In 2020 when all of the anime conventions were getting cancelled we grew to miss seeing all of the creators in the artist alleys. We started hosting instagram DTIYS (draw this in your style) challenges to re-connect with the community in a fun, non-sales driven way. It’s simple to set up and inspires a bunch of other people to create art!

Step 1: Partner with an illustrator

Choose someone who fits your brand and whose artwork you admire to be a co-host. They may be a personal friend or an art account you’ve been following online. Try to find someone who has hosted a DTIYS challenge in the past so they have some background of the concept and how to manage one. I’ve found that starting these relationships are as easy as sending an email or DM.

Step 2: Outline your expectations

Before reaching out to the illustrator, think about what you want to get out of the collaboration. Do you want to gain instagram followers? Drive traffic to your website? Sell a specific product? Once you have an idea of you want and certain delivery dates, create a proposal. My goal is to create engagement with the community and highlight some products so I have asked for an illustration of a character wearing Moonstruck products. As incentive, the 1st place winner will be awarded store credit to moonstruckshop.com.

Point out what’s in it for the illustrator. Creative professionals deserve to be compensated for their work so go in with a number. Some will already have commission rates on their website so make sure to check that out first. You’ll likely have to go back and forth with each other until you meet a happy agreement.

Step 3: Launch the challenge

Once the piece is ready to go, share the post with your followers! Make sure to clearly state the rules for entering the contest, the submission deadline, and of course, the prizes. Create a unique hashtag to make tracking submissions easy. Encourage people to share the post and get the word out about the contest. We used #CocoonGirlDTIYs as our unique hashtag and the contest ran for a few weeks.

Step 4: Watch the submissions roll in!

Check the hashtag daily to see new submissions. You will be amazed by the talent out there! Share some of your favourites to your story and tag the artist so they can get credit and exposure. Like and comment on their posts pointing out what you like about their rendition. This is my favourite part because I get to see my products interpreted in a variety of art styles!

Step 5: Select the winners

Although it’s not an easy task given all of the amazing work, there has to be winners. Go through every submission that meets the guidelines and select your favourites Make a new post announcing them and feature their work. Get in touch and award the prizes. Remember to thank everyone for participating!

That’s it! Super simple and fun for everyone it reaches. Stay tuned for our future DTIYS challenges!