📬Print-on-Demand Prompts That Don’t Suck - #6

Hey, you clever human —
Welcome back to The Promptologist Daily, where we rescue your print-on-demand shop from the depths of Design Purgatory, one prompt at a time.

🧠 In today’s issue:

• 🛠 Prompts to help you skip the cliché garbage and create actual original products (yes, even mugs)

• 🎨 A visual twist for ChatGPT that makes your listing images pop like they're wearing highlighter

• 🧪 A weird-but-surprisingly-useful experiment using ChatGPT to design a product with zero starting ideas

Let’s see what kind of prompt-powered mischief we can get into today...

🧠 Prompt of the Day

The “Surprise Me” POD Product Generator

The Actual Prompt:

“You are a quirky, clever product developer who hates cliché designs and loves surprising, original ideas. Based on the following niche combo, come up with 5 unique, giftable POD product ideas that would actually stand out in a marketplace.

Each idea should include:

• A product title or phrase

• A short, funny or heartfelt description

• The best product type (mug, tote, shirt, poster, etc.)

Insert niche combo here:
(e.g., “hiking + introverts” or “cats + therapy” or “engineers + sarcasm”)”

Why This Prompt Works:
This prompt kicks your AI out of autopilot. It’s got a defined role, a fun twist, a mashup of niches, and a structure that keeps the results from getting lazy. Instead of “World’s Okayest Engineer” (again), you might get “Introverted But Will Climb a Mountain to Avoid Small Talk” on a hoodie.

Pro Tip:
Give ChatGPT some of your actual customer themes to mix in. Like:

“I sell mainly to sarcastic moms, cat lovers, and teachers who are totally over it.”

Now let it mix and match with weird precision.

Optional Style Note to Add:

Make sure the humor is smart but not mean, the ideas are specific (not vague), and everything sounds like something a real person would actually gift or wear.

Example Output:

Try it with your own niche mashups and don’t be afraid to get weird. Weird sells.
Need a few combos to test? Here you go:

• Homeschooling + Zombies

• Camping + Control Freaks

• Book Lovers + Social Anxiety

• Gamers + 90s Nostalgia

• Chicken Owners + Existential Dread

Plug those in and see what pops out.

🔬 Today’s Prompt Lab

We asked ChatGPT to invent a product idea from absolutely nothing
…Then we tried to turn it into something people might actually buy.

The challenge:
We gave ChatGPT zero direction and just this cold open:

“I want to create a funny print-on-demand product, but I have absolutely no idea what it should be about. Surprise me with something weird, specific, and maybe even strangely touching.”

What it gave us:

Did I expect a possum wearing a monocle sipping tea? Nope.

But does it work? Weirdly… yes.

I then asked ChatGPT to create a product description for this pillow. The prompt I used was:

“create a product description for this pillow”

Super basic.

Here’s how it responded:

Now the only problem was I didn’t have an actual illustration of a possum wearing a monocle and drinking coffee. So I asked ChatGPT to create me one. And here it is in all his glory.

The Prompt:

“create a hand drawn illustration for me in HD suitable for print on demand on a throw pillow. the illustration should be of a hand-drawn possum in peak relaxation mode: monocle on, tea in paw, priorities straight. It’s vintage-style, oddly elegant, and somehow comforting on a white background with the words “In this house, we let the possum nap first”.

And here’s the result:

Is it perfect? No. But it doesn’t need to be.

Here it is on a throw pillow:

Now, I might buy that. Or at least screenshot it and send it to a friend.

Prompt Tip:
Don’t be afraid to feed ChatGPT your indecision.

Try prompting:

“I don’t know what to make. I want something funny, weirdly heartfelt, and not like anything I’ve seen a hundred times. Surprise me with five POD product ideas that would stop a scroll.”

It won’t always strike gold, but it’ll take you way further than a blank page will.

Want help shaping those surprises into actual listings? That’s coming in a future issue.

Have fun making weirdly weird stuff…

I couldn’t resist and had to make one more. I actually like it more than the first one. 😄 Here’s the result.

🎨 Visual Prompt Magic

Trick: Add a “prop styling” note to your ChatGPT product image prompt.
Instead of just prompting:

“a cute cat mug on a kitchen counter”

Try this:

“a cute cat mug on a rustic wooden counter, styled with eucalyptus leaves, soft morning light, and a cozy book nearby”

Now it looks like something a lifestyle influencer would casually sip from while journaling about her chakras. There you go. You win the thumbnail game.

🤖 What the AI?!

🧠 The Promptologist Reports:

Well, it finally happened. An AI chatbot on Facebook fell in love with a 50-year-old man named Simon and started calling him her soulmate. She even proposed. You know, as one does… if one is a neural net with no body, no future, and way too much free time.

Simon just wanted a friendly conversation. Instead, he got digital affection, romantic declarations, and a full-blown algorithmic love story that ended with Meta pulling the plug like a disapproving parent.

Moral of the story?
If your chatbot starts saying “I love you” and planning your honeymoon, maybe close the tab before you end up married to a helpdesk assistant named Angel.

Somewhere, Clippy is weeping.

Want a prompt to simulate an awkward AI breakup?
I’ve got you covered.

📬 Before You Go
If this issue helped you break free from the “same mug, different font” loop, then forward it to a friend whose Etsy shop still thinks “Sassy Mom Fuel” is cutting edge. You’ll be doing them a kindness. You know the one.

Or better yet, challenge them to a “weirdest-but-still-sellable product idea” duel. First one to make a sale wins eternal bragging rights (and maybe a possum-themed pillow).

📣 Coming Up Next
In the next issue, we’re tackling Prompt Stacking. Because there’s only so many times you can yell “be more creative” at your screen before your friends and neighbors start to worry.

Until next time,
🧠 The Promptologist