So far since October I've averaged one sale per day. My new templates never posted. So I'm limited to designs that are square in overall shape. Here are some of my latest designs.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Zazzle Pro and more
Well I made pro a month or so back. For about two weeks I didn't get a single sale and now I've gotten sales almost every day for the last two weeks. I guess the holiday season is picking up.
Here are some of my recent designs:
Here are some of my recent designs:
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Hip to be square
Sadly my template process will take some time to develop. Most of my images are not perfectly square and so far that is the only template visible. It's been about a week since I made my templates and they still don't show in Zazzle Quick Create. *sigh*
Somehow this got me on the subject of earthquakes. My latest design...
Somehow this got me on the subject of earthquakes. My latest design...
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Eat your veggies
Sometimes I draw fruits and veggies. My tomato sold almost as soon as I published it. And then there is the ever popular pineapple bandana. My only guess is somewhere there is a Spongebob motorcycle gang.
Most Popular
My most popular designs in the last 6 months (by purchase) mostly have to do with drones. Here are some of those.
quadcopter drone questions answered t-shirts by Milfords
Put your favorite photo on tshirt designs online at Zazzle.
quadcopter drone questions answered t-shirts by Milfords
Put your favorite photo on tshirt designs online at Zazzle.
Bulk design process mastered
Ok, so I finally figured out the Zazzle bulk design process. I can make 94 items with each piece of art produced. I need to now go back and post the art already produced to the items not currently represented.
Basically the gist of it is that you make a template based on SHAPE. You take a square image, any image, and you create an 'All Products' template listing. Mark them all as hidden and place them in a private templates store category. You need to select the option during the Quick Create process that creates the items for Quick Create use later. Then, make another set of templates based on a long rectangle shape, then maybe one for a tall rectangle shape.
After about a day or two of waiting, you can then select the template when you do the Quick Create process.
I'm now working on making my art showcased on at least 90 pieces offered by Zazzle. I do get a weird error that I forgot to fill out a field when I try to finish the process. This causes me to have to do everything over again. But overall, I can now make 90 items in about 20 minutes, sometimes less than 5 minutes if everything works perfectly.
Here are a few of my newer pet themed designs:
Basically the gist of it is that you make a template based on SHAPE. You take a square image, any image, and you create an 'All Products' template listing. Mark them all as hidden and place them in a private templates store category. You need to select the option during the Quick Create process that creates the items for Quick Create use later. Then, make another set of templates based on a long rectangle shape, then maybe one for a tall rectangle shape.
After about a day or two of waiting, you can then select the template when you do the Quick Create process.
I'm now working on making my art showcased on at least 90 pieces offered by Zazzle. I do get a weird error that I forgot to fill out a field when I try to finish the process. This causes me to have to do everything over again. But overall, I can now make 90 items in about 20 minutes, sometimes less than 5 minutes if everything works perfectly.
Here are a few of my newer pet themed designs:
Monday, August 3, 2015
more to come
I really liked these...
Biohazard biological hazard symbol orange computer bag by Milfords
Check out more Biohazard Laptop Bags at Zazzle
So Fresh So Clean Air Freshener iPhone Case Tough iPhone 6 Plus Case by Milfords
Browse more So fresh Casemate Cases at Zazzle
Biohazard biological hazard symbol orange computer bag by Milfords
Check out more Biohazard Laptop Bags at Zazzle
So Fresh So Clean Air Freshener iPhone Case Tough iPhone 6 Plus Case by Milfords
Browse more So fresh Casemate Cases at Zazzle
more cute animals
awww...
Fat Kitty Food Coma Trucker Hat by Milfords
Create customized hats online at Zazzle.
Sold one of these to someone in France like right after I drew it...
Fat Kitty Food Coma Trucker Hat by Milfords
Create customized hats online at Zazzle.
Sold one of these to someone in France like right after I drew it...
It's early
Suddenly I find myself with a lot of time on my hands. Recent pieces:
evil black bats phone case samsung galaxy s6 cases by Milfords
See other Bat Casemate Cases at zazzle
evil black bats phone case samsung galaxy s6 cases by Milfords
See other Bat Casemate Cases at zazzle
Holy Crap it's August
I've been quite busy since my last post on Valentines day. At that time I had approximately 300 items in my Zazzle store.
Today, I have close to 2400 items. I'm selling a design about every 2 to 4 days, sometimes up to 5 copies in one sale. I should meet the criteria for Zazzle Pro Designer in a month.
I think I may be ready to take it up a notch and use Quick Create a bit more efficiently and have possibly 100,000 items by years end. That's a lofty goal I know. Right now most of my designs are on 9 items or less. If I can get each art piece I've produced on 75+ items, I would have 20,000 items with just the art I've drawn so far.
