Feature Friday {Sassy Designs makes it easy on photographers}

This is for all you photographers looking for something extra, something special, something amazing to add to your creative process. I came across Terry on Etsy (go figure) and purchased a small handful of digital papers to add into my albums for clients. As much as I like making this stuff myself, I just don’t have the time to anymore and that is where wonderful gals like Terry step in. There are many things I could say about her work – it’s creative, bold, the color palettes are to die for – but most of all, this girl is super NICE. Yeah, nice! And generous. As busy as she is with her family and keeping up with her custom graphic design orders, she gets back with you as if it was a walk in the park. And she runs tons of sales and offers deals… sometimes twice a day. It’s crazy yall! If you are looking for a bank friendly set of digital papers for a new design or a custom logo for your company (yes, she makes logos too!), then you should contact her right away. She just just opened up her custom orders again. I had the pleasure of sitting down with her to chat – if you consider emailing back and forth from Michigan to Ohio sitting down to chat.

Visit her shop -> Sassy Designs  And visit her facebook page (where she posts all her sales) -> Sassy Designs on Facebook

 

How long has Sassy Designs been in business?

Sassy Designs was formed as a business in May of 2002 – I just celebrated 8 years this past May with a crazy storewide sale and a store giveaway!! I design card templates, storyboards, album templates, digital papers, and other digital design goodies with professional photographers in mind… giving them the extra tools they need to increase their bottom line. My shop currently has nearly 400 items and can be found at www.sassy-designs.net/shop

How did you get into graphic design and what pushed you to start offering digital papers?

I started out as a website designer back in the late 1990s. I was totally intrigued by the web and I wanted to learn how to “make my own website”. Geocities was not good enough for me – I wanted my own domain that I could design how I wanted, so I started reading books and online tutorials until I had the basics down. I purchased my first personal domain in 1997 – blurred.org

After I had a few years of experience under my belt I started Sassy Designs, Ltd. with my main focus being website design. Over the years I started branching out and doing other projects – ad design, publication design, smaller things that were less time consuming compared to a full-blown website project. Once I had my son in 2006 I knew I wanted to only focus on the smaller projects because I no longer had the time to devote to the larger ones.

My very best friend from high school, Kristen Caldwell, is a professional photographer.  She owns Kristen Caldwell Photography and does a lot of maternity and newborn sessions. It was ultimately her that pushed me into re-launching Sassy Designs, Ltd. as a photographer’s boutique. She would hire me from time to time to design birth announcements or holiday cards for her clients – and one day she suggested I just start designing them and selling them. So I did. With that came creating the patterns I would use for the card backgrounds and embellishments – so then I thought “well, someone might want to buy these, too”. And so, Sassy Designs, Ltd. was re-born in June of 2009.

How did you find the “need” from clients to offer this product?

I started out with a small Paypal shopping cart on my website and an Etsy shop, which has since closed. I never really thought my digital papers would be my best selling item to be honest, but I was contacted by a woman via Etsy – Jennifer Gentry of Mesmerizing Moments Photography – asking if I designed custom digital papers; she was hoping for a set to match and enhance her branding. I hadn’t started doing custom requests yet, but I figured “sure, why not?!”

Then the requests from other photographers started coming in and I officially launched my Custom Design Services in October of 2009.

Where do you get most of you inspiration from?

I know this may sound cheesy, but I am inspired by just about anything. TV ads, magazines, people’s clothing – I get ideas for color palettes and pattern combination in my sleep. I keep a notebook next to my bed so that I can jot down anything that comes to mind because I seem to get some of my best ideas right before I fall asleep!

You are so generous with all your sales, what drives you to keep it up?

Sassy Designs, Ltd. is my full-time job and it is what I love! I love chatting it up with my fans and customers, I love hearing positive feedback and knowing that I made someone’s day. I run Sassy Designs 24/7/365 – I put my heart, soul, sweat, and tears into my business. I strive to be one of the best out there and I know my customers appreciate my effort. Ultimately, it is them that keep me going and keep me inspired.

Do you have any advise for other artists out there thinking to start their own business?

It is a lot of hard work. Put your all into it and it will show. Customer service is a huge thing for me – I strive to give the best customer service I can – quick responses to emails, attention to details, and meeting or exceeding any deadlines I’ve set – I give what I expect from businesses I work with. It is amazing what great customer service can do. I have the most loyal and appreciate fans and customers in the world – I am sure of it!

Check out some of her work!