After successfully launching and maintaining Mooni's Sketchbook, I decided to open a second Etsy shop named Mariquititas; which loosely translates to "little gay stuff". The shop had a soft launch in June 2022 and an official launch on July 2022.
Mariquititas caters to allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community by designing and creating LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+ adjacent stickers and apparel.
Summary
Results
The shop has currently made 20 sales on and offline, and is maintaining a 3.3% conversion rate from visits.
The Visual Identity
The logo/brand name was decided on as a way to reclaim the word "maricon" from Spanish-speaking vernacular. "Maricon" has and continues to be used to demean queer individuals within Spanish-speaking spaces. By making it more phonetically palatable it takes away its harmful implications.
The visual identity was designed with the keywords "cosmic" and "summer" in mind to give power and positivity to the slur Mariquititas is derived from.
To achieve the feeling of summer a fluid gradient was designed, mixing in shades of yellow, green, blue, and purple. Fluid grid lines were added as well to allude to stars; this was influenced from observing nautical and celestial body movement maps.
The visual identity was designed with the keywords "cosmic" and "summer" in mind to give power and positivity to the slur Mariquititas is derived from.
To achieve the feeling of summer a fluid gradient was designed, mixing in shades of yellow, green, blue, and purple. Fluid grid lines were added as well to allude to stars; this was influenced from observing nautical and celestial body movement maps.
The Products
The products designed for the shop is currently limited with it holding 7 listings.
The designs are primarily composed of random sketches and drawings I made within the past two years. In the near future I plan to expand to create more products associated with current queer pop culture like RuPaul's Drag Race.
The designs are primarily composed of random sketches and drawings I made within the past two years. In the near future I plan to expand to create more products associated with current queer pop culture like RuPaul's Drag Race.
The Creation Process
All stickers and apparel are created in-house using an HP Envy 6055e printer and Cricut Explore Air 2 cutting machine.
All raw materials such as vinyl, ink, canvas totes, and printable vinyl is sourced by me after researching customer reviews and ordering samples. I take the utmost responsibility in creating high-quality products for my customers and therefore make this research invaluable to create a memorable experience.
All raw materials such as vinyl, ink, canvas totes, and printable vinyl is sourced by me after researching customer reviews and ordering samples. I take the utmost responsibility in creating high-quality products for my customers and therefore make this research invaluable to create a memorable experience.
The Packaging
The packaging is similar to Mooni's Sketchbook in that it uses a folded perforated card stock container to hold the stickers. This is then attached to a 60 lb card stock board to give the container support and to prevent any folding or damage that can incur during transit.