How One Artist Turned a Gelato Calendar Into a Year-Round Bestseller
“If I make a calendar and I don’t have to store the stock and they ship it… I’ll try that out.”
Kristi W, At The Dot Design
From licensing wait times to print-on-demand momentum
Kristi launched At The Dot Design in 2020, initially focused on surface-pattern licensing. The work was rewarding - but the timelines weren’t.
“The outreach it took to get a licensing deal and then the amount of time it took to get paid… was like a year. I needed another income stream in the meantime.”
Living just outside Los Angeles with limited space (and a full-time job), producing and shipping inventory herself wasn’t realistic. Gelato’s print on demand changed that calculus. One suggestion from a fellow creator - “make a calendar with Gelato” - became the perfect test.
A calendar project that quietly kept winning
The experiment was ambitious: 12 original illustrations for one cohesive Gelato calendar, listed on Etsy. At first, family and friends bought copies.
“Thank you, but that doesn’t count,” Kristi laughs. “Then the real rando—a total stranger—bought my calendar. Okay!”
Sales didn’t stop after the holidays either.
“I kind of thought sales would peter off in February… and every month there’s like one random person who buys a calendar.”
That steady trickle turned into a strategy. Kristi now rolls dates forward on the current design and is building a second calendar so shoppers can pick their favorite style.
Why Gelato for calendars (and art prints)
Kristi tested samples from multiple providers. Her verdict:
“You guys definitely have the nicest printing for the calendar and art. I got samples from lots of other providers and you were hands down the best.”
Beyond print quality, the creation flow helps her move fast:
“The platform I use to create the products through Gelato is the easiest. It is the most user friendly… some other POD platforms make no sense to me.”
And while she hasn’t needed it yet, service matters:
“Friends have had reprints elsewhere; they say Gelato just handles it. The customer service has been so, so good.”
Creating content to fuel demand
Kristi recently started a YouTube channel to document her process—including a multi-part series on making the calendar.
“YouTube felt big and time-intensive, so I set aside perfectionism and just make videos. It’s a big experiment—but fun.”
One tutorial is already introducing new people to her work. Still, she’s intentional about balancing how-to content with buyer-facing storytelling so the right audience finds her products.
Advice for new creators
“Try lots of different things and see what works. When you figure out what works, lean into that. Be open, willing to test, and build your strategy once you have more information.”
