Sunday Superstar – MerryDay

This Sunday’s Superstar is… Merry Day!

Welcome! What is it your company does?
I am a freelance graphic designer, doing mostly on book design. I spend my free time creating illustrations and selling prints and paper goods.

Tell us a bit more about your work/company:
MerryDay is a place where I transform my daily doodles into illustration prints and stationery set for sale.

What makes your company / work unique?
I think the combination of cute, whimsical quality and a bit of fantasy makes my work stand out.

How would you best describe your aesthetic?
I try to make my work fun and refreshing by adding something out of ordinary, something that makes people smile. Colorful is my keyword too.

How long have you been in business and how did you start out?
I always wanted to have an online shop since I first found Etsy. There were so many inspiring artists over there and after following them for a couple of years, I thought maybe I could do that too. It would be a great way to improve my skills. So, I opened MerryDay in January 2010 and try to learn the business and improve my shop since then 🙂

Why did you name your company what you did? Does it have any special meaning?
My sister and I always want to have a shop selling things of our own design and MerryDay is named by my sister. The meaning is simple; when you can do what you love, it’s always a merry day.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you “grew up”?
I think I wanted to be a fashion designer. I played with paper dolls and drew a lot of girls dressing up in what I thought as fashion. Then I just forgot about it and didn’t really have a goal for my future until I got to the second year majoring in English. That’s when I realized I wanted to be a graphic designer.

What/who inspires and/or influences you?
The first person is my dad. He is the most important person who makes me who I am now. He’s the one who took me to bookshops when I was a kid, who bought all kind of art books for me to learn and he’s the one who supports me to art school.

The second is not just one person but a whole group of artist bloggers around the world, especially children’s book illustration bloggers.

Are there any magazines, blogs or websites you are loving at the moment?

I have so many blogs on my list but these two bloggers are among the first bloggers who make me think about being an illustrator.

Steve Mack : http://spotillustration.com/

Jannie Ho: http://chickengirldesign.blogspot.com/

What advice do you have for other artists, crafters and designers?
Practice and patience. It took me more than 3 years before people recognized me and my freelance job is quite steady now. For MerryDay, it’s just on a starting step and I’m going back to those two words again, which is not so hard as I know I’m doing what I love 🙂

Do you have any events, promotions or launches coming up?
Right now my shop is giving free shipping and a free bookmark to the first 8 buyers. You can check out details on my blog here. Visit my etsy store too!

Merryday is giving away 2 4×6 digital prints of her Merry Fruity illustrations!

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment below telling us which of Merryday’s Illustrations you like best!

You can also twitter or facebook her shop or this giveaway for extra entries!

Why not follow Merryday on Twitter or Facebook too!

I’ll be announcing the winner of the FLAKY FRIENDS soft toy tomorrow! So check back then..