Isolation Day 5: I Made an Online Shop

As a few of you may know, back when I was at university, we held the Media Labs Conference & Exhibition. That gave me an idea for this very website, as well as a few others that I may share over the coming weeks.

I thought to myself, "Why don’t I set up an online shop?" I don’t expect many people to actually buy anything—my artwork isn’t that good! But I thought it was a brilliant way for me to keep my WordPress skills sharp. You can check out some of my designs using the Shop link above.

Here are a few of the products currently available:

• Teddy Bear Skull Mandala – £11.99
• Media Labs Ladies Hoodie – £22.99
• Media Labs Cancer Research UK Two-Toned Ceramic Mug – £9.99

Setting Up Your Website

For those of you who are interested, it’s pretty easy to set up a print-on-demand store yourself, and you don’t have to keep any inventory or physical stock on hand either.

First of all, you’ll need a self-hosted WordPress website that allows you to install plugins (so, unfortunately, a basic WordPress.com site won't work unless you are on a high-tier paid package that allows external plugins).

If you need hosting, you can always look at IONOS and check out their latest offers. I managed to score my domain and web hosting for just 10p a month (including VAT) for the first 12 months, before it goes up to £5 a month after that. If you're interested, head over to their site to see what they have available.

Once you have your WordPress site up and running, install the WooCommerce plugin and follow the standard onboarding instructions to get your core e-commerce platform configured.

Setting Up Two Fifteen

Next up, head over to Two Fifteen (a fantastic UK-based print-on-demand supplier), click register in the top-left corner, and set yourself up with an account.

Once that is done:

1. Navigate to your account dashboard and click on Integrations.
2. You will see a small table with a selection of supported e-commerce platforms.
3. Click on Link to your shop under the WooCommerce option.
4. On the next page, enter your website URL and follow the quick authorization prompts to connect the two platforms.

Creating and Exporting Your Products

Now that your WordPress site and Two Fifteen accounts are successfully linked, it’s time to add some custom merchandise to your storefront.

Click on View Product Range at the top of the Two Fifteen page, then browse the catalog to select an item you would like to apply your artwork to. Once you find one, click on it to open the product builder.

Pro Tip: If you want to design your graphics using an exact template, you can find downloadable layout guides right below the product designer interface. Just open those templates up in your favorite graphics editor, create your design, and export it as a high-quality PNG file. Don’t forget to turn off the background template layer before exporting so your image has a transparent background!

Once you have your artwork ready, upload it directly using the online designer tool. Move and scale your image around within the printable boundary box until you are completely happy with how it looks. You can even use their native text tool to overlay custom wording right on top of the design.

When you are satisfied with the product mockup, you have two options:

• Add it straight to your basket to purchase it for yourself at baseline cost price.
• Click Create Product to advance to the configuration page.

On the next page, you can rename your item, write a custom description, and establish your retail pricing. Once those details are filled in, click the Export Product button (the icon looks like a square with a diagonal curved arrow breaking out of it).

Next, you will set your final resale prices—make sure you price them high enough to leave yourself a tidy profit margin! The quickest way to add multiple item options to your Variations for Import section is to pick the primary color that complements your graphic and click the small square button located at the top right of the color palette. This shortcut instantly grabs all the available sizes for that specific color. If your design works perfectly across every single garment color available, simply hit Add All.

Finally, click the big IMPORT TO WOOCOMMERCE button, wait a minute or two for the mockups and product variations to push through to your database, and then head over to your live website store to see it in action!

All in all, the entire pipeline is remarkably straightforward once you get the hang of it. But if you find yourself getting stuck at any point during the process, just drop me a message via the contact page and I will do everything I can to help you get your own online storefront up and running.