Recently, I came across a bundle of merch from a non-music company that I absolutely loved. Now, I always love looking outside the music industry for fun ideas, be it in merch, performance, marketing, or anything else. It’s not secret the music industry is usually a little behind with these things, and looking to other industries you follow is a great place to find inspiration.

Anyway, this merch was from an event in the watch community, and each attendee got a little swag bag full of playing cards, colored pencils, and a repurposed stamping die that would have been otherwise thrown away but instead got turned into a bookmark.

This is part one, part two will be out Thursday August 8th. Enjoy!

The whole thing got me thinking about how artists could do apply this to their own merch. I’ve long talked about my passion for creative merch, so this is something I’m excited to talk more about!

Read on for more ideas including how you can do your own version of playing cards and the repurposed bookmark and stay tuned for Part Two later this week!

Customized Buttons and Pins

Buttons and pins are small, affordable, and have a vintage appeal that fans love. They’re perfect for adding a personal touch to jackets, bags, or hats. You can make generic ones for the band, or you can rotate them out with different releases and lyrics

Handmade Zines

I love a good vintage feel, especially if that’s part of your branding! Plus, does it get anymore DIY than a zine? I’ve talked about one of my favorite pieces of merch being a comic book in place of a physical CD, and this is along those lines.

Friends W/O Benefits Comic Book. One of my favorite pieces of merch ever <3

You can fill it with band stories, lyrics, artwork, or even a behind-the-scenes look at your process. Fans appreciate the personal effort and the intimate glimpse into your creative world. Plus, it’s just fun!

DIY Patch Kits

Yes, patches are still awesome! Offering patches or even a DIY patch kit that allows your fans to create their own is a really creative way to make them a part of the process and a fun way to feature different designs from fans. You can provide fabric patches with your logo or artwork, along with some needle and thread.

Handwritten Lyric Sheets or One of Kind Artwork

A personal touch goes a long way. Handwrite the lyrics to your most popular song, or offer a limited run of lyric sheets signed by the band. These make for great keepsakes and exclusives. Another example is to create custom artwork, like Misha Penton did as part of her release strategy:

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A post shared by Misha Penton (@mishadiva)

Stay tuned for Part Two coming this Thursday…

In the meantime, I hope these ideas provided some inspiration! Merch doesn’t have to be this expensive, time intensive thing. With a little creativity you can offer unique merch that your fans are going to love and feel like was designed just for them —that’s the goal!

See you Thursday!

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