I believe it's important for the art to be on each and every item. Although any art you see on Zazzle can be applied to any item by the customer, most customers are either too lazy or unaware they can do this. If a potential buyer goes looking for key-chains and your art is only on men's shirts, then the customer will not buy your design in most cases.
My next goal will be to master the Quick Create process to start applying the art I have to the 80 or more items not utilized. Mostly I've just made shirts, so that makes it easy to know what I have already made.
Below and in my next few posts I'll showcase some of my favorite pieces produced in the last 6 months.
Green Lizard Iguana Gecko Cartoon Pullover Sweatshirts by Milfords
Create your own t-shirts online at Zazzle.
Today, I have close to 2400 items. I'm selling a design about every 2 to 4 days, sometimes up to 5 copies in one sale. I should meet the criteria for Zazzle Pro Designer in a month.
I think I may be ready to take it up a notch and use Quick Create a bit more efficiently and have possibly 100,000 items by years end. That's a lofty goal I know. Right now most of my designs are on 9 items or less. If I can get each art piece I've produced on 75+ items, I would have 20,000 items with just the art I've drawn so far.
I believe it's important for the art to be on each and every item. Although any art you see on Zazzle can be applied to any item by the customer, most customers are either too lazy or unaware they can do this. If a potential buyer goes looking for key-chains and your art is only on men's shirts, then the customer will not buy your design in most cases.
My next goal will be to master the Quick Create process to start applying the art I have to the 80 or more items not utilized. Mostly I've just made shirts, so that makes it easy to know what I have already made.
Below and in my next few posts I'll showcase some of my favorite pieces produced in the last 6 months.
Green Lizard Iguana Gecko Cartoon Pullover Sweatshirts by Milfords
Create your own t-shirts online at Zazzle.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
He likes to line dance
His boots are totally on FIRE! Tearin' up the country dance floor (or barn dirt floor, whatever works on your farm Cletus).
Another one for Dad... the Gambler!
It's ok to encourage him once in a while.
If Dad loves Blackjack, this might suit him.
If Dad loves Blackjack, this might suit him.
A manly tie - post Superbowl, ready for Father's Day
The Superbowl may be over, but father's day is coming up!
Friday, February 6, 2015
Snails in Love tote
This adorable snails in love tote came to me after an episode of Spongebob. They don't look like Gary because I needed to draw my own type of snails, but Spongebob always inspires greatness in everyone. :)
They obviously look like they are in love right?
You can get any Zazzle design on another product, so this also appears on shirts and buttons.
They obviously look like they are in love right?
You can get any Zazzle design on another product, so this also appears on shirts and buttons.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
It's the month of love...
Since this is the month for lovebirds, my next few post will be my favorite love items I've made recently.
This one is for those who just got over a rough breakup. Hey, we all do from time to time. It gets better. :)
And another for the one you are hog wild about.
This one is for those who just got over a rough breakup. Hey, we all do from time to time. It gets better. :)
And another for the one you are hog wild about.
Valentine inspire design
Cupid the Hitman Longsleeve T-shirts by Milfords
Make cheap t-shirts at zazzle.com
I just loved creating this chunky little cupid guy. I know he isn't very fast, but his aim is true! If you look closely you can see a tiny bit of nipple showing under his toga. Manly. Also available in greeting cards, keychains, and buttons.
The beginnings of my portfolio
Hello,
I've been working for a a few years now on graphic design. A while back I noticed a site called Zazzle.com that allows independent designers to upload their own creations to shirts, mugs, etc.. In the past, I never considered myself an artist and I lacked basic art talent, so I didn't bother with it.
But, fast forward to the present and one hobby led to the next. In 2009 I began to create Android games as a pass-time. In order to make these games I needed to learn to create my own art simply and quickly. This led me to The Gimp, because it is free and I could not afford the astronomical price of Adobe products at the time. (They have since applied a subscription service that is much more entry-level price friendly. If you can spare the change, Adobe products are worth every penny!)
I still don't know all the ins and outs of The Gimp. I get a little better every few days. I can make caricature art and cartoon work quite well now.
Anyways, back to Zazzle. I decided the drop programming (although who knows I may write a program for something now and then) and focus my efforts on product design. I actually owned a small time T-shirt printing business about 10 years ago that used old fashioned silk screens in wood frames. Those products were sold on eBay and I was moderately successful. Without the hassle of producing the product, Zazzle is a perfect fit for me these days.
