Crafting fall merchandise that resonates with buyers is no simple feat. Many creators struggle with what to design, what colors to use, and how to remain true to their brand while tapping into the fall spirit.
To help you out, we’ve outlined the best strategies and fall trends our top creators lean into in order to launch highly successful fall merch. Use these tips to maximize your success this season and rake in the sales!
Creating Fall Designs That Sell.
Fall is a season of coziness, comfort, and nostalgia. Nothing says fall like snuggling up next to a fire with your fall-themed blanket, fall-themed pillow, and a fall-themed mug filled to the brim with your favorite holiday drink.
To create designs that invoke fall emotions within your fans, tap into design elements that evoke these emotions, like:
- Autumn leaves
- Cozy patterns
- Pumpkin spice
- Pumpkins
- Football
- Warm drinks
- And more!
You can also create merch that connects with fall holidays (Thanksgiving & Halloween). Halloween designs do exceptionally well during this season. In fact, Halloween is one of the biggest selling times of the year, but you need to start early so your fans have enough time to order!
Fall-ify Your Best Sellers.
Add a fall-inspired twist to your best-selling designs. No need to reinvent the wheel. For those of you who are already successful sellers, it’s simple to put a cozy fall twist or creepy Halloween spin on your products by changing your colors and imagery.
Get creative with autumn elements to create a unique fall vibe. Utilize those spooky ghosts and ghouls, nature landscapes and woodland creatures, Thanksgiving themes, and whimsical cottagecore that celebrates nature-inspired and “simple rural life” vibes. If you don’t know what cottagecore is, consult Dr. Google. We could do a whole blog about it and it’s perfect for fall designs.
Just make sure to maintain your brand identity! This can be difficult, but you don’t want to embrace autumn if it means losing your creative identity. Here are some tips to keep in mind in order to maintain brand identity while pivoting to a fall design:
- Keep the Messaging Consistent. Your fans know your voice, so don’t change it just to get across a seasonal theme.
- Place the Logo Everywhere. Your logo is your stamp, so find a way to creatively keep it on your merch.
- Don’t stray too far from your core audience. While you always want to bring in new fans, you don’t want to forget the ones who have been there since the beginning. In other words, Don’t just do fall stuff and lose your identity. It’s about blending fall into what you’ve already been doing.
Craft A Winning Palette.
Fall color schemes deliver an emotional impact. Orange (a warm, bright color) represents emotions that are positive, such as joy and happiness, as it combines the stimulation of the cheerfulness of yellow and red. The color that’s considered the main color of fall is a rich, dark shade of orange (we can most likely thank pumpkins for that).
You should also identify versatile color combinations that resonate with fall-loving customers. Before we get into combos, the main four colors of fall are orange, red, yellow and brown, due to the havests and changing colors in the leaves. However, there are relatives of those colors that make great color palettes. There are dozens of different fall color combinations, but here are five of the top fall palettes:
- Deep Greens + Cream + Orange-y Tans
- Tan + Light Brown + Deep Cool Brown
- Deep Blue + Deep Reds + Light Yellow
- Dark Sienna + Rust + Deep Red + Light Yellow
- Pale Pink + Rosy Browns + Ash Gray
Tips for harmonizing colors. One surefire way to not use clashing colors is to use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. “Analogous” is the term used to describe those colors. Many people like to use analogous colors in combination with monochromatic colors (grayscale colors).
Optimize Listing Titles and Descriptions.
Use strategic keywords to enhance the visibility of your fall merch listings. There is the WHAT and the WHY when it comes to choosing keywords. The WHAT is the word itself, and the WHY is the traffic the word can drive, which adds value to your products. A SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is a valuable tool that will show where you rank and in turn help dictate what keyword strategy you employ.
Beyond using keywords, you also want to craft attention-grabbing titles that emphasize the fall theme. Get creative. There are many designs by creators that don’t even have images––just text! Come up with that attention-grabbing title that stays on brand and evokes fall season vibes at the same time!
But even with that killer text, a fall image never hurts. Here’s a perfect example from Spring creator Indeimaus: “Every day is Halloween.”
IMPORTANT: Make sure to add the word “fall” to your title listing in order to enter the Fall Design Challenge for your chance to win $1000 in merch samples and a social media spotlight on Spring’s channels.
With these 4 rock star tips, you’re well on your way to hitting your sales goals for the fall. And remember–we always have your back. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. If you need help on how to create a listing, here’s a link to how: https://spring4creators.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/16437213075725-How-to-Create-a-Listing
And if you want to learn the best promotion tips and tricks, look for our next blog in our fall series!
