March 27, 2012

It's getting so close to the end of my four months. I'm finding that I've given myself too many tasks to do. The reason I am not accomplishing my goals though, is that my workload has increased so much that I can't finish everything. I wish I could have just focused on getting it all done, but I had too many sales and unexpected design clients.

Last year at this time, things were so slow, that I had to sell a lot of my jewelry to make ends meet. Oh well, next year at this time when I have loads of money, I can buy new jewelry, right?

The thing I regret the most is that I didn't have the free time to learn the new CAD program. I can do a bit on it, and I can take what I've done into Photoshop and alter, but most of my drawing has been on Photoshop.

I also wish I had finished my design website. I plan to contact some more people soon and want to have it up and running smoothly. Wish I could put on some of these new designs. I guess I can put some of the rejected ones. As soon as I'm finished with the new client designs I need to finish that site. I can make a decent living just off the drawings, not even including commission from the sales of product.

When I look at my old designs, compared to now, I have grown so much. It's a lot due to the freelance work, and partly due to my time on Etsy and Artfire. I've been exposed to so many techniques and styles by working there and seeing so much, that my work has improved greatly. It has only served to improve my product design and still influences future designs and trends.

March 20, 2012

I've been avoiding Pinterest for a few weeks. Still not sure about the whole legality of it all. Personally I think that if you have something posted on the web, you intend for an audience. I suppose that leaves your work open to theft, and I suppose in the case of photography, that is the bad aspect of it all.

I plan to set up a design portfolio, but will have locked pages that you will need a code to view. I will also only have the code available for 24 to 48 hours. I can't have just anyone looking at and stealing my designs. I can really only show designs that have been produced. I certainly can't risk having my unpurchased designs posted at Pinterest.

I really love Pinterest, and I guess I've been avoiding it the same way people avoid talking to their relatives about the illness they have. It makes me sad that I can't think about it the same way I did. I don't even feel like browsing, let alone repinning. I'm going to go back, I'm just going to be very cautious about what I pin and repin. And I might clear a few things off my boards. For instance, I'll use photography from travel websites, rather than from an individual's blog or site. I'll also pin from seller sites, to help boost sales for friends. You know, the people who want to be pinned. And if I see something I really want to pin, I'll get the originator's permission first.

I really don't have time to think about all of this, but I do need to get back to it, because it was so inspiring. My last designs, that I did very well on, were inspired by Pinterest. They were original designs, not at all stolen, but inspired by party and garden images that are popular themes. Popular colors, and trendy taste, Pinterest is a great way to find out what people really like, and what they are dreaming of. Who needs to make their own design trend board, when you can just go browse Pinterest.