Creating a new collection takes a good chunk of time! From making the first sketches to updating my website with the final products, it usually takes two to three months to get everything done.
I know I've told you all about my illustration process before, which usually involves drawing things out either on paper or my iPad before I digitize and color the artwork. If there's a new type of product in the mix, then I also have to design the packaging that it will need.
Once the artwork is ready, I send it off to my manufacturing partners to turn it into stickers, pins, bags, and all the other things I offer in my shop. When I get everything back from my manufacturers, you might think that's it... but it keeps going.
Products need packaging! Once I have new products in hand, I have to put pins and badges on backers, tags in cellophane, and attach tags to bags. This is where my hole puncher gets a serious work out!
Next, it's product photography time! Each new product gets several photos showing off different angles, and a photo on a white background to use in my wholesale catalog. I do all of my photography myself, and it all happens on the end of my shipping counter. Working in such a small space, many areas have to pull double duty!
Last of all, there's lots of computer work to be done. I have to edit all of my photos, enter new products into my inventory database system, and then add each product to my online store!
And then it starts all over again! Though my summer collection just came out, I've already started planning my fall release!