Page | 1 Page | 2 CONTENTS Ideas for the Week of May 8, 2023 ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 3 CHATGPT PROMPTS FOR THE COFFEE NICHE ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 8 TikTok Trends ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 11 Graphics Bu ndle: AI Floral Instruments ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 23 Until Next Week ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 24 Disclaimer ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 25 Page | 3 IDEAS FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 8 , 2023 Becoming Unrecognizable I want to open the guide this week with one of the most overlooked messaging and niche themes anywhere in ecommerce and social media at the moment. You may have noticed a flood of memes in recent months about becoming "unrecognizable." Despite inhabitin g a world in which everyone seemingly wants to be famous, there's a big movement taking place that puts emphasis on becoming " unrecognizable " in terms of one's former self. For instance, one popular meme says something to the effect of: " Disappear for six months. No parties. Work out 5 days a week. Read books. Learn a new skill. Grind. Make money. Emerge a new person and be unrecognizable when looking back on your old self." This concept has really caught on in the self - help and self - improvement spa ce. People especially want to “become unrecognizable” before summer, mostly by losing weight, starting fitness routines, eating healthy, and things like that. The trend of "becoming unrecognizable" isn't just about fitness though. The idea behind this trend is that by sacrificing pleasures in the short term in order to pursue lasting, Page | 4 meaningful change, one can have a better and more fulfilling and rewarding life. Merch makers have totally overlooked this massive trend and I personally believe it is one of the best untapped opportunities in the motivational / self help niches of POD today. If you want to capitalize, create designs featuring original quotes and messaging about disappearing or stepping back in order to work on oneself, mak e big pers onal changes, get fit in mind and body, and re - emerge a new man / woman. There are countless variations of this type of messaging but it all hits the same. And right now, this theme is virtually nowhere to be found in the merch world on Amazon. Diverse Mu kbangers If you're grossed out easily, this may not be your cup of tea. But if you realize how profitable gross topics can be, this may be exactly what you need to hear. Ok, let's tackle this head on. Have y ou heard of mu kbangs? They're a popular trend on social media where people film themselves eating large quantities of food while interacting with their audience. Yes, you read that correctly. And it's extremely popular. Mukbangers -- or muckbangers -- have gained a significant following in recent years, with some even becoming celebrities Page | 5 in the food industry. From spicy noodles to giant burgers, mukbangers eat a wide variety of food types and cuisines, making them a perfect inspiration for tshirt desig ns. To be clear, there are already a lot of muckbang tshirts on the market. But they are very generic and focus mainly on Asian cuisine. As muckbangs go global, it's time to introduce a broader variety of foo d types, snacks, a n d cuisines to these niche tshirts. And that's what I want to focus your attention on. From patriotic barbecue muckbangs for 4th of July , to Halloween candy muckbangs for October, there are both evergreen and seasonal approaches that can be taken here. Mukbangs offer a wealth of inspiration for tshirt designers looking to create designs that resonate with niche foodies. By drawing on diverse mukbanger food choices and visual aesthetics to go with them, you can create unique and exciting tshirt designs for this shockingly large and enthusiastic audience. Muscle Groups for Summer When it comes to POD products, workout - themed apparel and gifts are quite c ommon. However, there is a crucial aspect of working out that has been overlooked in this niche. We've touched on it in the past but ahead of summer is precisely the time to visit it again. Page | 6 This aspect of workout niche apparel concerns the major muscle g roups that fitness enthusiasts take seriously during their workout routines. If you're familiar with "chest day" or "back day," then you know what I mean. Each muscle group is so important that they have their own designated day at the gym for those lo oking to improve their muscles. Some of the major muscle groups include abdominals, biceps, deltoids, erector spinae, gastrocnemius and soleus, gluteus maximus, hamstrings, latissimus dorsi and rhomboids, obliques, pectoralis, quadriceps, trapezius, and triceps. Fitness enthusiasts tend to focus on a select few of the 600 muscles in the human body, particularly those in the arms, legs, glutes, thighs, back, abdominals, triceps, and shoulders. If you can come up with trademark/copyright - safe sayings and muscle references, you'll likely have no trouble creating unique product messages for each muscle group. Keep in mind that you should be diligent in checking for off - limits references and brand mottos in the fitness niche. Although there are many g eneral ized fitness designs available, there are far fewer designs specific to each muscle group, which gym enthusiasts are sure to appreciate. Page | 7 Cannabis Cocktails Cannabis cocktails are a growing trend in the world of mixology. Bartenders are incorporating cannabis into their cocktail recipes, creating unique and (so I hear) flavorful drinks that combine the effects of alcohol and cannabis. So me popular cannabis cocktail ingredients include cannabis - infused simple syrup, tinctures, and oils. These cocktails are becoming increasingly popular at bars and restaurants in states where cannabis is legal. But what does this trend mean for graphic designers in the print on demand tshirt space? Well, it means that there is a huge opportunity to