YETI Coolers Trademark Claims Just the Latest to Hurt Artists

 TRADEMARK TROLLS: ONE ARTIST'S PERSPECTIVE

I've been making art and selling it on print-on-demand companies since 2012. In that time, I've witnessed the ridiculous overreach of companies claiming exclusive rights to common, generic words. I remember when I first started, I read about a fellow artist who was upset because she had received a cease-and-desist letter from lawyers claiming to represent author Stephenie Meyer. The letter claimed that the artist had no right to sell art associated with Meyer's novels. The artist was heartbroken and scared to receive the letter. Her crime? She took a photograph of the sunset and labeled it "twilight."

A short time later, I received the same letter. I laughed at first. I couldn't believe that this novelist's lawyers actually thought they now owned the common word "twilight" in all its iterations. After all, we're talking about a simple dictionary word that has been in use since the 14th century. Suddenly, artists couldn't label their work with this common word without receiving a threatening letter.

"Okay," you might say. "Just find a synonym and move on. Call it 'dusk,' 'evening,' 'sundown.'"

Other artists rolled their eyes and said, "It's just a scare tactic. Go ahead and use the word 'twilight.' Meyer's people can't really sue you if it's not related to her novel."

That seems logical. It would be pretty hard for these lawyers to prove that a freelance artist's picture of the sunset infringes on their client's melodramatic vampire-werewolf romance. But here is the problem:

A lot of the time, the print-on-demand site owners choose to err on the side of caution. In other words, no matter how much your work differs from the trademark, the POD is not willing to take the risk.

And suddenly, as more and more of these erroneous trademark claims pile up, you wind up with a situation where artists get creatively boxed in. The claims grow increasingly farfetched, such as the despotic guy who tried to claim he owned a math symbol:

 Pi symbol fiasco

More on the Pi symbol fiasco

Another great article about the problem

YETI Coolers is the Latest to Overreach

The latest company to jump on the overzealous-trademark-enforcement bandwagon is a company called YETI Coolers. In a similar situation to the pi debacle, YETI lawyers contacted Zazzle and claimed that no artists are allowed to use the generic term "yeti" in any artwork, no matter what the context. Of course, as they always do, Zazzle complied and swiftly removed all Bigfoot artwork containing the word "yeti," which is a word that is part of Himalayan culture.  

As you can see from my last blog post, I had a line of designs with a Bigfoot drawing on them and a yeti pun. The drawing wasn't so great; this was one of the first designs I made when I started selling my work. But I was proud of it because it sold and it made my family laugh. I enjoyed taking my yeti and putting him in different settings for different holidays. Suddenly, he was showing up at your door with a bouquet of flowers for Valentine's Day. Then he was wishing you happy birthday or a merry Christmas. Most recently, he arrived with a big grin on his face to wish your dad a happy Father's Day.

The pun I made was my own creation. The drawing was my own creation. I never imagined that using a simple word like "yeti" in the middle of a sentence would invite the wrath of a team of lawyers.

I don't have a conclusion for this blog post, because there is none. Of course, I reached out to Zazzle and the YETI Cooler company and was met with a brick wall. I just wanted to write this post to show the perspective of an artist and to explain how creativity often gets stomped on by greed.

The whole situation makes me feel like an awkward, lumbering outsider who has no voice and - at the moment - would much rather disappear into the woods. There's a word for the sort of creature I feel like today, but I'm not allowed to use it.

-MK

Cyber Monday 2: The Cyber Returns

Zazzle's Cyber Monday 2 Promo Deals

Zazzle is having another extreme discount day today for "Cyber Monday 2." With promo code CYBERTAKETWO, you can get 60% off wrapping paper (both pretty and funny), 65% off when you make your own calendar or buy some business cards to promote your new book, 30% off when you buy a funny Christmas t-shirt or sweatshirt and plenty more deals on everything.

Visit our Zazzle shops to see lots of unique items. We have funny cartoons, designs for beer fans and brewers, matching home bar sets, designs for writers and readers and dancers and much, much more.

