Today we’re introducing you to someone new on Spoonflower’s Brand Marketing team, our new Artist Community Manager Jessie Katz Greenberg! As a podcast host and talented creative in her own right, Jessie has years of experience in many areas including working with artists and building community. Learn more below about Jessie’s background, what her plans are for this role, her favorite designs, as well as a few handy tips for Spoonflower artists.

Jessie Katz Greenberg headshot
With her back to the camera, Jessie paints a large heart in orange, pink, yellow, green, white and blue on wooden boards placed on top of white shop doors.
During the first COVID lockdown, Jessie (with many other artists) painted murals with positive messages over the boarded-up shops throughout SoHo in New York City. 

Hey Jessie! Please introduce yourself and share a bit about your creative background. 

Hi there! I’m Jessie Katz Greenberg, and I’m excited to join Spoonflower as the new Artist Community Manager!  

I spent the first 10 years of my career in graphic design, part of that as a packaging design director at a textile company in New York City, where I live.  

Throughout that time, I was networking in the creative community, teaching workshops, creating my own craft videos and co-hosting the Craft Hangout podcast. I ultimately decided to make working with artists my full-time job by joining a video startup in 2020 where I did community management specifically for art and DIY content creators. 

In addition to crafting, I also like spending time getting out of the city with my husband when possible, acquiring new house plants, hanging with our two cats or binge-watching too many shows to keep track of. 

 turquoise felt patch with a red felt rim and scalloped edges has the words “Create everyday!” embroidered in yellow. The patch is placed on denim with yellow zig zag stitches directly above it and a strip of small vertical stitches in a rainbow of colors.
Hand embroidered felt patch Jessie created for her denim jacket. 
A watercolor palette is placed on a red surface with a black pen to its right. Below the palette is an open sketchbook painted with vertical stripes of rainbow colors from purple to blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink and back to purple again. Scissors are drawn on top of the painted rainbow sections in black ink, pointing in all directions.
A peek inside Jessie’s watercolor sketchbook where she likes to experiment with bright colors, abstract shapes and continuous line drawings. 

What made you want to work for Spoonflower? 

I love the variety of opportunities Spoonflower provides for artists and makers, like the ability to easily open a shop full of your designs and have access to unique fabric so a maker’s handmade items really stand out. I also love all the opportunities we offer to be featured on our blog and social media channels, along with even bigger partnerships through our Small Business Grant and Ambassador Program.  

And, if I can give a tiny peek behind the curtain here, as someone who just recently joined the team, I love seeing how much everyone at Spoonflower is thinking about our artists, makers and consumers every day. 

What are your favorite Spoonflower designs right now? 

This is by far the most difficult question as there are so many! 

I know everyone has fallen in love with cecilia_granata’s Sexy Mushrooms design, but I’m a big fan of her design Don’t Forget Your Roots.  

Jessie is working on a hand-letter mural in yellow, outlined in black ink on a bright orange bathroom stall door. The quote she is working on, “Only make moves when your heart's in it and live the phrase, "Sky's The Limit" is by The Notorious BIG and from the song Sky’s the Limit.
Jessie designed hand-lettered murals to revamp bathrooms in a Brooklyn high school, a volunteer effort organized by A.V. Perkins of A.V. Does What. Watch A.V.’s vlog from the event on YouTube. The quote is from The Notorious BIG’s song Sky’s the Limit.
A hand holds up a square piece of yellow paper with the words “Love yourself” hand lettered. The word “love” is in all caps outlined in black and with an orange and turquoise center with black dots. The word “yourself” is in lowercase below it in magenta.
Jessie illustrated this hand-lettering piece using Sharpies and Microns on Bristol board.

What are you looking forward to most about working with the artist community? 

First, I’m looking forward to learning from our incredibly talented artist community! I’ve already had the chance to talk to many artists through Facebook Groups and one-on-one conversations, and I look forward to incorporating their feedback into upcoming events and resources. 

I plan to create more opportunities for our artists to engage with each other, share feedback and learn from us here at Spoonflower, whether you’re a total beginner or a surface pattern pro.  

We’ll be featuring artists in several ways, so if you are interested in speaking at a webinar, sharing your success story, or even providing feedback on your experience as a Spoonflower artist, please reach out and let me know! You can reach me at [email protected]

What’s your best piece of advice for artists getting started on Spoonflower? 

Just start! Don’t worry about designing a full collection or nailing down your signature style right away. Upload your first design, order a swatch and go from there. The first time you try anything is never going to be perfect, so it’s better to just get those first time worries out of the way.  

Be sure to check out The Spoonflower Seller Handbook for resources on getting started, social media tips, design tips and more. 

Want more Spoonflower artist tips?

Click here to read our Spoonflower 101 posts