create cannabis cocktail - themed tshirts that cater to cannabis enthusiasts and cocktail lovers alike. These tshirt s can feature original quotes and jokes, or images related to cannabis cocktails, such as a cannabis leaf in a cocktail glass. The possibilities are endless, and you can get creative with your designs by using different fonts, colors, and graphics to cr eate unique and eye - catching tshirts. And the best part is, as the trend of cannabis cocktails continues to grow, so too will the demand for these types of tshirts. And right now, POD creators have largely overlooked this fast - emerging trend. NOTE : Re member to never upload these types of designs to international markets where marijuana / drug - related designs are prohibited. Also never upload them to youth sized apparel on Amazon, as it will trigger a rejection. Page | 8 C HATGPT P ROMPTS FOR THE COFFEE NICHE The following are customizable coffee - related ChatGPT prompts that you can use in your own research to find new angles and opportunities to connect coffee to other niches and messaging or audience targeting opportunities. Simply fill in th e blanks with the keywords or niche phrase you want to focus on for your research in connection to coffee. • Name some humorous, silly or sarcastic benefits of drinking coffee for people who work in the profession of ____________ • What are some funny sounding fake / made up names for fancy coffee drinks that relate to the profession or hobby of __________ (be certain to not use an y trademarked / copyrighted terms that ma y sneak into suggestions) • How can graphic designers create visua lly appealing coffee graphic tshirts for people who are just as passionate about ________ as they are about coffee? Page | 9 • How can t shirt designs incorporate coffee into other interests such as ________, _________, and ___________? • How can t shirt design s showcase a unique or unorthodox connection between coffee and __________? • What are some funny and completely fake health benefits of drinking a lot of coffee every day if you work as a __________? • What are the different types of coffee beans and brewing methods and how can graphic designers creatively connect these variables to the _________ niche for the purpose of creating graphic tshirts? • How can t shirt designs incorporate coffee into different types of educational or acade mic fields such as ____________? Page | 10 • How can t shirt designs incorporate coffee into different types of music or entertainment genres such as ____________________? • What connections exist between coffee and the _____________________ niche? • What are some ways tshirt designs can showcase the different moods and emotions associated with drinking coffee for the target audience of ___________ ? Page | 11 TIKTOK TRENDS FOR NICHE / DESIGN INSIGHT & INSPIRATION ONLY. NOT KEYWORD LEADS. TIKTOK VIDEOS OFTEN RELATE TO TRADEMARKED / COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL THAT CAN’T BE USED FOR POD. Spring trends on TikTok ● Fancy wallpaper ○ TikTok is giving wallpaper the comeback it deserves, with peo ple buying elaborate and beautiful wallpapers and showing them off. ■ Wallpapers I want to buy ■ Groovy wallpaper ■ Renter - friendly wallpaper ● Ballet flat s ○ B allet flats are back in this latest nostalgia wave ! N ow that they’re back, everyone’s remembering how SMELLY your feet would get after wearing flats bac k in the day. A video about it went viral recently and the topic hasn ’ t died down since. ■ Recent outfits as a man who w ears flats ■ Smelly ballet flats ■ Styling ballet flats Weird trends on TikTok ● What ancient Egypt actually looked like ○ TikTokers are making videos about how ancient Eg yptians (and even ancient Egypt itself) didn’t look Page | 12 the way history taught us. A lot of this is wrapped up in racial identity and people who would feel more represented by a historically - accurate version of events. ■ Fixing Egyptology one pharaoh at a time ■ What did an cient Egypt look like? ■ Cleopatra and race ● Shaming stomach sleepers ○ I guess we’re shaming a new group of people now: stomach sleepers. According to the professionals (or at least the TikTok professionals), this is terrible for your neck and back. ■ Worst sleeping position award ■ Stomach sleeper tips ■ Adjusting a stomach sleeper ● The random quirky girl ○ Lots of TikTokers have been making fun of stereotypical “quirky” girl s, a phenomenon that had us all in a chokehold in the 2000s/early 2010s. The “random quirky” girl is the type of person who thinks that doing random, out - of - context things is adorable and hilarious. ■ Random girl flirting ■ Girl who’s convinced you’re obsessed with her ■ Quirky influencer Page | 13 Relationship trends on TikTok ● Intellectualizing feelings ○ TikTok’s latest buzzword — intellectualizing! When people intellectu alize their feelings, they appear to be mentally “healthy” because they can identify why they feel or behave in certain ways towards others. Some people have been making earnest videos about this topic, and others have been joking about how they, too, inte llectualize their feelings. ■ Interesting thoughts from a somatic - based therapist ■ Thoughts from someone who does it ■ Feel your feelings instead of intellectualizing ● The friend who walks behind on the sidewalk / The backup friend ○ New type of friend just dropped. This is the friend who feels excluded from everything, who is technically part of a frie nd group but doesn’t feel like their friends want them there. TikTokers define this as the “friend who walks behind the other friends on the sidewalk while they all talk to each other in front of you,” or the “backup friend.” ■ Backup friend linked to neurodivergence ■ Another sidewalk friend Page | 14 ■ Backup friend meme video Inspiring/motivating trends on TikTok ● Female nature ○ As yo ung people continue to debate the ways the sexes relate to each other, a new hot topic has come up: female nature. People look to define what “female nature” is, what it means in