The end of the experiment

Hello!

After posting a few dozen posts for the last year, I've decided to stop updating this blog.

This blog has been a great tool for me to express my thoughts, and to have my studio's first years documented. However, running essentially 3 different businesses (the studio, etsy shop, and licensing and wholesale business) has pulled me to so many different directions that I feel I need to really focus on these 3 things. Sacrifice has to be made, and this blog is it.  I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have written it. This blog won't be closed, so you can look back on my musings.

My facebook page and tweets are the places where you can find latest news, findings and thoughts. These will be updated more frequently now.

Thank you and, for the last time, happy friday!
-sharon

[news] there's always a first time for everything

It's been a few weeks since this blog has been updated. We have been working hard here at the studio trying to launch new items, working on licensings, as well as getting the design business running. After all that hardwork, it's good to hear good news...

Helloo Europe! We have licensed 14 skus of our designs to popcarte.com. Popcarte is an online (and mobile!) custom greeting card based in Paris. They are currently expanded to the US. Some of the designs are still being worked on, but soon they should be live on the site.  Some of the designs you will be able to personalized the greetings, however you can decide what size of greeting cards you'd like with any designs. Exciting huh?!

(img: Zoey+Brad is live on france site!)

[shmls promo] updated cardlettes

it's my habit to always revisiting my old designs and updating it ever so slightly to make them perfect. 

case in point, these cardlettes at etsy now with rounded corner. more over, thinking as customers has lead me to split these designs to 4 different postings at etsy to make shopping much more convenient. most of them are printed on 100% post consumer waste paper!  60% off the original pricing is the icing on this newly and improved cardlettes cake. 

in the world where you can tell your friends your number, dialed in their cell phone, then have them to call you so you can have a miss call of their number, why would i ever produce this product that seemingly not needed anymore? because the act of giving a card with your information on it in a glassine envelope is much more civilized and elegant.

happy friday!

what's your worth?

Ahh... running a studio...

As a business owner, pricing decision is really important. As a right-brain-operated business owner (me), pricing is as confusing (and at times painful) as trying to solve rubik's cube. In the movie Spanglish, Téa Leoni's character said something to the effect that pricing too low shows how much you didn't value yourself or if it's too high then you just took advantage. Well, but really there's no winning in this situation, isn't it? Unless you can read mind and know exactly how much your customer/clients/buyer would like to pay.

And this is how I feel about pricing.

For products, the decision can be reached a little bit easier. Do the research, look into expenses, find a formula out there to calculate how much you are supposed to charge, and then  compare the pricing to the competitor. Even then, there will be people who will question your pricing just because they are comparing what you have to the same products with different factors (where its made, quantity, quality, etc etc). What about as a designer when your time and talent is the product? How do you determine? How do you justified the meticulous work that you do behind the scene?

Negotiating seems to work for me for now. And repeating "it's business not personal" seems to have keep me sane (for the time being). This is the only solution I have for now. I'll write more once I learnt more. I do, however, have found the solution for the rubik's cube. So may be ... may be ...  that one of those business for designer books can help me (... may be).

img source can be found here.


Happy Friday!

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Buyers welcome! Press welcome! or stop by to say hi is also welcome! For questions, you can contact me here.

Happy friday!

taking a breather

After working hard since october of last year, and taking a short break in january, now i'm taking a long break. the studio and the shop will be close starting from monday (march 8th to april 9th). the image from anthropologie's march catalog totally capture of where i'll be for the month. upon return, i will unveil new items for the shop, and this year, i'll be in NSS in may.

while i won't be blogging while i'm off, i'll still update my twitter. so i'll see you in a month!

Sneak peak

3 sweethearts postcards coming this summer. my intention for these postcards are for everyday. however,  i was inspired by the feeling of valentine day that's coming. this is what i thought the feeling of love should be, from the heart and then flying outwardly like fireworks!

have a wonderful weekend!

let there be... muffin?

today marks the exact day when i went to get the business license, and made the studio all official. so i've decided that today is the studio's anniversary. for me, anniversaries and birthdays are important. it gives me a reason to stop for a minute, look back, and pat myself on the back. with a young company, always in a time crunch and trying to catch up, this is a true luxury. 

also, i'd liket to say thank you for all of your support. this year, i've received a 900+ fans on my facebook page, opened up shop, and started this blog. of course, in between, i've designed and produced series of items. so i think today i will sit down, and have a cocoa hazelnut banana muffins to enjoy the hour. then back to the grind. there are many things that didn't go through last year, and many things planned for this year. as always, i'm looking ahead with a bit less of a naivete and a bit more optimism.

happy friday!

image: courtesy of here.

the last remnants of 2009

Let's talk shop!

The 2010 calendar will be discontinued on January 15th. Without a discount, it's still a bargain! All of 2009 Holiday cards will be pulled from the etsy store as well as the shop on January 15th also.

I have added a special section on shipping at the shop.175designstudio for an easy single stop to find information on when the purchased items will be shipped, as well as order announcements.

Lastly, I'm taking a much needed break on January 5th to January 17th after a flurry of studio and shop related activities during the last 2 months. Etsy store as well as shop.175designstudio will be open during this time. All order placed on these dates will receive free standard domestic and international shipping.

The new year has started off with a bang for me. Hope it's the same for you!