Tiamo Sells His Soul

Tiamo Sells His Soul is the half-jokingly meant name of my (mostly) Dutch webshop.

It was supposed to be my “testing ground” for how to build and run an online store. Keep it small, focus only on the Netherlands (and thus Dutch merchandise), use an old domain of mine that would expire in a few months anyway. With the lessons learned, and the experience gained, I would build my “actual” webshop later that year.

As it happens, I learned so much about this complicated world and put so much effort into it, that it simply became a full-fledged webshop on its own.

Because it was meant as a test, I started making completely new and original merchandise. Instead of doing the sensible thing and putting work I’d already done (such as the designs for my large Wildebyte Arcades book series, or my many printable board games) in that shop. This is another reason why the webshop grew larger than expected and I decided to “officially” launch it and make it as good as possible.

Within a few weeks, it already contained 100 unique designs/products made specifically for this shop and nothing else. I was smart enough to separate those designs into 6 “brands” from the start. This gave me a consistent look and “identity” to the line of products, and helps people find the brand when it’s the exact thing they’re looking for.

(For example, one “brand” focuses solely on cute, warm, safari-colored illustrations of animals and nature. Everything it offers is aimed at kids/teens and stays within that clear identity. The idea behind that, of course, was that any kid who identifies themselves as a lover of nature, or animals, or cute clothes/a cute look will feel right at home with these things.)

You can find more info about the individual brands on this portfolio too. Each of them was large and valuable enough to warrant its own page.

I don’t know how long it will stay online. At some point, its content will probably transfer to that “actual, international webshop”. For now, it’s a nice online store to try and earn an income from my many, many creative works.