So on December 28th, 2014, I started a brand new Zazzle account. www.zazzle.com/milfords
As of the time of this writing I have 365 products. I've read the forums on the official site and hear that new designers often will not experience their first sale for a month or two. I also hear that January was the slowest month of the year because it is just after Christmas. I made 3 sales so I feel pretty excited about that. I posted to the message boards and received some good feedback on avoiding trademark infringement (made that mistake oooooo a dozen times or so, then I figured out how not to be stupid) and better description and tag management. Basically you cannot use anyone's name (except politicians), the name of any product, the quote from any meme (mostly, lots are just generic expressions that cannot be trademarked, RESEARCH!), and ANY.... let me repeat... ANY artwork you do not draw yourself. Even using public domain art (which has been beat to death) is occasionally risky as some expired copyrights still include trademarked characters and phrases. And just because you draw a picture of Bob Marley doesn't mean you can put it on a shirt. It may be your art, but it is his image. His estate owns the rights to anything with even the likeness of Bob Marley on it. You also have to be careful about fonts. Most fonts are not free to use in whatever you want, even the ones that came with your computer. Using the fonts built into Zazzle avoids copyright issues and also allows the customer to change the words if they like. I still occasionally use my own font as part of the image, but I carefully select fonts that are free from commercial use.
Bonus report: Very positive comments were received by ProZazzlers on the high quality of my designs! Based on the early sales during a typically dry period I feel as though my chances are exceptional if I stay persistent.
You see, persistence is key. Constantly uploading new designs/creating new products keeps your store fresh, and from what I perceive from the forum peeps, your rankings higher. I've got a little trick for that. Each time my kids are on restriction for bad grades or whatever silly thing they do to get themselves in hot water, they can each earn some video game(boy)/cell phone(girl) time if they make a few extra products for Dad on Zazzle. Usually I'll just make one product of each new art design and the kids put the design on other types of products. Sneaky, yeah, but it's also teaching them basic business, marketing, and design skills. When not on restriction, I give them an allowance bump for helping out. So far it's been slow to get them motivated, but I'm hoping they will get better over time.
I'll upload some of my favorite pieces now and then to let you know how it is going and what inspired me to create a specific item.
I've been working for a a few years now on graphic design. A while back I noticed a site called Zazzle.com that allows independent designers to upload their own creations to shirts, mugs, etc.. In the past, I never considered myself an artist and I lacked basic art talent, so I didn't bother with it.
But, fast forward to the present and one hobby led to the next. In 2009 I began to create Android games as a pass-time. In order to make these games I needed to learn to create my own art simply and quickly. This led me to The Gimp, because it is free and I could not afford the astronomical price of Adobe products at the time. (They have since applied a subscription service that is much more entry-level price friendly. If you can spare the change, Adobe products are worth every penny!)
I still don't know all the ins and outs of The Gimp. I get a little better every few days. I can make caricature art and cartoon work quite well now.
Anyways, back to Zazzle. I decided the drop programming (although who knows I may write a program for something now and then) and focus my efforts on product design. I actually owned a small time T-shirt printing business about 10 years ago that used old fashioned silk screens in wood frames. Those products were sold on eBay and I was moderately successful. Without the hassle of producing the product, Zazzle is a perfect fit for me these days.
So on December 28th, 2014, I started a brand new Zazzle account. www.zazzle.com/milfords
As of the time of this writing I have 365 products. I've read the forums on the official site and hear that new designers often will not experience their first sale for a month or two. I also hear that January was the slowest month of the year because it is just after Christmas. I made 3 sales so I feel pretty excited about that. I posted to the message boards and received some good feedback on avoiding trademark infringement (made that mistake oooooo a dozen times or so, then I figured out how not to be stupid) and better description and tag management. Basically you cannot use anyone's name (except politicians), the name of any product, the quote from any meme (mostly, lots are just generic expressions that cannot be trademarked, RESEARCH!), and ANY.... let me repeat... ANY artwork you do not draw yourself. Even using public domain art (which has been beat to death) is occasionally risky as some expired copyrights still include trademarked characters and phrases. And just because you draw a picture of Bob Marley doesn't mean you can put it on a shirt. It may be your art, but it is his image. His estate owns the rights to anything with even the likeness of Bob Marley on it. You also have to be careful about fonts. Most fonts are not free to use in whatever you want, even the ones that came with your computer. Using the fonts built into Zazzle avoids copyright issues and also allows the customer to change the words if they like. I still occasionally use my own font as part of the image, but I carefully select fonts that are free from commercial use.
Bonus report: Very positive comments were received by ProZazzlers on the high quality of my designs! Based on the early sales during a typically dry period I feel as though my chances are exceptional if I stay persistent.
You see, persistence is key. Constantly uploading new designs/creating new products keeps your store fresh, and from what I perceive from the forum peeps, your rankings higher. I've got a little trick for that. Each time my kids are on restriction for bad grades or whatever silly thing they do to get themselves in hot water, they can each earn some video game(boy)/cell phone(girl) time if they make a few extra products for Dad on Zazzle. Usually I'll just make one product of each new art design and the kids put the design on other types of products. Sneaky, yeah, but it's also teaching them basic business, marketing, and design skills. When not on restriction, I give them an allowance bump for helping out. So far it's been slow to get them motivated, but I'm hoping they will get better over time.
I'll upload some of my favorite pieces now and then to let you know how it is going and what inspired me to create a specific item.
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