We're back with the second in our series of Shop Owner tips to help you get your shop ready for the holiday season. 

1. Master the Basics: Making your shop shine
2. Function & Form: Which materials for which products?
3. Discovery: Getting found in search
4. Personalization: Put a name on it!
5. Merchandising: Design for the occasion
6. Promotion: Go where your audience is
7. Fan Engagement: Put down the bullhorn and have a conversation
8. Data is your Friend: Statistics, Tracking and Analytics
9. Pay for Play: An introduction to the advertising world

This week we'll be sharing suggestions on function and form, namely how to choose the right materials for your products. If you are making a product for yourself, it's great to have unlimited choice and to be able to experiment with various materials. But if someone is buying your product, you want to help them choose the best material for your product so they have the best experience possible. For example, your customer probably wouldn't want a ceramic iPhone case or a wedding ring in Frosted Ultra Detail...

To get started, when you upload your model to your shop, all materials are automatically enabled. It is important to check if all the materials are appropriate. Ask yourself:

1. Does my design meet the design rules for this material?
2. Would this product make sense in this material?
3. Do I have all materials selected still? If so, can I help customers decide by limiting the choices?

To select materials for your product, the easiest thing to do is to make a material selection when you are editing your product page for markup, description, or other details.

Overall, there are three things to keep in mind: design with the material in mind, use images that reflect the material options, and less is more.