Puzzle Projects

About the Project

Outside of my day-to-day design job, my passion is all things jigsaw puzzles! Doing jigsaw puzzles helps me to decompress and relax—whether it’s just sorting the pieces into different groups (color, pattern, etc.), or assembling the puzzle, it’s just a great experience overall to focus, sit back, and unwind.

I have been puzzling for over 6 years and I have over 700 puzzles in my collection currently. In 2022, I grew my Instagram puzzle community and followers by 15% in just a few months (and it’s still growing)—and I am content creator and puzzle ambassador for several brands (Springbok Puzzles, Wentworth Puzzles). It’s been very exciting to find new puzzle brands, post reviews on Instagram, and find a whole new community of people I never knew about.

I have a passion for design, writing for fun, and puzzling so I wanted to combine those all into a hobby to practice my design skills and copywriting. I have written several Medium articles about various puzzle tips, puzzle reviews, and gift ideas:

• The Best Personalized Jigsaw Puzzles

• 25+ Gift Ideas for Jigsaw Puzzle Lovers (2022)

• Deep Dive Into Le Puzz Jigsaw Puzzles

• Organizing My Jigsaw Puzzle Collection & Stats Behind the Puzzles

• 8 Expert-Level Tips for Efficiently Completing a Jigsaw Puzzle

• 20+ Puzzle Gift Ideas for the Puzzler In Your Life (2021)

Puzzle Infographics

Mid-way through 2022, I wanted to track my puzzles and see the data behind all the puzzle pieces. I love data. I love puzzles—I wanted to bring it all together! I made a spreadsheet to track my growing puzzle collection, track which puzzles I complete each year, and a place to keep a list of wish list puzzles. I created a spreadsheet that lists the puzzle name, brand, piece count, puzzle artist/illustrator/photographer, puzzle shape, release date, and when that puzzle was completed.

I created a series of infographic images to tie into my medium article on the stats behind my puzzles. There is a variety of different images—I needed to bring data & design together to visually show my puzzle collection by brand, piece count, new vs. vintage, puzzle shape, etc.

Puzzle Animated Gifs

Since becoming more involved in the Instagram/Social Media puzzle community, I realized that there are not many fun or cool puzzle gifs out there. All the gifs I used all the time were just—boring. This is why I wanted to design a series of fun and creative gifs for people to use on various social channels.

I created transparent stickers/gifs for Instagram Stories/Reels and gifs with backgrounds for Facebook/Twitter/Microsoft Teams. These are meant to be used with anything puzzle related—puzzle unboxing, showcasing a finished puzzle, puzzle haul, etc! These gifs have been added to my giphy account. You can find these special gifs by searching ‘krystalcotriss’, ‘jigsawpuzzles’, ‘puzzles’, etc. My stickers & gifs have had over 6 million views!

USAJPA Jigsaw Nationals Props

Established in 2020, the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to:

• Creating a nationwide community for jigsaw puzzlers

• Establishing a framework for competitive jigsaw puzzling events

• Acting as the US representative and official liaison with the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation

In 2024, the USAJPA hosted the 2nd Jigsaw Nationals speed puzzling competition. During this event, there was a casual puzzling room for puzzlers to socialize. One of the activities was a Pixilated photo booth. I designed the props that were utilized in the photo booth. Fun props were created for places 1st through 6th, the USA flag made up of puzzle pieces, fun quotes, and teams and pairs signs. These signs have been used at Orange County Speed Puzzler events as well!

Puzzle Parley

The Puzzle Parley is the premier biennial meeting of wooden jigsaw puzzle collectors, designers, makers, restorers, and enthusiasts in the USA. In 2024, I had the opportunity to volunteer and attend the incredible wooden jigsaw puzzle event. Because of this event, I complete wooden puzzles all the time! I helped the Puzzle Parley community with social posts leading up to the 2024 event and scheduled the social media posts.

Instagram Puzzle Photos

You can follow my puzzle account at @krystalcotriss—I post puzzle reels & tips, puzzle brand reviews, updates on my collection, and just creative puzzle photos overall. I feature a wide variety of puzzle brands and new & vintage puzzles. One of my favorite things to do is go thrifting and find vintage puzzles at an affordable price. And yes, I also have several saved searches for puzzles on eBay!