Make Art That Sells: Phil Thompson of Wonder City Studio – Love Your Work, Episode 133

July 09 2018 – 07:30am

phil thompson

Phil Thompson (@wonder_city_) is the illustrator and business mind behind Wonder City Studio, which sells Chicago wall art. Today we have a great discussion on making art that sells.

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Phil’s portfolio of products includes maps of microbreweries in Chicago, marathon maps for all of the major marathons, and “home portraits.” His work has been featured on the sets of major motion pictures like “The Big Sick,” and “Blockers.”

Phil also happens to be my mastermind partner. We’ve been talking every two weeks about how to balance our individual artistic visions with what the market wants. We’ve learned a lot in our conversations, and I’m really excited to be sharing Phil and his work with you today.

Today, we’ll talk about:

How do you “validate” your art. Hear about Phil’s first experiments in selling his artwork online. What did he learn from his first success, and what did he learn from his first big failure?
How do you make your art marketable? Learn to think about what your art does for someone. How does that translate into sales?
How can you turn your interests into profitable art? I love how Phil has been able to take his curiosities – whether it’s running marathons or learning about Chicago architecture – and he’s been able to use those curiosities to fuel profitable art.