16 Zazzle Products that Work Well with Seamless Patterns
If you’re like me, you love creating repeat patterns for your Zazzle shop. But the unfortunate truth about Zazzle is that it isn’t really the ideal place for repeat patterns. Instead, the platform is all about customizable templates with monograms, pictures, small business stationary, and wedding/party supplies.
That’s not to say that repeat design can’t do well, you just need to know which products look best with seamless patterns on them and are therefore more likely to sell.
So I’ve compiled a list of 16 products to put your repeats on.
Personally, I come back to this list regularly myself when uploading a new design to make sure I didn’t miss anything when uploading, so you may want to bookmark this page to come back to later when you’re uploading your repeats.
16 Zazzle Products that Work Well with Seamless Patterns
- Neck Tie
- Socks
- Wrapping Paper
- Blankets
- Notebooks
- Mousepad
- Face Masks
- Tote Bags
- Aprons
- Throw Pillows
- Fabric
- Leggings
- Luggage Tags
- Yoga Mat
- Bandana
- Area Rugs
When looking at this list you might notice that all of these items are very different from one another and a repeat design that might work really well on, for example, a necktie, might not work so well on a mousepad or a yoga mat.
So you are going to want to optimize your designs for each product in order to get the most sales possible.
But how do you do this?
There are no rights or wrongs here…
Decide which product you want to sell
First, you’re going to want to decide which product, or which few products, you are designing for.
You may want to pick the product that you think you would buy, or maybe it’s a product that would suit your design style the best.
It’s up to you to make this decision. There are no rights or wrongs here.
Keywords Research
Once you’ve decided on the product(s) you want to design for, you’re going to want to do some keyword research.
Take a look at the product category on Zazzle and see what keywords are popular and what kind of designs are already selling for the product. It’s important to note here that you don’t want to copy anything that already selling, you’re just looking to get an idea of what customers are buying.
Design Concept
Once you’ve found some good keywords that you are happy with it’s time to put some thought into what you’re going to create.
Write down your keywords and start brainstorming some motifs and colors that would suit those words.
Can you pair up some of the keywords, for example, “blue” and “stripes” to create a blue striped pattern?
– My Recommended Tools –
Below are my personal favorite tools that I use regularly in my POD business.
The below links are affiliate links meaning I may receive a small commission for anything purchased through these links at no extra cost to you.
Creative Fabrica – My favorite place to get graphics with a straightforward commercial license for print on demand use.
- Get Creative Fabrica’s All Access Free Trial for one week here ($9.00 a month after that.)
- Get Creative Fabrica’s Yearly All Access Subscription for $59.88 here.
Adobe Illustrator – I use Adobe Illustrator for at least half of my design creations. It’s pricey but so worth it when you choose to take the business seriously. Get a free trial to Adobe Illustrator here.
Graphics Tablet – My partner got me this exact tablet as a Christmas gift when I was just starting out with creating my own designs. It has served me well now for several years and it was a very low cost investment that made a big impact in my POD business.
Ergonomic Mouse – If you spend long hours at the computer like me I highly recommend investing in a good ergonomic mouse. Over the years, I have caused an injury in my hand/wrist from being at the computer so much, but my pain has gotten significantly better since getting this ergonomic mouse on Amazon.
Pick a Repeat Style
When you’ve decided on what elements and colors to include in your design it’s almost time to start creating. But first, decide on what kind of repeat you are going to create. Is it a mirrored design? A two-directional print? A scattered repeat?
If you need some ideas I list 10 Types of Repeat Patterns with examples here.
Design, Design, Design!
Now that you’ve prepped your design it’s time to start creating! Get your pen and paper or open up your design tool of choice and start designing.
Personally, I recommend Adobe Illustrator as my design tool of choice, you can get a free trial here.
You can also grab graphics off of Creative Fabrica, which is a great option for creating lots of patterns as you won’t need to draw each element yourself. You can get your first month for $1 here.
Upload
Now that your design is complete it’s time to upload your pattern(s) to Zazzle. Don’t forget to use the keywords that you researched earlier!
Repeat!
Next Steps
Keep in mind that Zazzle isn’t the only print on demand marketplace on the internet and that other platforms may be better suited for your seamless pattern.
Be sure to check out other platforms like:
- Society6
- Redbubble
- TeePublic
- Spoonflower
This isn’t a comprehensive list, just a place to start.
Happy designing!