Q:: How did you get the first batch of designers in your store?
Maya::
There was a strange series of coincidences that lead to this happening.

I had this online buddy who is also an extremely talented digi scrapper. I tried to convince her for a good year and a half that she would make an excellent and well-loved designer but she was pretty stubborn about it and insisted that it wasn't really her thing. Then one day, she came to me with 4 kits she had made and as I expected they were adorable. I was thrilled for her and wanted to help her in any way I could so I let her sell her kits to my customers at Scrapbookgraphics. She has this genuine heart and simple sincerity that I absolutely adored. She brought so much light and laughter into my life that the idea of her working together with me at Scrapbookgraphics actually sparked excitement within me. It was the first time I had ever considered giving up my independence.

Right about that same time I was contacted by another designer friend, who was looking for a new home to sell her digitals. I had worked with her on a collaborative CD project in the past. Having recently been opened up to the idea of sharing my space with others I saw this as an option to consider. She and I talked about handpicking some of our favorite designers and creating high end digital boutique. The notion of working together with some of my creative peers really started to inspire me. Nothing can get my creative engine rolling more than being around other creative people. The more we thought and talked about it, the more stoked I got.

I had also been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and developed some symptoms that would occasionally keep me from designing. I needed to find other ways to contribute. While I really had loved flying solo with SBG, I knew that it was evolving and that working with others was the next step. I personally invited some of my favorite designers, but once the word spread that I was inviting, designers started contacting me. My initial plan of having only 5 other designers quickly moved to 10 by the time we launched Studio
Girls @ Scrapbookgraphics 3 years ago.

Q:: What do you look for in designers?
Maya::
This is an excellent question. The truth is that there are many answers. Besides the obvious factors of creativity, talent and workmanship, I select people with various qualities, traits and abilities that I find personally inspiring. For one person it may be because of their unique artistic talent, for another it may be because they are incredibly charitable, good natured and well respected in the community because of it. Someone else may be selected because they possess strong teaching skills and others because they have strong business skills and are excellent self-promoters. Consider that I am consciously and intuitively choosing people that I am going to surround myself with, so I am selecting people I respect and admire. We all have such an incredible opportunity to learn something from one another to grow as individuals and to work together as a team to accomplish great things. We have designers representing many countries and many languages and I really enjoy being exposed to a variety of cultures and the creative styles. So inspiring! I love my work and Scrapbookgraphics is my baby, and I want to keep loving and enjoying my work so choosing the right people is important. I enjoy being around people who are self-accountable, decent and respectful to others.

>From a creative perspective, I am primarily intrigued by uniqueness of style and creativity. I am inspired by designers that go out on a creative limb and put a lot of energy into the little details. You can tell when a kit was LOVED in the making. I am always after the kind of wow-factor designer who you just know is having far too much fun at her work. I really enjoy the work of designers that put elements in kits that are so unique and interesting that the element itself can actually inspire an entire layout that may have never been previously conceived of before. I really admire designers that understand how to create a concept for a kit, and follow through with that concept from kit creation all the way through to marketing.

Q:: What are the turnarounds of designers in Scrapbook Graphics? How long does a designer usually stay in your store? Can you tell the reasons why some stay and some leave afterwards?
Maya::
Again, this is a question that has multiple answers depending on the circumstance. We have some designers that are still with us after 3 years and a couple that may have stayed as little as months. We are all growing, changing and exploring who we are, and our needs and interests change depending on where we are at on the path.. Some designers have chosen to leave because they thought that they may have had better opportunities to fulfill their own personal goals elsewhere. Those that stay do so because their needs are being fulfilled at SBG. We've even had some leave to explore other ventures and then come back later. Then there are some that decide they are finished with designing all together and retire. I honestly don't think there is any generalizations that could sum it all up, however, it is my experience that a designer's career longevity is dependent upon her unwaivering, genuine passion for the craft. This fuels the commitment to evolve as an artist and a designer, and keeps her surfing the crest of success.

Q:: On some technical questions, who designed and developed the webpage of Scrapbook Graphics? How often do you change the look of the site? When do you think it is necessary to do a facelift?
Maya::
Together with the help of my husband Mick I create, manage and maintain the Scrapbookgraphics website. The look and feel is my doing and the technical expertise of more complex matters like the shopping cart system is his area. When I was the only designer at SBG I would change the look of the site every 3-6 months. Every time I changed my mood I changed the site look. I found that it is not as easy to design a site that fairly represented the styles of multiple designers, unless those designers all represented the same design style or niche. One of the areas that most all designers at SBG agree upon is that they don't want to be confined to one look or style. This is one of the reasons why you don't see our designers using matching packaging templates. As pretty as that might be for an overall site design, it can be a tight box to fit a variety of styles into. So when ever we redesign, we are trying to come up with a look that is generic enough that it will suit all the styles represented in our store. Yet at the same time, we are looking for a strong visual statement and solid branding. When we do find something that actually works for all of us, we are not so anxious to be changing it that often.

Q:: How big is your server in order to cater to the amount of products you have in the store? Is this important when setting and planning to sell online?
Maya::
Strange question that makes me want to say "VROOM VROOM" in response. I suppose that is simply because I leave the technical stuff to the Studio Dude, my hubby and tech guy, Mick. Honestly, I 'm kind of surprised that anyone else beyond tech nerds are interested in such things. :) ........