Since 2014, I've been earning a little money every month by creating designs for the POD (print-on-demand) company Zazzle.
Pink and Violet Roses—Party Supplies
Currently, I have three Zazzle stores. In this post, I would like to feature one of my favorite designs from my 400 Planets store.
The Main Image—a Colorful Seamless Pattern
In March, I designed a flower print or seamless pattern. I used two rose brushes to make two roses (pink and violet) and generated a random pattern using PhotoShop's Random Fill tool. After generating a pleasing variety of roses, I completed the design with a muted blue-to-brown gradient background.
Designing Products
With my main image ready to go, I started creating new items for my Patterns—Organic category. Zazzle has thousands of products on its website, most of which can be customized or personalized in some way. I usually work with a small subset, creating 50 to 120 products for a particular design.
Note: Regarding my work as a designer: I consider the image I create (or adapt) in PhotoShop as my Main Design, but I also consider each individual product in my store as a discrete design...
Zazzle's New Design Tools
Zazzle provides a design tool that enables customers and designers to customize a product. Last year, Zazzle updated its design tool, adding a lot of new features, including filters. When I started my Pink and Violet Roses designs, I decided to play with the new filters and came up with some interesting results.