relation to male nature, etc. ■ Define female nature ■ Defining female nature to men (joke) ■ Understand female nature (I do not agree with this, lol) ● Icks to get over him ○ I know we’ve talked about what “getting the ick” for someo ne means, and what people’s specific icks are. One of the most common pieces of TikTok dating advice is to get over someone (usually a man) by picturing him doing certain things or being involved in certain situations that should give everyone the ick. ■ How to get over a man with icks ■ Icks to help you ■ When he gives you that final ick Page | 15 ● Miniatures ○ I’ve never thought about miniatures in my life, and I don’t thin k I’ve ever seen one, so seeing people making them and showing them off on TikTok has been interesting. People make miniatures of all different types of things. The w eirder, the better! ■ Miniature haunted library ■ Miniature bathroom decorations ■ Miniature water cooler Humor or meme trends on TikTok ● The 1950s dance ○ People got really into this dance to an old song and have been posting videos doing it. I always find it funny when TikTok revives something like this — there have been other trends before with 50s/60s nostalgia, not to mention nostalgia for other more recent decades. You can even see it in the massive success of songs like “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sa nchez, a young guy who got TikTok - famous for singing a 50s - style original ballad. It’s one of the most popular songs to ever come out of TikTok, and is now being used at countless weddings. Page | 16 ■ “Tried keeping a straight face” ■ Red dress version ■ Y ellow blazer version ● No sabo kids ○ This is a huge topic on TikTok. “No sabo kids” are people who grew up in Spanish - speaking households and cultures but never learned how to speak Spanish. They’re shamed by fluent Spanish speakers in and outside of the US, made fun of for being Hispanic but not understanding the language. The name comes from the Spanish way to say “I don’t know,” which is “no sé.” Because the verb form of “to know” is “saber,” logically, the conjugation for “I know” would be “no sabo,” but i t’s irregular. It would be like making fun of someone for saying “I goed” in English instead of the irregular “I went.” ■ How to survive a fam ily reunion as a no sabo kid ■ How no sabo kids order tacos ■ No sabo kids in Mexico ■ How people become no sabo kids ● Bombastic side eye ○ This came from a soun d that went viral on TikTok, and I can attest to the fact that everyone I know is Page | 17 saying “bombastic side eye” every time something that calls for a side eye happens. ■ The original video ■ Bombastic side eye dog ■ Bombastic side eye in 7 languages Money trends on TikTok ● “Double it and give it to someone else” ○ A particular type of video started getting popular recently, where someone will go up to random people in the street and ask them if they want to take a certain amount of money or double it and give it to the next person they approach. It’s basically a way of out - generosity - ing each other, and the people who take the money instead of giving it to someone el se are often seen as bad people. Anyway, the “double it and give it to someone else” line got super famous, and people are now using it as a meme. ■ How the “double it” videos work ■ Double it joke video ■ Kiss me or double it Page | 18 ● Boarding school life ○ I think most teenagers are fascinated and intrigued by the idea of boarding schools. There are lots of young adult books, shows, and movies about teenagers in boa rding schools, so it’s something they’re naturally curious about. Now, the teenagers who actually go to boarding school have been giving tours of their dorm rooms and producing content about their schools. ■ Extremely fancy boarding school room ■ What I thought boarding school would be ■ Boarding school trend video ● Estate sales ○ This is another thing that’s been all over social media lately! TikTokers are going to cool estate sales and showing off what they find. ■ Estate sale sunglasses collection ■ Bea utiful Atlanta estate sale ■ Estate sale haul Travel or vacation trends on TikTok ● Traveling long distances for a first date ○ New (expensiv e) trend — flying across an ocean (or at least to a different country) for a first date. Yes, you heard that right, a first date. We’ve talked about how Page | 19 people are traveling more after the pandemic, and how they seem to be getting more confident in things li ke traveling solo. Now, lots of people are making videos about their experiences meeting people who live in other countries (usually on dating apps) and flying to meet them for the first time. ■ First date in the Maldives ■ Across the country ■ Flying to Japan ● Turkish hair transplants ○ Where do I start? Americans are finally finding out about the lucrative business that Turkey does with hair transplants. I t’s well - known in Europe that Turkey is the place to go when you’re going bald, because it’s affordable and good - quality, unlike places like the US. In Spain, this was such a common practice that there are even famo us Spanish comedy movies about bald men going to Turkey for hair transplants. ■ American husband going to Turkey ■ Hair transplant process ■ The flight back from Tur key Page | 20 ■ 3 - month update ● Vacation sun poisoning ○ It’s sun poisoning horror story season! This signals the beginning of summer — when people start going on vacation and getting sun poisoning. ■ Expecting a nice tan ■ Cloudy day ■ Sun poisoning blisters Parenting trends on TikTok ● Soccer moms ○ A lot of people have been latching onto this “soccer mom” stereotype and making parody videos of soccer moms’ behavior and expressions. Some of these people may be actual moms, but plenty just think the soccer mom title holds some kind of allure for the fu ture. ■ POV crazy soccer mom at kids’ game ■ That one soccer mom ■ Soccer mom aesthetic ● Older parents ○ People on TikTok have a lot of thoughts on growing u p with older parents and how it affects your life and