Zazzle Blog

Chris, ARTSPROJEKT artist from the Zazzle store BiroBrawls, talks with us about his love of ball point and his dark inspirations. Check out the interview below and don’t forget to check out his store BiroBrawls.

Zazzle: Give us a brief bio. Where are you from and when did you started designing?

Chris: I’m from Hampshire in the UK. I am an actor, and I draw as a hobby mostly, though I have to some extent drawn or painted my whole life. I picked up my ballpoint pen in 2008 after many years hiatus and rediscovered my passion for doodling.

Zazzle: Your style is very much your own. What’s your inspiration?

Chris: I have always enjoyed the dark and surreal, and have long been attracted to and intrigued by copperplate drawings (though this is not a discipline I know), but beyond that I couldn’t tell you what my inspiration is. I confess that I don’t put too much forethought into what I do, which is probably why it remains a pleasure for me.

Zazzle: What’s your favorite medium to use?

Chris: A ballpoint pen, or biro, as it is also known. I do occasionally paint with acrylics, but have no particular talent in this area. I am still very much a student of the ballpoint, but less concerned with technique, more the overall product and how it emotes for me.

Zazzle: What has been your favorite design you’ve created and why?

Chris: My favourite biro drawing from the collection is probably Biro Brawl No. 099 (seen below, all my sketches can be seen at
http://www.brawlingwithmybiro.co.uk
). I consider it to be my first self-portrait, and it tickles me. My favourite design in the Zazzle store is impossible to choose. I love the art prints and calendars that I am able to produce; these seem to be a natural home for my kind of sideshow miscellany.

Zazzle: How do you get out of creative ruts?

Chris: If I am in a creative rut with a drawing, then I simply don’t draw. I only draw if and when the mood takes me. One day the mood will no longer take me and I shall doubtless stop drawing altogether, but for now it compliments my other creative outlets.

Zazzle: What got you interested in selling your art on Zazzle?

Chris: It enables artists to have their work seen, owned, and promoted without cost or risk to them.

Zazzle: What tips can you give someone who is just starting out on Zazzle?

Chris: I am still learning. I would like to hugely reduce the amount of products on my site, to fine tune what I offer, but am still unsure where to begin. Much of what I sell is so random and dependent on taste, it is a job and a half to determine buying patterns.

Zazzle: Can you give us a sneak peek of future designs?

Chris: Any future work that will go onto my Zazzle store will first appear on my website, and on my blog. Sorry, even I don’t know yet!

Thanks for sharing Chris!

Diana, from the Zazzle store pics4merch, gives awesome advice about having patience and looking to the Zazzle community for support. Check out the interview below and don’t forget to check out her store pics4merch.

Zazzle: First of all, introduce yourself! Give us a brief bio about your life, interests, and artwork!

Diana: I am a “self-taught” photographer, who loves to create and has been creative since childhood. I’ve always spent all my time off creating art and I’ve worked with about every material possible. I started with photography a few years ago and this has been my main focus for the past few years. Outside my daytime job, I spend all my free time on photography, designing and learning new techniques in order to perfect my work, trying to make it look as good and stylish as possible.

Zazzle: How did you first hear about Zazzle and when did you join our community and begin selling your artwork?

Diana: I read about Zazzle on a microstock forum. After I had visited some of the stores, I started reading as much information on the Zazzle site as I could find and a few days later I signed up and created my own store.

Zazzle: How long have you been an artist and what inspires your designs?

Diana: Actually I’m fairly new to all this. I started taking macro (close-up) images of insects, a few years ago. Then in February of last year, I bought my first flash, in May I signed up with several microstock agencies. Since insect images weren’t selling, I shifted to product photography and a few months ago, I started combining images with graphic design.

As for what is inspiring me… I love to create and I like to share and talk about positive things… things that I enjoy and make me happy. Designing (and creating the images for it) does that. Despite the fact that I’m 40 years old now, I feel like a little, happy kid, filled with joy and enthusiasm, once I’m done with a photoshoot and/or design. And these consistently overwhelming feelings of joy and enthusiasm motivate and inspire me more than words can ever express.

Zazzle: What are favorite Zazzle products to create?

Diana: Without a doubt, business cards! For most designs I created matching items, such as rack cards, promotional buttons and key chains and such, but creating the business cards are definitely what I enjoy most.

Zazzle: How long did it take you to start selling products on Zazzle and what helped?

