 years doing it full-time only to realize.....I'm losing money doing this but more importantly......I'm not having fun any more :/
For me, artist alley for anime and comic shows has changed. A lot or fan art is generic, or AA is filled with acrylic charms. No one wants to create anything new (comic, etc). A lot of the Anime shows are not run by fans anymore. Just greedy trade show people.
I'm not sure if anime cons are dying or if they're just evolving. A lot is changing rapidly in these spaces and communities and I just hope it's for the better.
I definitely agree with you about being very selective in the events you go to. I tried different things last year and decided after hearing other people talk about their experiences with packing their year full of cons and markets, that it's probably better to keep it to a smaller number and leave time and focus for other parts of the business like creating and marketing. I'm still gonna apply to some bigger events I think are worth it and a few local small events, but I agree that I don't think it's worth it to fill the calendar year with so much that probably doesn't have enough return.
Ugh yes the curation of AA. I too have heard a lot of complaints that it's too samey in art style and subject matter/themes. I attended a con and basically skipped over a lot of tables because they either weren't my style or were a pokemon or genshin table. (no offense, just not for me) A lot of artists had a very similar style which didn't encourage me to actually spend time looking at everything (especially since it was so hard to move in that room) There were a few stand outs that i really appreciated, but I was really disappointed that there wasn't more variety. I was also disappointed in the skill levels there, and I don't mean this to be mean, but when I'm buying something I do want it to be at least a certain level. There was another con I have vended at a few times that keeps increasing it's AA size even though attendance is very slow to grow and every year they have people pack up on the second and third day early and don't seem to learn that their artist to attendee ratio is off. Some cons either don't care and just want your money and will let in anyone to fill up the space... and some cons need better staff to realize the problems and correct it. Speaking as someone who has never been in a convention staff position, they really need to have better people in the AA application area to properly sift through and curate a good mix of quality products and aritsts. I'm okay if they cap off applications to make it easier. I'm okay if they do part curated and a small part lottery to allow the chance of first timers in. I'm not okay when they don't seem to put in the effort to ensure both the artists and attendees have a good time and want to return.
Personally I am looking more and more into retail spaces. I'm reaching out to more businesses to get my product into their shops because It's easier in the long run than booking and attending conventions. Art collectives do seem to be appearing more and more around the country.
I have seen some small businesses do pop ups centered around certain themes and series and I'd LOVE to see more of that. makes it easier to find your target audience and maybe find new friends.
Tbh, yeah. Artists alley has sucked but so has the regular vendor room. It’s all temu/ali express crap, poorly made 3D printed stuff, and 50,000 pop vinyl figures. I’ve even seen in the artist alley now very clearly AI art being sold. It makes me not want to go anymore, especially with entry tickets being so expensive ($65+ for one day). I try to go to panels etc, but I hate the audience Q&A sessions because without a doubt at least 10 people will queue in line with no questions but just to gush about how the celeb has ‘saved their life’ and how much they love them. Maybe I’m horrible IDK but I don’t care about you…I’m here to hear the celeb tell us stupid behind the scenes stories. 😂
My local con isnt too too bad. I see some of stuff you're talking about but I think the main thing that keeps it from slipping is that the people running my local jfashion comm have a strong foot in the door. If that ever changes tho I can see myself not attending.
Something I do appreciate about newer conventions is that kids and teens have to have an adult chaperone. I started attending cons in the late 2000s/early 2010s before that was implemented and it was a mess.
100% trash now. I have been selling for 18 years. The entire con system sucks now. I only do 10x10 or 10x20 booths. Artist alley or anything at these shows is not worth it now.
I’ve been attending the London comic con for 20 years now and I’ve noticed at least in the last 5 years it’s changed a lot.
I enjoy buying the comics and manga artists sell but recently it’s become less and less. You see more people selling prints and stickers of this seasons hottest anime, which I’m not against, I’m happy for Dandadan stickers, but it’s just fan art. I came for original content.
I liked to browse AA as someone without super specific goals in what I’m looking for, I still have a few pieces that were eye catching with no correlation to fandom. I kind of prefer those I think...
