I’ve been reading lots of past posts about designers having confusion / trouble with which card or postcard “type” (holiday, thank you, invitation, etc.) to start with, as well as how its difficult sometimes to find the exact one you want from the page(s) with all the card types available in that product Search tab thing (especially the elusive generic 5x7 folded card).
I’ve made a lot of cards. And I confess I’ve been super lazy about which type I start with, never thinking it mattered all that much. I figured as long as you have a good title, choose the correct marketplace placement, and the right product category, it should appear in searches (if you’re lucky). But now I’m wondering if I’ve epically failed about this. I often just take one I’ve already made that’s the right size (not paying attention to whether it’s holiday, or whatever), and use it as a starting point to create a whole new design from. So sometimes I get it right, by chance, and other times I’m multiplying the error. There are times though that I’ll have one design, and make a blank card, then a birthday card, then a thank you, then a Get Well, then a Mother’s Day . . . so technically, those could have different “starter card” types, but really, who wants to start all over fresh for each one, when you can just change the inside greeting, republish, and change all the particulars (title, marketplace, category, description, etc.)? After just now reading the Zazzle help guidelines thing about paper and card types (better late than never I guess) I’m sure I’ve made business cards that are actually profile or announcement cards, called invites ‘note cards’, and pretty much every other wrong thing you can do (like probably ALL the postcards, which are Holiday, but actually not).
I want to either cry, or throw up, thinking maybe I have to go through alllllllll my cards and postcards and redo them to be the right “type”. Am I the only one who’s done this wrong? Or, how wrong is it? I do realize (now) that a shopper could be kind of confused if they look at a birthday card, for example, then go down to read the Zazzle product description and it’s all about holidays. But then again, I’ve made those long hanging wine labels, and favor tags into yarn tags, and maybe a couple other things that don’t technically match what the product is really designed for, so . . . maybe I’m just twisting in the wind here over nothing.
From now on I’ll definitely make an effort to get it right. But would love to hear your thoughts on this.