Man, I get it. There's so many shops for digital downloads now. How can you tell if someone is a legitimate designer, uses AI to create what they're selling or if they're reselling others work? As a designer of over 10 years, I can generally spot a fake site when I see one. I will dive into what my favorite places to shop are and what to look out for!
Q: What are some GOOD places to shop for digital designs?
A: Here's a list of some of my favorite places for buying designs! Some are marketplaces, that consist of multiple shops within one domain. You still have to watch out for fake designers, which we will dive into later.
- Etsy ; a longtime favorite of many. When they introduced digital downloads to their marketplace, I immediately switched my listings. Previously, I had to email out any purchases, you can imagine how time consuming that was.
- Creative Fabrica ; a favorite of mine. I can easily find what I need. Mostly a subscription website. A few times a year they mark down a yearly subscription! Sometimes monthly ones go as low as $5 or $7 a month. The downfall? If you stop your subscription, you're unable to use the products downloaded in *future* projects.
- Nichole Andrew ; Well, duh. You're here! I definitely recommend myself! Fonts, SVGs, Designs & so much more!
- Jordyn Alison Designs ; A designer friend FAVORITE. Jordyn is great with everything she does, and certainly deserves all the support! Jordyn creates SVGs, Fonts, Handlettering sheets & so much more!
- Kitaleigh ; One of the BEST font creators there is. Nikita is a true gem to the design world. Some of her designs (like the Typography designs and hand lettered rounds) are well known in all parts of the design world, I'm sure you've seen her design or font somewhere, even if you're a newbie!
Q: Where should I buy if a designer has multiple shop options?
Designer websites put the *most* amount of money spent to designers vs. website fees. I will always advocate you head to the designers website themselves. Unsure of their website? Try googling them or sending a message!
Q: What shops should I stay away from? And how do I know they're not great?
There is so many copycat shops out there, including shops that just downright steal other designers products and pass them off on their own. (bleh!)
Some of the easiest ways to tell a "fake" shop is by looking at their images - is there a consistent style, price and/or name on all images?
Even if a designer changes logo or preview image 10 times, you'll still see the same name on all their designs. If a shop has some images with different names, there's a high chance they're selling stolen products.
Additionally, ultra low prices. If you notice that the designers website has a font listed for $10.00 but you see it on Etsy for $2.00 it's probably stolen! Does the shop name match the designer name on the product? A lot of times, stolen work is listed for ultra cheap for maximum number of sales.
There's no 100% fool proof way to say if something is real or fake, but almost ALL shops that are fake have little to no information on the shop. No announcement, no about information. High sales in a short amount of time, Ultra low prices and Inconsistent style.