Well, I’ve been threatening to do it and over the last couple of days, I finally did.  I’ve opened an Etsy store:

hollywest.etsy.com

I feel rather sheepish for not doing it sooner actually.  I’m not sure what held me back.  I think it was mostly because I already had a website and it seemed silly to open another one.  Then I suddenly realized that having the Etsy store might help bring traffic to my main store and therefore might be a good promotional tool.  We shall see.

I still have loads of items to add.  Etsy’s tools are very simple but the entire process takes awhile since I also have to photograph the pieces, edit the photos, etc.  I’m also simultaneously adding to the product database on my main website, hollywest.com, which also adds to the time it takes.  Here’s a shot of my makeshift "photo studio":

photo_studio

Speaking of hollywest.com, changes are afoot.  If you’ve noticed a slight color/style change on my blog, it’s because I updated it to reflect the true colors of my logo, business cards, and stationary.  My "business identity" was designed a few years back by my good friends John and Greg at Orabor.

print_screen
I love my logo.  John and Greg were asked to contribute to a book called Graphic Design America 3 and used my identity as one of their examples.  Two very talented guys!

5 Replies to “Holly West @ Etsy”

  1. Holly says: September 6, 2007 at 12:54 pm

    LOL, someone said they “hearted” one of my items yesterday but now today it’s gone. I guess they don’t heart it anymore.
    We’ll see how it goes. I really do think Etsy is a great community. I seriously can’t believe I waited this long to open a store.

  2. Holly says: September 6, 2007 at 12:53 pm

    Damn. I was just looking at the logo John & Greg have on their website and it’s definitely not the same color as the one I’m using. I have had a lot of trouble reproducing this color on the web for some reason. On my original site it was too washed out, then I turned it kind of a spring time green, and now this one is muted but without enough gold in it. So there will likely be some adjustment on the colors…

  3. Antoinette says: September 6, 2007 at 12:46 pm

    Oh, and YAY on the Etsy store. I see you already have people who heart your store (me and Melody included). Even if you don’t sell anything, it’s useful to see what items get the most “hits” or how many people look at what. I get a lot out of my store even though I have yet to sell anything.
    I like you photo set up too. I think that’s the hardest part of selling on the web. That’s why I like to have prints of my photos in my store. You can really see well what you’re buying.

  4. Antoinette says: September 6, 2007 at 12:44 pm

    Wow! That’s REALLY cool!
    I did my identity on my own and to say it’s inconsistant would be an understatement. But I’m ok with that. For what I do and create it works. Plus I’m not going to look the same on my MySpace page as I am on my blog and business page. Each place on the web also has a different feel that I try and adjust to.

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