SunFrog is quite different from services like Redbubble. It’s not a print-on-demand service per se but relies on affiliate campaigns to sell designs, so that’s how you will be making money on SunFrog. You will find the most success there if you already have a social media presence and an audience that you can promote your campaigns to.

Otherwise you will have to wait for sellers to use your designs in their campaigns before you can make any money. As such, it’s not the best form of passive income for a graphic designer, but as the saying goes, something is always better than nothing.

UPDATE: SunFrog has since changed its business direction and is no longer offering the option to sell your designs on their platform. I left this article here just for reference and a fun read.

Steps to Making Money on SunFrog

UPLOADING YOUR WORK TO SUNFROG

Let’s start by creating an account. Scroll down the main page and choose Start An Account under Artists and Sellers, where you will be directed to a sign up form.

Once accepted into their program, SunFrog will send a link to the email address you provided that will allow you to log into your seller/artist account. After logging in you will be brought to the Seller Dashboard:

As shown in the image above the artist rate at the time of this article is 5.5%, which is the percentage you will earn for every shirt sold. To upload a design, click Design > Designer to go to the Shirts Editor.

It’s just 3 steps to upload a design on SunFrog. First, add the image as a SVG, PNG or JPG file. Obviously SVG is the ideal choice since as a vector format it can be sized to different resolutions without losing quality. For PNG or JPG, try to make the image as high-res as possible. Next, choose the primary shirt color on the right hand side. You have the option of selecting the product type, but if you want to save time just keep it as default (Guys Tee).

Different colors and styles are available. I would recommend creating a few styles if you intend to sell your work directly so your customers have more variety to choose from. If not, feel free to ignore this part.

Finally, fill in the relevant information about the design to complete the process. Don’t forget to add keyword tags so sellers can find the design easily.

That’s it. If you want to make further changes to the design, simply go to Design > Manage Designs.

PAYMENT AND MARKETING TIPS

Payments are made through PayPal, Payoneer, or direct deposit if you have a US bank account. You can change your payment details and check your payouts under Profit on your dashboard.

One of the best things about SunFrog is that you aren’t given a time limit for your campaigns unlike other similar platforms. As such, you don’t have to worry about campaigns expiring or deal with the hassle of reuploading everything. If you are looking to increase the chances of a seller choosing one of your designs for their campaigns, SunFrog has a Best Sellers section where you can explore and take inspiration from the most successful sellers.

You can make more money on SunFrog by being a seller, but without a social media presence it will take some work. SunFrog provides you with Widgets (under Share on your dashboard) so you can share and promote your designs through social media. In addition, with the Collections feature you can build collections that are based around different themes, allowing you to target specific markets.

What’s more, you get a commission every time you send traffic to SunFrog — even if they don’t buy a design that isn’t yours. And at 40%, the seller rate is really quite generous. In short, cha-ching!

IN CONCLUSION

SunFrog might not seem like an obvious choice as a source of passive income for a graphic designer, but with good rates for both sellers and artists it’s definitely possible to earn good money if you have a social media presence and are able to promote your designs well.