I haven't been here nearly as long as some of ya'll, but last I checked you couldn't publish a product if you didn't add any actual elements to it. So you couldn't just use the DT to apply a background color and go. Now, I see solid color only designs in the MP all the time, even whole stores that are nothing but every product Zazzle has available, published as different solid colors. And if I look at them in the DT, they are using a solid color png/jpg to fill the canvas. That means they know what the "rules" are and are intentionally going out of their way to skirt them and that's what riles me.
There are legit reasons to publish a solid color. A wedding suite or home decor collection including an exact coordinating solid color for a belly-band or throw pillow is sensible; prints + a solid is Design/Decorating 101. I don't know how an algorithm could know the difference between a legit accessory product vs all the no-effort spam ones clogging up the MP, but hears hoping they figure something out.
I was thinking today -
What if instead of Z trying to monitor why someone is publishing solid-color only designs, what if they simply did not show them in MP results and instead they would only show up as part of a Collection? So if someone is viewing a design collection - from the real Collection page or the POD on the product pages or the old-fashioned scroll - they would be able to see the perfectly coordinated matching solid as part of the Collection. The massive Collections (and even entire stores) that are nothing but solid colors, they'd still be here, but they wouldn't be cluttering up the MP. Noone's solid-color items would be. The only way customers would see them is if they are interested enough in an actual design to click on it and then find their way to either the Collection or store it's in. If the Creator is just churning out solid colors that aren't an "accessory" product to a real design theme, oh well, it's their own time they're wasting as they'll never be included in the MP.
You're absolutely correct. It is not expressly forbidden. My feelings were based on not being able to publish as just a BG color, meaning if one's adding a solid color image to skirt that, they're intentionally cheating the system. BUT, it's been a long time since I actually checked so I just did. 10 products, from aprons to invites .. and every one gave me a Sell It button after only applying a BG color. So I have been wrong for who knows how long now. People aren't skirting the system by adding solid color images, they're just creating needless work for themselves as you can publish without doing that. So, Zazzle clearly approves of this kind of "design".
Also fair to point out that solid color designs are often guilty of tag spamming. There's only so many ways to call a color, so you end up with nautical, farm house, beach house, trendy, modern, dorm, kids ..... It's no different IMO than adding a bunch of holidays to your tags .. christmas gift, fathers day gift, birthday gift .... Either way, it's a way of getting a generic or all-purpose type design into the results for specific popular searches. I don't think I'm alone in being bothered by that, but, you are correct - not only are solid-color "designs" not against any terms, it's apparently become even easier to publish such.
