Nuts and Bolts: Custom Card Requests: Tips II

NUTS & BOLTS – Custom Card Requests: Tips II

We are pleased to bring you a guest post by GCU artist Cisillia Tay of Cisillia Tay Designs:

I always look forward to the Wanted Cards postings because they give me focus and a sense of direction.

For material, I draw on my past experiences with people, places and food. And pets who have come and gone. I let the design form in my head. For the text, I give thought to how my father would have worded it. For the colors, I recall my mother’s sewing basket with all her old fabric remnants, and the pictures I continue to take and store in my mind. You could say a trip down memory lane is how I draw my designs.

When a sketch is done, I like to walk away, grab a coffee, and come back to it. What makes the cutting room floor is fodder for another design. Some requests require a degree of researching which I find interesting, and I have learnt a lot during my time with GCU (internet searches, case studies, books, on the disciplines). Some require care and diplomacy, and where I find I have had to put myself in other’s shoes and ask myself how I would feel. And for some, I run wild and free with the GCU motto ‘any card imaginable’ and trust the review team to rein me in.

I feel the requesting shoppers have more than likely perused the site and not found any card that suited his/her purpose.  If he/she had, it would either have been a sale or a personal request to the artist to modify an existing design.  Because the request is in the ‘public domain’, a fresh design might result in a sale which is why I tend to create brand new designs vs. modifying existing ones.

Through my cards, I like to think I am helping someone convey a greeting to or share an emotion with another person. Reading the many shoppers’ feedback, our artist community has reached many hearts. I am sure many GCU cards have found their way into someone’s keepsake box as I believe souvenirs reside in our hearts. I am privileged to be able to call myself a member of the GCU family. With the guidance of Mindy and her review team, I hope my best designs are yet to come!

My inspiration for the following Wanted Cards:

Wanted Cards Request:

“Get well wishes for someone having glaucoma surgery” 

I love a play on words.  The text carries two meanings: anxiety about surgery will soon be alleviated -vs- surgery correcting the pressure within the eye and preserving eyesight.