-MK
MK Hess Creative

This Magical Elixir will Cure Your Cyber-Monday Headache - and Leprosy!

One swig of this restorative and you're cured.

Funny Novelty Personalized Cure-All Vintage Hip Flasks by FunnyTShirtsAndMore

Use the template fields to easily add your name and medical laboratory name to this funny, novelty flask. I ordered one for myself and it turned out beautifully:

-harymess
MK Hess Creative

Zazzle Black Friday Deals 2014 + Gift Ideas

ZAZZLE BLACK FRIDAY 2014 DEALS

 

If you're done punching strangers in the face so you can buy a Barbie doll in this season of thanks giving, there's nothing better to do than to go home, apply pressure to all your wounds and snuggle up with your loving computer to do - yes - more shopping.

Which is why all the internet companies are running deals today. Zazzle is doing the same thing (see it all here). So, if you aren't all shopped out or you aren't in the ER, there are some good percents off. I bought a couple mugs 40% off for some relatives. You can also get pillows at that price, which is really good.

This is also one of the best times to buy business cards, oddly. Zazzle has them all 65% off today. I'm a little partial to the marketing business cards for writers. You can get a 100 pack for about $7, which is exactly what I did this time last year.

Wrapped canvas, posters and calendars are a great deal right now, too. Next year, I'm thinking of making a photo collage calendar for a relative. They're a little tricky to design, so I set up this template at Zazzle's base price to make it easier (see my instructions lower on the page if you still need help with the tool).

Those are just a few ideas I have for good deals today. See a list of my stores here if you're looking for a unique gift.

And don't forget: it's not a good idea to hurt strangers over a Barbie doll. But it is okay to hurt them for grammatical reasons.

-harymess
MK Hess Creative

Personalized Saloon Coaster Set on Zazzle

With all the Black Friday Week 2014 coupon deals on Zazzle right now, my popular saloon coaster set is 20% off. These fun coasters have a gray-blue rustic wood grain effect and would look good in a home bar or man cave. You can add your name, monogram and the year your saloon was established:

Customizable Home Bar Beer Saloon Drink Coasters by FancyCelebration

This set of six coasters would make a great unique, personalized Christmas gift!

Use coupon promo code ZWEEKOFDEALS at checkout.

See the entire matching set here.

-MK
MK Hess Creative

All designs © MK Hess

Funny Ugly Christmas Sweaters for Your Holiday Party

UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS FOR YOUR HOLIDAY PARTY

I have some funny designs that would be great to wear to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party - or just to entertain your family during the holidays. Here they are on Zazzle sweatshirts:

It wouldn't be Christmas without the Fruitcake!

Funny Christmas Cartoon Fruitcake Ugly Holiday Sweatshirt
by HaHaHolidays

Merry Elfin Christmas

Funny Merry Elfin Christmas Elf Pun Ugly Sweatshirt
by HaHaHolidays

for Sherlock Holmes fans: Ornamentary, My Dear Watt-son

Sherlock Holmes Christmas T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Santa taking a selfie (elfie)

Funny Christmas Santa Elfie Ugly Holiday Sweatshirt
by HaHaHolidays

Dancer the reindeer at the North Pole - Pole Dancer

Funny Dancer Christmas Reindeer Pun Ugly Sweatshirt
by HaHaHolidays

Santa insults Mrs. Claus

Funny Santa Claus & Mrs Christmas Ugly Sweater
by HaHaHolidays

Gingerbread man? No - Ginger Bread Man

Funny Ginger Bread Man Christmas Pun Sweatshirt
by HaHaHolidays

This gingerbread man is "smashed"

Funny Smashed Gingerbread Ugly Christmas Sweater
by HaHaHolidays

The fro-man wears an afro of snowballs

Funny 'Fro Snowman Ugly Christmas Sweater
by HaHaHolidays

Gingerbread man with a fake tan

Funny Gingerbread Fake Tan Christmas Ugly Sweatshirt
by HaHaHolidays

Bah Humbug Winter Poem (Noses are Red / Fingers are Blue / I'm Tired of Winter / and Holidays, Too)

