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Can Opening an Online Shop Make You a Better Designer?

Creative Market March 29, 2024 · 4 min read

Selling design goods online is a fantastic way to earn some extra cash, but there are lots of other benefits that you probably haven’t considered as well. Recently, we wanted to know if our shop owners thought that selling items on Creative Market made them better designers, so we asked the question in our forums. Here’s what they had to say.

Jerome Collinge

Joining the Creative Market community has allowed me to grow in a number of ways, the main two that matter most to me are my increased attention to detail and my sense of freedom in being a creative. Creative Market puts the responsibility of ensuring items are of a high quality in the uploader’s hands, which makes you pay so much more close attention to everything you release. Also, with users being allowed to upload freely, I feel a great sense of freedom with what I’m able to create and offer the community. With freedom comes the hunger to explore more new ideas and try different styles.




Beto Alanís

Creative Market has helped me to be even more detailed.

Generally, people create the items they sell with dedication, but when it comes to building the previews, they don’t take their time. I had this problem at the beginning, I have changed some previews twice or more, trying different styles, and lately I take a lot of time choosing the best images to use in each preview, as well as the type.


Sam Jones

Selling on Creative Market has made me a better designer because every time I sit down to think about my next product, it forces me to assess my workflow and question the way things are done. Design resources are made ultimately to save people time, so I’m always asking myself where and how this can be done. Finding the answer often involves spending a lot of time exploring the tools that I, as a designer, use on a daily basis. As a result, I’ve gained a much deeper understanding of those tools, learning new skills and techniques that enable me to work more efficiently than ever before.




Beth Rufener

The friendly competition on Creative Market, as well as constant trend-setting with cutting edge products has challenged me in ways no client work or day job ever could. The community is super helpful, too, and I’ve learned tips and tricks (not to mention marketing strategies!) from many of the sellers here. I’ve found that my designs have improved so much, and I’ve also been able to add new skills to my list because I’ve been so inspired by others’ work on Creative Market. One of the awesome things about Creative Market is that the sellers all help improve each other (whether they mean to or not!) first by example, and by reaching out to provide advice and assistance.


Matt Borchert

Selling on Creative Market has helped me better understand how people interact with the things that I create. Many times, I would create a design and that would be the end of the interaction I had with it. I would set that design free to the world and hope that it saw the light of day again. Creative Market has opened up new ways for my designs to live when sometimes hundreds or even thousands of different people are given access to them, and use them in ways that I would have never thought of on my own. It has opened my eyes in terms of understanding the possibilities behind a single piece of work, and how to better create designs that can provide a use long after their initial creation.




Shelly Laslo

Selling on Creative Market has taught me that there is a fine line between being an artist and being a designer. Art can be impulsive, emotional, even misunderstood, while design is more calculated and purpose-oriented. At first, I was trying to be an artist, putting products out there that were mostly an expression of what I wanted to create. As I gained experience, I learned to take cue from my customers’ feedback and better tailor my design resources to their needs. I know I’ve done this while still staying true to my personal aesthetic, so I think it’s win-win!




What Do You Think?

The hardworking designer above have used their Creative Market shops to gain valuable experience and insight that allow them to continually take their skills to the next level. How about you? Has opening a shop affected the way you approach design projects? We want to know!

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