10 Most Popular Greeting Card Design Articles in 2011


Here are the top 10 articles on this blog in the last year.

Total page visits for 2011: 412,357
Current email and newsfeed Subscribers 2011: 1,747
Current Twitter Followers: 1,031





1. Artist & Writer Submission Guidelines for Card Companies

2. Art Licensing Directory Project

3. The Greeting Card Business: 101

4. Getting Started in Art Licensing

5. Most Unusual Christmas Cards: Editor Picks

6. How to Make a Good "Art Licensing Website."

7. Technology, Art Licensing and the Stationery Industry

8. Protecting Your Art: Interview with Alyson B. Stanfield

9. List of Trade Shows for Greeting Card & Gift Designers

10. How to Write Greeting Card Sentiments


WSJ: What's In The Cards For American Greetings As Habits Change?

Interesting article from Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111218-704822.html

Here's an excerpt:

American Greetings is navigating a multiyear decline in industrywide greeting-card sales as more well-wishers express sentiments in email, Facebook and other means of social interaction.

 "You always get the question, will the greeting-card industry hold up with all the electronic stuff coming out?" said Kevin Cassidy, senior credit officer at Moody's Investors Service. "This is a very mature business. You can try to take some share. You come up with some new avenues, some price increases."

American Greetings has made strategic moves in recent years to help it compete with larger rival Hallmark Cards Inc., which is privately held. In 2009, American Greetings exited the retail business and bought Papyrus and Recycled Paper Greetings, honing its focus on its core business making cards. It acquired Watermark Publishing Ltd. earlier this year, boosting its presence in the U.K.

American Greetings also has a small operation selling e-cards and other digital offerings, but its business selling traditional products in North America accounts for the vast bulk of its revenue. 

Read the rest of the article here.


Art Licensing Seminar Jan 28

I just got this info about a licensing seminar. It looks exciting! For more info see: http://www.karenembry.com/The-New-Dynamics-of-Art-Licensing.html

DYNAMICS OF ART LICENSING
Presented by Karen Embry, Phyllis Dobbs and Brenda Pinnick

Karen, Phyllis and Brenda are presenting an art licensing business seminar designed to deliver honest, first- hand knowledge, tips, advice and insight. In this seminar they will share with you how the playing field has drastically changed over the last several years, what you need to do to succeed and the challenges you need to understand before investing your time, energy and money.

As an optional add-on, they are also offering a private, one on one consultation for portfolio viewing. You will get to peek inside their own portfolio "books" to see what their clients see and which art got them the deals! They will look at your art, discuss what categories it might fit and give you honest advice about color, styling, themes, etc. This is a one-time only opportunity at the low, low price they are offering.

The seminar will take place on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, then 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm for private consults. (this is after CHA meet and greet so there is no overlap or conflicts) Where – The Annabella Hotel, Azalea Room, Anaheim, CA It runs concurrent to the CHA Show dates and in close proximity to the convention, but does not conflict with any CHA events. This is an excellent opportunity for those attending CHA to have the option to attend the seminar since they would already be at the convention, but wouldn't have to incur any additional travel expenses. There is also an early bird discount for those that purchase their NEW Dynamics of Art Licensing seminar ticket by January 14, 2012. Portfolio consultation & art review times are scheduled according to the date of ticket purchase.

Are You an Artist? What Do You Want for Christmas?


What do you think would be a great holiday gift for an artist?

The best way to answer that is to tell me what YOU want.

Be specific and I will post the info on this blog.

(leave info in comments below or send an email message.)

-Kate

LOUIE Awards Deadline is December 15




The deadline to enter the 24th Annual LOUIE Awards is in one week! All entries must be postmarked by December 15, 2011, in order to be eligible for judging. Entries may be submitted online at the Greeting Card Association website – www.greetingcard.org – until midnight on the 15th.

This past year's LOUIE Awards drew 960 entries from more than 160 companies. Themed "The Greatest Cards on Earth!” – this year’s awards will feature nearly 50 seasonal and everyday card and invitation categories. All LOUIE entries will be evaluated during an official judging process, taking place in New York in late January.

Finalists in each category and the top award of "Card of the Year" will be selected by a Blue Ribbon Panel. Finalists will be notified and announced in March, and the winners will be recognized at the 24th annual LOUIE Awards gala, taking place on Sunday, May 20, during the National Stationery Show, at Espace in Manhattan.

For more information on the LOUIEs and to enter the Awards, visit www.greetingcard.org and click beneath the LOUIE logo. Questions? Email LOUIE@bdeonline.biz.

