A behind-the-scenes look at our Etsy design process
Hi guys! It’s Sarah here, designer and founder of Pepperwild Design, an Etsy shop that creates kid-friendly, print at home gifts to make, give or enjoy! I often get asked what my design process looks like, so today I’m going to take you all on a little behind-the-scenes tour. We’ll take a look at how I bring my ideas from initial concept to final product.
But first, anxious to see the final product? Check out all our dinosaur handprint cards:
🦕 For mom: www.etsy.com/listing/838718485
🦕 For dad: www.etsy.com/listing/806731480
🦕 For grandpa: www.etsy.com/listing/806745654
🦕 For anyone: www.etsy.com/listing/80675242
🦕 Social Distancing edition: www.etsy.com/listing/825068990
Okay, let’s get started…
step #0: a spark
It all starts with a spark. A completely random idea that suddenly hits me, out of nowhere, and takes over my thoughts. An idea so random that if you would have asked me at breakfast that morning what I’d be working later that day, I would have never imagined. But here I am, tasked by my mind with a new concept.
step #1: sketching
I grab my tablet and start sketching. I love this part of the design process because I get to experiment and doodle. Right now I’m not using anything too fancy, just my Google Pixel Slate and accompanying Google Pixelbook Pen. I absolutely love all things Google (my entire family owns Google Pixel phones, and we have more Google smart speakers than we know what to do with)…please send help!
step #2: illustrator
Once I’m happy with my sketches, I import them into Adobe Illustrator. This is where I clean up my designs — and even redraw them if necessary! Then I’m able to save them as vector (lossless) files and resize them to be as teeny tiny or gigantic as I need when creating my final products.
step #3: photoshop
Next I head over to Adobe Photoshop where I create the actual products that I’m going to post on Etsy. Anything from greeting cards, May Day baskets, posters, wall prints, etc. First I set up the proper document sizes & print specs (300dpi / CMYK) for each listing. Then I bring in my design elements (this is usually a combination of my newly created vector illustrations mixed with text). I spend a lot of time on this step because this is the product the customer will download and print for themselves, so it needs to be PERFECT!
step #4: etsy
Upload my designs into my Etsy listing, and voila! It’s ready to download.
Obviously this is waaaaaay over-simplifying it if you’re an Etsy seller! But since this is just a design process interview, that’s where I can end. But a few tips if you are thinking of starting your own Etsy shop. You’ll want to plan for many, many more hours doing all the Etsy things, like: creating styled photos (up to 10 photos + 1 video) for each listing, writing product titles & descriptions, researching SEO for the optimal keywords and tags so you can rank in Etsy searches, adding in shipping info, pricing your product competitively, etc. Then there’s also all the social promotion you will need to do. Things like: Pinterest ads and pins, Instagram ads & stories, Facebook ads & stories, promoting via a blog, sending out a newlsetter to subscribers (I’m still working on growing my list, so if you want to join, head over to pepperwild.com/tribe and you’ll receive a special 30% OFF coupon for my Etsy shop as your welcome gift), posting Shop Updates via the Sell on Etsy app, etc.
Whelp, that’s it!
I hope you enjoyed my little behind-the-scenes tour. Be sure to follow me using the links below for future insider info (and freebies!)
Join our Tribe for 30% OFF!
Join our Tribe for your 30% OFF promo code, good for anything in the PepperwildDesign Etsy shop. Plus you’ll receive exclusive discounts, a special birthday reward, fun gift ideas, new product sneak peeks, and more! Sign up at pepperwild.com/tribe
