My Process:

 This project was quite the learning experience. I’ve never ordered something through a print-on-demand platform, primarily because I’ve been too scared to put money into something that I could potentially mess up. However, this assignment was the perfect opportunity to get over my timidness and learn more about printing my own designs. For this project, I wanted to stick with one of the larger printing companies because (a) they were more likely to be able to print and ship faster if need be because of their resources, (b) they would likely have more options for what I could print, and (c) they were more likely to have the clearest printing guidelines. In the future, however, I would be happy to use a smaller (especially local) company when time allots it. The company I ended up going with was Printify because I appreciate how clear their guidelines were and the variety of their printable products. Going forward, I’m not positive if I would use Printify again, mostly because its platform is intent for you to connect to your online shop, and therefore isn’t the easiest to order just one or two pieces directly from. I ended up being able to upload my design and order a couple of samples, so it wasn’t too difficult, but I’m sure there are other platforms more intended for individual custom orders.

When thinking of a design, I knew I wanted to think of something a little more fun and “outside of the box” than some of the normal print-on-demand projects you see, so I was specifically looking for options when looking at printing companies. I contemplated bucket hats, wrapping paper, and a scented candle, but when I saw pet bandanas on Printify, I knew that’s what I had to go with. My cats, surprisingly enough, like bandanas, so I wanted to design something specifically for them, and that’s when I got the idea to create a pattern of some of their favorite things. I was able to make a list of about 15 things, but I dwindled it down to a few:

• Plastic bags

• A cat-stick-feather toy

• Bacon

• Marbles

• Scrunchies

• Rubber bands

Arranging was by far the hardest part; truthfully, I spent days rearranging items to ensure it was evenly spaced out, leaving it for a bit, coming back and hating it, and redoing the layout all over again. I finally forced myself to get over my pickiness and commit to a design, and while I do absolutely see how I could have done better, I am happy with how it ended up looking. From there, creating it was a breeze: I added the pattern to my Swatches panel, created a file that was the dimensions specified on Printify, added a rectangle where the fill was my pattern, exported that image, and brought it into Printify.

What I Learned: 

I’m ecstatic with how my product came out. When I heard about this project, I was nervous that I was going to order something I was never going to use and, in connection, wasting my money. I don’t feel like I did though, and I now feel much more confident ordering my own print-on-demand items. This project was also the one where I learned the most that semester.