Come Play with Zazzle in New York

zazzle at mfba

One of the most vibrant exhibits at Maker Faire Bay Area this past May was Zazzle‘s booth, where I shot a pic of the fun custom illustration by Josh Ellingson pictured above. During the entire two days of the Faire, their cozy, inviting space was bustling with folks who were hanging out creating art. There was barely ever an open seat available, and the Zazzle crew was enthusiastic and welcoming. Zazzle has been incredibly supportive of the maker community.

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Zazzle will be joining us again at World Maker Faire New York, taking place September 21 and 22 at the New York Hall of Science in Queens. We spoke with Zazzle’s Diana Adair to find out what they have in store:

As a Goldsmith sponsor, Zazzle will be hosting ‘Make It Yours’ where everyone can get creative – adults and children and all ages in between. We’ll have postcards with robot designs that you can color in and decorate. We’ll also have photo buttons that you can create by taking a picture of yourself. With your imagination and all sorts of creative supplies – markers, crayons – you can make these products uniquely your own. Zazzle will have merchandise on display to show all of our amazing products from skateboards to iPad cases, including products made by New York makers such as Case-Able in Brooklyn, New York.

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For folks who don’t know about Zazzle, this Redwood City, Calif.-based company founded in 2005 is out on a customization mission. Their site allows you to customize everything from skateboards to pet clothing. You can even sell your designs on Zazzle. Here’s a bit about them from their site:

Our Technology: At Zazzle, our technologies are all about turning your dreams into reality. We’re tackling some of the hardest technical challenges around. And we’re not only developing cutting-edge software innovations, but also never-before-seen hardware and manufacturing systems.

Our Products: Our products let you… be you! We’re deeply passionate about providing you with an opportunity to be yourself through customization. And we’re committed to offering the highest quality custom products in the world, in an ever-expanding array of categories.

The People: Zazzlers are a passionate bunch. We’re dreamers. And we believe that anything is possible (ok, most anything). From PhD’s in mathematics to national physics champions to professional artists and manufacturing gurus… we’re all over the place but united by a passion to re-define commerce.

Makers young and old had a great time customizing giant illustrations, like the one by Nidhi Chanani below.
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Here’s a video of Zazzle at Maker Faire Bay Area:

YouTube player

Come play!

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I'm a word nerd who loves to geek out on how emerging technology affects the lexicon. I was an editor on the first 40 volumes of MAKE, and I love shining light on the incredible makers in our community. In particular, covering art is my passion — after all, art is the first thing most of us ever made. When not fawning over perfect word choices, I can be found on the nearest mountain, looking for untouched powder fields and ideal alpine lakes.

Contact me at snowgoli@gmail.com or via @snowgoli.

View more articles by Goli Mohammadi

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