Diana: I started my store sometime in November 2010, but I was very disappointed about getting no sales. On June 11th this past year, I was about to give up, when I decided to give it one more chance and ask for advice in the forum. I got some very kind comments on my work, that got me motivated again, but there was this one storekeeper, that nailed the problem – she had checked some of my products and had discovered there were not templates. I was confident I checked the template option on all designs, but what I didn’t know was that I was supposed to check the template boxes for ALL layers. So, two days later I deleted all of my designs and made a fresh start. A few days after that, I got my first sale and two days later there was another one – and it never stopped after that. It took me a little over 2 months to reach ProSeller status, so for anyone struggling with sales: make sure all of your (image/text) layers are templates!

Zazzle: What tips can you give someone starting out as a Seller on Zazzle?

Diana: That’s an easy one!

• As I pointed out earlier, make sure you check the template option for ALL layers.
• Make sure your store is organized and easy to navigate
• Make sure your tags are relevant. It may be tempting to squeeze in some irrelevant (but popular) tags, but it won’t get you sales. A potential buyer, interested in, let’s say, a Spa business card is not likely going to buy yours with a horse. The customer will get annoyed and if enough irrelevant designs show up, they’ll take their business elsewhere. So, before adding your first tags, you might want to read this “why tag spam hurts” topic on the forum.
• Come say hello to the kind and helpful people on the forums and ask for help if you can’t figure it out by yourself!
• Promote your stuff on Twitter, Squidoo, Facebook, a blog, website, etc.

Zazzle: When you’re not designing, what are your other hobbies?

Diana: I love to walk and listen to music and, of course, I spend a lot of time on photography and learning new techniques (for both photography and designing).

Zazzle: Anything else you want us to share?

Diana: Keep in mind that Zazzle is a marathon, not a sprint and it is also not a ‘get rich quick’ formula. It’ll take time to build your store, but if you’re willing to invest the time and effort, you’ll eventually get the return you are looking for.

In addition to Twitter, I now got a Facebook page and just yesterday published my first Zujava Leaf. I also published my first Squidoo Lens.

Thanks for sharing with us Diana!

Jaz, from the Zazzle store artbyjaz, discusses where she finds design inspiration and how she Zazzle benefits her business. Check out the interview below and don’t forget to check out her store artbyjaz.

Zazzle: To start off, tell us a little about your background.

Jaz: I’m Jaz Higgins, I’m 27 years old and I’m a full-time artist and work-at-home Mum, living in Brisbane, Australia.

Zazzle: When and how did you first become interested in art? How long have you been making art?

Jaz: I’ve always loved color and crafty things. From when I was a toddler, my Mum would reward me with pencils, crayons, pens, paints, and coloring books, which I just loved. There’s something magical about opening a fresh pack of crayons.

I’ve been making art professionally for about 7 years now.

Zazzle: Where do you draw inspiration?

Jaz: I find inspiration in books, magazines, the internet, nature, museums, vintage ephemera, and working with other artists. There are lots of little occasions in everyday life where inspiration comes along unexpectedly as well.

Zazzle: What has been your favorite design you’ve created, and why?

Jaz: I don’t have one favourite, but a few of my faves are: “The Two Skeletons“, “Birdy has a Birthday“, “Cancer (Zodiac Mermaid)” and “HalloweenMagic“.

Zazzle: When you’re not creating art, what are your other hobbies?

Jaz: When I’m not creating art, I’m usually spending time with my Husband and 3 year old daughter. I love reading, watching movies, meals with friends, visiting galleries and museums, and going to the beach.

Zazzle: What got you interested in selling your art on Zazzle?

Jaz: I was amazed at the huge range of products I could have my art on! They are such good quality and it’s a great way for me to outsource my merchandise and make it available in any amount to anyone in the world, without having to have a big warehouse myself!

Zazzle: What tips can you give someone who is just starting out on Zazzle?

Jaz: Stay patient at first, keep listing regularly and before you know it – you’ll have your first sale!

Zazzle: Can you give us a sneak peek of future designs?

Jaz: I’ve just finished a new painting called “Woodland Fairy” – I’ll be adding this design to my Zazzle products in the next few days. I’m always giving sneak peeks of what I’m working on on my Facebook page as well.

Zazzle: Lastly, a very serious question – If you could be a superhero, what would be your super power?

Jaz: I would love to be able to heal people (although I would imagine I would be very busy!) – otherwise teleporting or time travel would be pretty cool too!

Thanks for sharing Jaz!