Finding Design Inspiration (& Customers) on Reddit: An Interview with INLÉ Designs

At Dashery, we love celebrating the creativity and hustle of creators! Jason of INLÉ Designs is someone who turned late-night scrolling into inspiration and income. With a mix of humor, guerilla marketing, and smart use of Reddit, he’s found success selling merch, and says Dashery made the process easier (and more profitable) than any other platform he tried.

From 2am Scrolling to Dashery Sales

Q: What made you start using Reddit for design inspiration?

Jason: Honestly? I still get a kick out of the fact that people are buying designs that started from me scrolling Reddit at 2 a.m. in sweatpants, pretending it was “market research.” Reddit’s basically a giant focus group that doesn’t even know it’s a focus group. If thousands of strangers are loudly obsessed with something, that’s a pretty good hint it’ll work as a design.

As for inspiration, I stick to what I know and love. I’m a nerd, I’m slightly old-ish, and nostalgia is the best drug no one warns you about. I live for fantasy, sci-fi, and especially horror. Add in pop culture trends, and I’ve always got fresh fuel for designs.

Q: Do you focus on any specific subreddits?

Jason: Not really, I hop around. Meme subs are like a caffeine shot for the brain, niche hobby subs are great for weirdly specific inspiration, and sometimes the comments section alone is funnier (and more creative) than the actual post. I think of it as idea mining, with a side of chaos.

“If thousands of strangers are loudly obsessed with something, that’s a pretty good hint it’ll work as a design.”

When a Fandom Sparks a Dashery Bestseller

Q: Your “Memento Mori” shirt has become a top seller. Can you tell us the story behind it?

Jason: I was watching a popular TV show and the main character was wearing this amazing goth shirt. I tried to buy it online, but it didn’t exist. So I realized it was a text from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum.

I spent four hours recreating it, posted it on Reddit, and the fandom went wild. Sales shot up like crazy. That’s when I realized: Reddit isn’t just memes, it’s basically free market research!

Check out Jason’s Memento Mori shirt [here].

<— Check out Jason’s Memento Mori shirt here.

Authentic designs, creative research

Q: How do you use Reddit and other platforms to market your designs?

Jason: I invented my own version of marketing I call Guerrilla Advertising. The strategy? Drop mockups of my designs into giant Facebook threads, comment sections, or anywhere thousands of eyeballs might linger. Copy, paste, link, repeat. 

I did the same thing on Instagram, TikTok, and, of course, Reddit. Search a hashtag, drop a mockup, move on with my day. Five minutes here, ten there, and the more I did it, the better it paid off.

Why Dashery Won Jason Over

Q: You’ve tried different platforms before—what made Dashery stand out?

Jason: I tried out a few different companies before settling into TeePublic. The UI was simple, the storefront looked sharp, and it didn’t make me want to hurl my computer out the window—big plus. At one point, though, I was juggling TeePublic, my own website store, and a local print partner. Between all the cross-posting, updating, and uploading, it was starting to feel like a full-time second job… which, fun fact, is not great for someone with a chronic illness.

Then along came Dashery by TeePublic, and honestly? Chef’s kiss. Only having to post once and have it sync everywhere? Pure sorcery. Bless whoever thought of that.

Q: Final advice for creators who feel stuck?

Jason: Stick to what you know and love. Every time I think, “That would look amazing on a shirt” I whip out my Notes app like it’s a holster. Some of my best ideas have come from those random midnight brainwaves.