Funny Bah Humbug Anti Christmas Poem Ugly Holiday T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Citizen Cane the candy cane, longing for his childhood sled

Funny Christmas Pun Citizen Cane Ugly Holiday Sweatshirt
by HaHaHolidays

Santa Claus holding a beer

Retro Santa Claus with a Beer Christmas Sweatshirt
by FunnyTShirtsAndMore

OR MAKE YOUR OWN! On these two Santa designs, the text can be easily changed. You can even change fonts and colors under "Customize It":

Santa Claus Christmas Cartoon Personalized T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Retro Santa Claus with Beer Create Your Own Sweatshirt
by FunnyTShirtsAndMore

I have plenty of other funny Christmas designs - on a variety of products - in the HaHaHolidays store here. Thanks for stopping in!

EDIT: New ugly Christmas sweater with Bigfoot!

Funny Ugly Christmas Sweater Bigfoot Sasquatch Pun
by HaHaHolidays

Check out the whole collection of Ugly Christmas Sweaters - updated every year.

-MK

All designs © MK Hess

Pretty Christmas Themed Designs

PRETTY CHRISTMAS DESIGNS ON ZAZZLE

When it comes to Christmas, I'm more likely to make funny designs. But lately, I've been adding some more pretty ones to the FancyCelebration store and thought I'd show you some of them here.

I really like how this new snowflake pattern turned out. Here it is on a Christmas tree skirt:

Pretty Colorful Snowflakes Christmas Pattern Tree Skirt by FancyCelebration

And a Christmas stocking with a personalized name:

Pretty Colorful Snowflake Christmas Pattern Custom Small Christmas Stocking

See it on a lot more items here, including wrapping paper and lots, lots more. You can even use it as a background for your photos or text.

I also like the way this collage pattern turned out. It has a gingerbread man, reindeer, snowman, tree, mistletoe, candy canes and stars and snowflakes, all on a pretty green striped background. Here's the wrapping paper:

Cute Christmas Collage Holiday Pattern Gift Wrap Paper

And here's a cute pillow:

Cute Christmas Collage Holiday Pattern Throw Pillow

See more here.

These invitations turned out well. They have a modern, neon tree on them and plenty of room on front and back to add your party details:

Christmas Party Wavy Green Modern Tree Announcement by FancyCelebration

You can also find this tree on cards, postcards and stamps here.
I had fun making this vintage-style Christmas typography design. It says, "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." Here it is on a pretty photo card and an ornament.

Christmas Vintage Typography Photo Card

Christmas New Year Vintage Typography Christmas Ornament

See it on many more items here.

There are the Christmas beer bottle labels for homebrewers, which I've already shown here. Here's one of them. Customize with your photo, your name, the name of your brew and the year. Click here to see all four.

Christmas Beer Customized Photo Green Argyle Personalized Shipping Labels

I also have a handful of other miscellaneous pretty Christmas designs. Explore the FancyCelebration store to see more.

-MK

All designs © MK Hess

Fun Clock Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your Christmas List

I have a new post on the HaHaHolidays Wordpress blog today, showing 25 of the clocks for sale on Zazzle. HAVE A LOOK if you're searching for a fun and original Christmas gift idea.

Here's a collage of the clocks that I put together on Polyvore:

Clocks for Every Style

-MK       

All designs © MK Hess

Funny Gifts for Zombie Fans

ZOMBIES!

 

The Walking Dead premiere is just around the corner! Zombies are my favorite undead creature. They remind me of when I worked in retail on Black Friday - all the customers pressed against the doors in the early-morning fog, all the employees wide-eyed, scared of the influx of ravenous shoppers.

