Amanda Hutton ’19 gets pretty excited when people enjoy her artwork. So much so that she has made it available to everyone on just about any thing.
The junior Graphic Design major is now selling her designs on Redbubble.com, a global online marketplace for print-on-demand products made with art submitted by independent artists. Fans of an artist’s work can buy items like t-shirts, stickers, phone cases and tote bags printed with their favorite design.
Hutton said quite a few people were specifically interested in a screen print she had posted on social media that she calls Lonely Girl.
“I had a lot of friends and family asking me for prints,” she said. “I had only printed 10 of them and probably won’t print it again. But I found (Redbubble), where I can mass produce them at a lower cost for people who really want my design.”
She offered the Lonely Girl design on a tote bag, and buyers snapped them up.
“When I got into it two months ago, I got excited about putting designs on clothing,” she said. “I almost got distracted from my school work. I wanted to keep designing for the website and make something new, it was so much fun.”
Hutton’s artwork on the Redbubble site includes brightly colored pop-art graphic designs inspired by Roy Lichtenstein, geometric line drawings, and black-and-white drawings of skulls and mountains. A buyer can choose a design for clothing, wall art, home décor, stationery, laptop skins, device cases and bags at reasonable prices. Redbubble takes a cut to make and sell the items. The artist gets the rest.
Hutton appreciates the extra income. She’s the only child of a single mom who is disabled and can’t work.
“That’s part of the reason I got on Redbubble,” she said. “Anything I can make to help support my education.” Hutton also has work-study hours in The Galleries at Moore. She said she wouldn’t have been able to attend Moore without having received Moore’s Presidential Scholarship.
Hutton is a transfer student to Moore. She began taking classes at Mercer County Community College while she was a high school student at Ewing High School in New Jersey, and earned two associate degrees – one in Illustration, and one in advertising and graphic design. She served as president of the school’s graphic design club, which did projects for nonprofit organizations. Hutton’s advisor and graphic design teacher, Tina Cipriani LaPlaca, is a 1987 Moore grad who encouraged her to attend.
Hutton would like to be a graphic designer after graduating, and eventually become a creative director.
“Whenever I get through the graphic design phase of my life, I’ll retire and come back to Moore for the one-year art education program and become an art teacher,” she said.
For now, she’s pleased to see others enjoying her art.
“Just seeing my designs in the world outside of my sketchbook, seeing it in real life is so impactful,” she said. “If you never get your designs out of your sketchbook, it’s hard to be inspired.”
See more of Hutton’s work at amandahutton.myportfolio.com.