A side project selling AI-generated art prints made $16,000 in a year before ad restrictions ended it
Folk Fable Studio sold more than 500 orders of wall art through Shopify and Printful, built on thousands of AI generations.
Subject: Folk Fable Studio (Nikolai Paquin)AI-generated wall art printed on demand and sold through a Shopify store with paid ads
Case Overview & Background
Nikolai Paquin ran Folk Fable Studio as a side project selling AI-generated art, from 8x10 prints to 6-foot canvases. His portfolio reports $16,000 in revenue in one year, more than 500 orders at a $30 average order value, and 250 products.
How AI Is Used
Step-by-Step Process
More than 5,000 AI generations across many styles.
Magnific AI and Topaz Labs for print-quality files.
Shopify connected to Printful.
Paid ads on Facebook.
Customer Acquisition & Distribution
Limitations, Risks & Failure Modes
What may not apply to you, and what could go wrong:
- The business depended on one ad channel and ended when ad restrictions hit
- Revenue is reported without profit after ad spend
- AI art has unclear copyright status
- Low average order value leaves thin margins after ads
Key Takeaways
- Print quality needs upscaling beyond raw AI output
- Relying on one paid channel is a single point of failure
- Automated fulfilment kept it manageable as a side project
Sources
Nikolai Paquin: Folk Fable Studio case study
Note: Founder's own portfolio page with revenue, orders, tools and why it closed.
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