Yet another reason why it's better to shop online. Here are a few of my zombie designs on Zazzle:

Funny Zombie Brains Old Age Mugs

Funny Zombie College Logo Laptop Sleeves

Funny Zombie Professor Proverb Hip Flask

Funny Don't Shoot, Just Look Like Zombie T-shirts

Funny Zombie Buff Weightlifter Tshirt

Gothic Zombie Girl Halloween Horror Custom Invite

Funny Retro Old School Zombie Killer Hunter T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Funny Zombie Not a Zombie Green T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Halloween Zombie Skeleton Bones Inside T-Shirt
by HaHaHolidays

Look for more zombie designs here, both funny and frightening.

STORIES

Here are a couple silly stories for you too. This one is a farcical zombie story I wrote years ago and this one is about a trophy wife trapped in a bomb shelter. Here's my book RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! if you want to read about zombies battling vampires and werewolves.

Thanks for stopping by!

-MK

All designs © MK Hess

New, Unique Halloween Party Invitations on Zazzle

UNIQUE HALLOWEEN PARTY INVITATIONS ON ZAZZLE

These new Halloween party invitations have been so much fun to make, I don't want to move on to Christmas designs. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I can't believe I didn't make that many designs for it in the past. This year, I've made 8 new invitations, and if you look in the Halloween category in the FancyCelebration store, I'm adding other matching items as well.
 

Here are the new Halloween party invitations:

Halloween Party Invitations on Zazzle by FancyCelebration

Haunted Castle Gothic Halloween Party Personalized Invitation

Halloween Costume Party Cauldron Fire Personalized Invitation

Creepy Twins Horror Halloween Party Custom Invitations

Gothic Zombie Girl Halloween Horror Custom Invite

Tombstone Grave Skull Crossbones Cards

Creepy Raven on Brain Custom Custom Invitation

Graveyard Crow and Moon Custom Invite

Gothic Haunted House Custom Invitation

     



I loved making the zombie girl and the creepy twins. The cauldron and the brain ones really catch your eye, and you can't go wrong with graveyards and haunted houses. I have plenty of ideas for more - but they'll likely have to wait until next year.
-MK

Looking for a funny, spooky read this Halloween? Check out RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

All designs copyright MK Hess

Welcome to My Stores on Zazzle

Introducing My Zazzle Stores

Hello! I've been busy making designs and planning for the upcoming Christmas season. In the middle of adding products to my Zazzle stores today, I remembered my major weakness: promotion. I love to design, but I often forget to show off anything I've made. So, today I'm going to tell you about my stores. Then, hopefully, in posts throughout this fall, I'll show you some new designs - and also let you know about great coupon codes.

1. HAHAHOLIDAYS
HaHaHolidays is the first store I opened on Zazzle. When I started it, I was clueless. I learned how to design and make products while building this store and continue to add to it. It's filled with all my silly holiday cartoons - so stop by if you're looking for a ridiculous Christmas shirt or a Bigfoot pun Valentine's Day card.

2. CLOGDANCE
Next, I opened ClogDance. As a longtime clogger, I decided to open a niche store for all the other clogging fans. I add new designs now and then, and I love connecting with all the other cloggers on Pinterest.

3. FANCYCELEBRATION
After that, I opened FancyCelebration. Currently, it's the store I work on the most. I decided it would have all the more serious designs in it, for parties, businesses and other occasions. I'm growing a product line there for beer brewers and adding a lot of custom decor items for your home, like coasters and clocks. Recently, I started making party invitations. It's also where I sell patterns.

4. FUNNYTSHIRTSANDMORE
FunnyTShirtsAndMore started as a catch-all store for all the funny designs that didn't fit a holiday. I'm much more casual about this store - I'll add anything to it, no matter how strange. It's also where you can find blank templates for all of Zazzle's products, so you can make your own.

5. LABORANDLEISURE
LaborAndLeisure is still taking shape. If you don't mind a little disorganization, stop by. Its main focus is work (labor) and hobbies (leisure). Right now, it has promotional items for writers, writer humor, some sailing, outer space, and inspirational items.

