Selling Illustration Sets

Most probably you have already heard the term "illustration set" or "graphic set/design resource" when you are a geek. Usually we do not come around this terms because especially as designers or illustrators we... well - create. And we more often than not create with illustrations. You can use these kind of graphics which usually come to you as a PNG files in brochures, flyers, greeting cards, on websites and any other kind of graphic design projects.
Therefore, of course, these illustration sets are really popular in any variation. And if you create a bundle of illustrations you can sell them. Most probably you have seen these bundles e.g. on CreativeMarket, DesignCuts or Etsy. 

Here are a few examples:

What is included in Illustration Sets?

From the images above you cannot really see all content included in these collections but if you have a detailed look you get an idea that various PNG or JPG graphics have been created for a specific topic. For example: In Tropic Paradise you most probably won't find tigers and the Creamy Blush Collection most probably doesn't offer palm tree leaves. This is, once again, a huge opportunity for illustrator who create these sets because it means that they can create an unlimited amount of different illustration sets.

But it's also great for the designers who want to create "something" from these sets. If you as a designer purchase such a set with a commercial use license you can create logos, flyers, cards or put together a nice graphic for a pillow, a mug or whatever comes to your mind. And of course you can sell the end product because you have a commercial use license.

Even if you just wanna create a scrapbook or something for a loved one these graphic sets give you the opportunity to do so.

So you see: These graphics offer for the illustrator (aka creator of these sets) as well as for the designer (aka user of these sets) or the daughter, mom or grandma unlimited possibilities and therefore they sell well.

Often the sets contain not just PNG files but also seamless patterns as JPG or vector files which you can, again, use for a huge amount of different projects.

Once again, as an example, I've grabbed the image from JuliaDreamsCo. Let's have a look at the image:

Copyright Image @JuliaDreamsDesigns, shown here for teaching purposes only & with friendly permission.

On the image you can see Julia applying her seamless patterns to tea towels so you get an idea how her product looks in real life. If that is something you want to create - for sale or for your home - her set is for you. Beside that she has added a good amount of PNG files (see below) so you can create more seamless patterns or something different which fits to the tea towels:

Copyright Image @JuliaDreamsDesigns, shown here for teaching purposes only & with friendly permission

On the product page Julia also shows how to create logos from these images. So yes, just from this set you can create infinite products. So you can see what these sets are good for.

Graphic Sets - a great Opportunity for Designers and Illustrators

So you see: No matter if you look at these illustrations from an illustrator's or designer's perspective they can make you money. Sure you can take on both perspectives and create your own digital graphic sets for sale and then use these sets to create graphic design projects.
No matter what route you take these illustrations are a great way to make money. From my experience I'd say: Be the Illustrator who creates the graphic sets and sells them on various sites as well as on your own website. Of course you can also create then products with your graphics.

Evergreen Products

These illustration sets are evergreen products. You can hardly create something which gets old. Therefore if you keep creating you build yourself a library of digital products you can sell on various platforms over and over again.
The chance of selling not a single set in a month is not really high. No matter what the economy does and no matter if another pandemic kicks in people can still buy an illustration set to create products from those.
I can wholeheartedly say that I still sell digital scrapbooking sets I have created in 2008 - and yes, that's already a long time. And although I have created those days digital scrapbooking sets with the end user in mind they are still selling, although they have a limited number of people interested in them.

Therefore I'm a huge fan of graphic sets. Yes, I sometimes use sets from other designers because they really inspire me but usually I create my own sets and use those for my projects.

To do that I've learned to handle Procreate. It allows me to pretend all kind of painting techniques and I really love that! In case you wanna join me here is a free Procreate Class for you!