Interview with Diana Koenders aka pics4merch

Diana - pics4merch








Rico:
What's Your Name 

Diana Koenders

Rico:
List your shop(s) - 

Diana:

Pics4Merch

Rico:
How long have you been at Zazzle?

Diana:

I opened an account in november 2010 but made a mistake by not checking the template option, so people could not personalize them nor could they remove the sample text I added on them. I changed all products on june 13, 2011 and that's when sales started.

Rico:
Are you a ProSeller?

Diana:

Yes

Rico:
How long from the time you open a shop until you made it to ProSeller?

Diana:

2 Months and 1 week.

Rico:
What's the best advise you got when you were starting out?

Diana:

Well, as mentioned before, I made a mistake by not checking the template option on the text layers, but the best advice I got was on june 13th this year, when someone mentioned this and I was able to fix the problem.  

Rico:
What medium/tools do you use to create your designs?

Diana:

I use Photoshop to enhance my photographs and create mixed media designs.

Rico:
Who or what inspires you?

Diana:

My best friend, who is the kindest and most encouraging person out there :-)

Rico:
How much time a week to you spend on Zazzle?

Diana:

About 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, so approx 42 hours.

Rico:
What's the best advise you can give someone just starting out on Zazzle?.

Diana:

That's an easy one : Make sure you check the template option on ALL layers :-)

Rico:
What do you like to do when you are not creating art?

Diana:

Walking, as it's a great way to clear the head and think of new designs or images to create.

Rico:
Tell me 5 random things everyone should know about you?

Diana:

Oh poe... what can I say...
Not sure if it's something people SHOULD know, but perhaps I should mention the fact that having an autistic disorder, has really helped me to become a better photographer/designer. I can focus on things to the extreme, especially in regard to details and because of that, I design my products one at the time (i.e. I don't use quick create) I want each product to look the best as possible (something I can only achieve, creating it manually) and that's also the reason why I don't add a high volume of products to my store, despite the fact I work many hours on it, on a daily basis.

Rico:
List 3 of your favorite designs you want me to feature. Tell me something about each design.

Diana: 

ZEN business card: 

Zen business card by pics4merch
Get your color business cards at zazzle

This is my best selling business card and the very first mixed media design I did. It was more like an experiment, but it really got me hooked, as it was a fun thing to do because with designing, you can basically create everything.

Day spa / aromatherapy / massage business card:

Day Spa Massage Therapist Aromatherapy by pics4merch
See more Day spa Business Cards

This is another example of a mixed media design. The background was added later in post processing and is actually a macro image of a small plant, with sun rays (created with a photoshop brush)

Planet earth is listening. Globe wearing headphones

World music. Globe with headphones and QR barcode by pics4merch

This is another, brandnew mixed media design, available on various products. I combined a photo of headphones with a 3D render of a globe and added it to a blue background with a world map and sheet music.

Rico:
Where else can our readers find you online?

Diana:

Twitter pics4merch
Dreamstime.com