Thanks for visiting!

-MK
Visit all my stores on Zazzle
See my book on Amazon

All designs copyright MK Hess

Customize Your Fourth of July Celebration on Zazzle

Independence Day is right around the corner here in the USA, and if you're planning on having a big Fourth of July celebration, now is the time to order your personalized invitations and other items. Check out all the cool 4th of July designs on Zazzle:

And don't forget to look for promo coupon codes.

-MK
On Zazzle
On Amazon

Funny Feminist Reply to "Make Me a Sammich"

If you have a dark sense of humor and you're tired of the "make me a sammich / sandwich" chauvinist comments, here's the funny poster for you. When I made this one, I hunted for the right vintage image - the woman had to have a look on her face that was happy but also a little devious.

-MK
on Zazzle
on Amazon

Father's Day Gifts on Zazzle + Coupon Codes

UNIQUE, CUSTOM FATHER'S DAY GIFTS FOR YOUR DAD

 

Father's Day is a few weeks away, so now is the time to order a custom gift if you want it to arrive on time. Zazzle has been expanding its list of products lately, and there are now hundreds of items you can add a personal touch to, just for your dad.

Hint: When you go to a product page, look at the top right of the screen, right over the product name, to see the estimated shipping time. (That's important because some custom-made items take longer to make, and you want your gift to arrive before the holiday).

HERE ARE SOME IDEAS FOR DAD FROM MY SHOPS:

If he brews his own beer, how about some fancy beer labels to make the bottles look professional, or a snazzy "Master of the Hops, Keeper of the Brew" apron?
Maybe he'd enjoy some saloon-themed items for his home bar, complete with his name, monogram and the year he established the place?
Or maybe your dad has a man cave and needs some custom man cave decor for it.
Does he like camouflage? Add his name or initials to 90+ different items, all featuring camo plus a cool silver-looking sheriff badge graphic.
Does he own a boat or yacht? Let everyone know that he's the captain with these customizable anchor items.
Maybe your dad hates today's social media and would appreciate a funny anti-Twitter design.
If you have something of your own in mind, you can always design your own product. The hundreds of templates here come equipped with easily-replaceable stand-in images and step-by-step instructions in the "About the Design" section of each product page. Add a touching photo or a funny phrase your dad will appreciate.

If all else fails, you can always search the Zazzle marketplace:

Happy Father's Day! I hope you find the right gift for your ol' man. And don't forget to look for a promo code.

-MK
on Zazzle
on Amazon

Graduation Invitations on Zazzle + Coupon Codes

Still need custom invitations for your spring graduation? Zazzle offers a huge variety. While I haven't yet made any graduation items in my own stores, plenty of other shopkeepers have one-of-a-kind invites and matching products that will make your graduation day special.
Explore the invites here:

And don't forget to check for coupon codes.

Have a happy graduation!

-MK
on Zazzle

Irish Pub Customizable Home Bar Products on Zazzle

NEW IRISH PUB DESIGN WITH YOUR NAME ON IT

Last fall, I made a line of saloon-themed products on Zazzle, and they've proven popular - especially the cork coasters. So, I decided to make a whole series. That way, you can outfit your home bar with whatever theme you'd like. I'll probably be adding new themes here and there throughout the rest of the year. In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, I just finished this Irish Pub theme:

Personalized Irish Pub Home Bar Products on Zazzle

I started with the coaster (the image in the lower left) and then created matching items. Going clockwise from the coaster, this image shows a stein / mug, a clock, a hat, a wall poster, playing cards, a pillow and a t-shirt. There are plenty more matching items available in the FancyCelebration store here.

If you want to add a personal touch with an Irish theme, or if you know someone with a home bar or man cave, this design is very easy to personalize - just fill in the fields provided on each product page. And, as usual, don't forget to check Zazzle's coupon promo page to get a better discount.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

PS: If you're looking for funny Saint Patrick's Day items, check out the HaHaHolidays store here.

-MK

All images copyright MK Hess