MAKE MONEY #23: Sell Icons for Cash: Cool and Creative
Difficulty: 5 (MEDIUM)
Initial Investment: 5 (MEDIUM)
Location: REMOTE, WORK FROM HOME, ONLINE
Good for: Students, Artists, Photographers, Retirees, ALL Creatives
Where Can I Sell Icons?
There are lots of sites that have sprouted up for buying and selling quality icons: Noun Project, IconFinder, and more. IF you are creative and have an eye for good design, this Side Hustle might be for you. And once you have made the designs, you can have passive income coming in selling icons.
TIP: Here’s an interesting post about a company’s journey designing gender-neutral icons starting with Noun Project as a starting point.
Do I Need Professional Training?
Not necessarily, but you will need the ability to design and use the proper software. Icons are usually sold as SVG or PNG formats. You should be versed in vector-style software and have a decent quality monitor. You also should be able to work and think mostly in black and white, with color added later, if at all.
Where to Pick Up (or Refresh) Your Design Skills for Free
Skillshare offers some free classes here, for example: Graphic Design Basics from author and educator, Ellen Lupton. You can get the core design skills you need to sell icons and create your own. It’s a beginner-level course, so you don’t have to have any prerequisites to get started.
They cover only the essential, 5 basic principles of graphic design in this 35-minute class– perfect for use in all projects using images and type — especially icon design!
What You’ll Learn
- Introduction 5 basic principles of graphic design — symmetry, scale, framing, hierarchy, and grids — and what you’ll learn in the their design course
- Symmetry vs. asymmetry You’ll learn how both should be used to balance be dynamic
- Scale How relationships tell a visual story through tension and energy
- Framing How common framing is in the design process– get introduced to main types of framing: margins, bleeds, and partial bleeds
- Hierarchy. Hierarchy and separation and difference. Use the two to order information and direct readers –apply hierarchy to a plain block of text, and learn the usefulness of color when it comes to textual hierarchy
- Grids. A grid is a powerful tool for structure and organization to design
If I Sell Icons, How Much Can I Make?
Our personal all-around favorite for payout is IconFinder, for you generally get 70%. (It’s also the largest, boasting over 6 MILLION icons.) For Noun Project (boasting 3 million+ icons) you can get around $1.20 for each icon sold individually and then 40% from their subscriptions. On Graphic River it’s around $7-12. CreativeMarket is really different in that YOU define the price when you sell icons; you get 70% from each sale.
TIP: Consider starting with one of the smaller sites before you take on the biggest one (IconFinder).
MORE Work from Home Ideas for Artists
There are lots of ways to make money as an artist or creative person. Check out our TOP 9 Imagine Yourself Rich: MAKE MONEY IDEAS for Artists and Creatives. Imagination is a true resource and very valuable. Don’t underestimate your creative ability when looking for ways to make money. Companies need help with logo design, ad campaigns, icons, social media stickers, and much more. Be sure to think ahead about copyright laws, and how to protect your creativity and work as an artist.
TIP: Be sure to think about copyright laws, and how they affect you and how to protect your creativity and work.
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