Animecon artist alley and alike for the past 10 years just spam flavor of the month popular fan art in the same three styles, weird indie stuff no one likes, and overall safe boring stuff. I like fan art as much as the next person but I want some cool original stuff. Also some people were selling ai art at Comic Con AA. They were pretending like they were hand made, lol. Some poor sap bought one, and I told them it was AI art. They didn’t care.
Up til earlier this month, Pittsburgh’s Tekko was the only con i’d ever gone to , two years in a row and both times i was stunned by how. like… lame it was. all the fanart i saw looked so similar that i found myself comparing prices of almost identical-seeming art which felt… weird. like that is *not* the situation i envisioned.
and the artists didn’t seem like they were enjoying themselves at all! i mean interacting with a lot of people like that is probably rather tiring and overwhelming, but i don’t know. the whole thing just felt devoid of any actual passion.
i dunno what the “norm” is because again, i am pretty new to attending these kinds of things and i’ve never been on the vendor side of things, but i do know that i was so disappointed by the lack of atmosphere that i was almost tempted to just cancel the plans travel i’d made for Galaxycon in Columbus earlier this month (thankfully, i couldn’t get refunds and it ended up being a blast!)
But if this is becoming a trend with anime conventions, then I don’t know. That… sucks.
oh my god "comparing prices of almost identical-seeming art" like that should NEVER HAPPEN AT A MARKET LOL i get having a budget but I think as a showrunner, if you have artists that are so similar that customers are literally having to do this, you've mega failed as a curator.
There have always been cons that suck and cons that have atmosphere and fun- i wish I knew what the future was but I think people who care about curation and atmosphere should focus their energy on events that arent "anime cons" just for the sake of being anime cons
I am going to a lot of larger events as an artist this year. Last year I didn't do as many. I am curious to see how it changes things this year
I agree! I've been doing Artist Alley since 2014, started attending conventions in 2006 when I was a kid. My favorite events now are not corporate owned with focus on community. I'm trying to avoid a lot of corporate shows since they're so soul-less. I still make the most at Anime cons, despite doing other types of markets & events - even without doing a lot of Anime fan art. 🤷♀
I'm worried about buying AI art at artist alley that isn't labeled as such. Is that a real concern?
Another commenter mentioned doing Oddity events and I’ve been eyeing them recently. I was suppressing my surrealistic art to focus on my cartoony stuff over the last 4 years. I totally agree with this video and recently decided, well if I’m always barely going to make table with my original art at artist alleys, I may as well say fuck it and just make whatever the hell I want and try different vendor events. The mainstream audience just doesn’t like my original work, they want more of my fan art but I want to create my own ideas. ALSO, is it me or do a lot of these artist alleys have mostly young and inexperienced artists? Sometimes I wonder if cons target these younger people intentionally.
You know what’s worse than lottery? Rebookings 😬 The comiccons on the Canadian east coast are basically 75% (one location was 100%) rebookings. So every year, the artist alley is identical to its previous edition, and the one before... I’m an artist myself who wishes I could eventually sell at bigger cons, but with this rebooking system I don’t even bother browsing the AA anymore.
I went to a small con this past weekend and it was way too expensive for a table and I didn't make the cost back, and many people didn't. It made me realize the small cons with small con prices are gone. If the artist alley table at this con I went to had been 100-150 it would have been much better for everyone. I did the math to compare it's price to Otakon, 375 table/25k attendees means the 275 table would fit a con with 18k attendees, but this con clearly had less than 5k attendees. WHICH IS FINE. Small cons are great, but they aren't great when they come with big con prices. Like back in 2008-2010 this con would have been maybe $50 for an artist alley table and attendance would have been maybe $30. Things like that don't exist anymore. Everyone is making their little con have big con prices and it doesn't help anyone. No one can make money in that enviorment. No one will want to go back. It's too dang expensive for everyone. 275 table with $60 passes to enter??? Like that's nearly Otakon prices for a con that is less than 5k attendees(I think it was more like 2k attendees.)
Like I like small cons. I got to chat with a bunch of people, but it's just not worth the cost of attending. It sucks because I like talking to people at cons, but I can't afford it.