5 Publications on How to Write Greeting Card Sentiments:




You Can Write Your Own Greeting Cards

Clear guidelines on how to write card sentiments professionally.




How to Write and Sell Greeting Cards, Bumper Stickers, T-shirts and other fun stuff.




Freelance Writing for Greeting Cards

Another good book on how to write for cards professionally.



Finding the Right Words

One of many basic books of this series that tells you how to add words products, cards, etc.



99 Cents: 20-page booklet on
7 Mistakes Greeting Card Writers Make A list of 7 things to avoid when submitting greeting card verse to publishers.

Includes a list of card publishers and their guidelines, links to writer interviews, articles, card samples and other current resources. 20-page booklet and 2,300 words and 8 Pages of Card Samples.


$11 Holiday Gift Includes Free Shipping!

Here's my shameless self promotion -- but I think it's a great deal:

Right now you can get Free Shipping with Amazon Prime for my 2012 funny "Kid Quotes" Calendar I designed for Amber Lotus Publishing. You can send it to all your relatives at different locations without paying separate shipping charges. $11 is a very good price for a Holiday Gift! Say YES and support an independent publisher and artist!

Google Reverse Image Search

Check out this informative article by Joan Beiriger on how to find out where your images are being posted online.

Here's an excerpt...

Google now has a method called "Reverse Image Search" to search the internet for images. GRIS, an acronym that I am using in this article for "Google Reverse Image Search," was released on June 14 and has received accolades from scads of people who post images on the internet. GRIS is not perfect because it does not find all images but according to persons that have compared GRIS with another image search engine, TinEye.com, GRIS is far superior.

She covers these essential reasons to use Image Search:

• Search for Illegal use of art.
• Search for internet sites selling your art.
• Search for Internet sites that is promoting you and your art.
• Use GRIS for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) link building.

Read entire article...

Calling Cards vs. Business Cards

I've always preferred the look of calling cards over business cards. Here are some I had made. They are more pleasant than your typical business card, and they come packaged like a gift.

Most calling cards are printed on both sides, and on think paper, and they are often decorated very artistically. They feel like a small piece of art rather than a business card.

The company I bought these from told me that calling cards are often popular with two groups of people I had not considered: Stay at home parents who meet other parents at the play ground, and dog owners who meet other dog owners at dog parks.

I like giving them out as business cards, since they look nice and other people often comment on them when receiving them.

For more information on calling cards, see this great article recommended by David Dickens titled The Gentleman’s Guide to the Calling Card - http://artofmanliness.com/2008/09/07/the-gentlemans-guide-to-the-calling-card/ It talks about how to design and use calling cards, and where to have them made.

-Kate






Using Handwriting Fonts in Web Design

Check out this great article by Naldz Graphic Blog by Marvi Ocampo

Handwriting fonts are just one of the many font choices a designer can use in creating a design. It could enhance a web design with its proper usage and can also give a little frivolous touch making it totally unique. Many designers have used it in their designs and have successful y reached their goal to make it look appealing. There are many benefits of using handwriting fonts in designing which some of us could be oblivious of. Yet, even without knowing these benefits, a designer still experiment with using it.

As many designers come to love handwriting fonts, we will give you some tips on how to use handwriting fonts in web design. It is important that you could effectively use it so that the readers won’t navigate away from your site. Here are some tips in using handwriting fonts for web design.


Use minimal handwriting fonts
See more examples...

250 Free Design Patterns

Great website and resource of beautiful patterns at Patterhead website.

*Always check copyright and permissions when using free art

How To Create Repeating Pattern in Photoshop

Here's a great article by the blog line25. Read entire article...


Creating seamless textures

Anyone who’s followed any of my tutorials or seen my work before will know how much I love using textures in my design work. Textures really help add a tactile feel to an otherwise flat and digital design. Open up a texture file and crop it in Photoshop to exclude any marks that would stand out when repeated.

Go to Filter > Other > Offset then enter a figure in the Horizontal and Vertical fields that’s half the dimensions of your image. My texture file is 800x800px, so I enter 400px in the fields.


Article Continued. Read entire article...

American Greetings buys Local Business

I was a bit stunned to learn that AG has bought yet another local business of ours: Cardstore. (see Article: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/04/4030499/american-greetings-introduces.html)

I had a tour of their operations years ago and was quite impressed at how they fulfill their print on demand orders online - whether it be for 1 card or 1,000.

Cardstore has always been supportive of independent cardmakers and one year came their CEO came to our local art licensing meeting to answer questions about their process for licensing art (see:http://kateharperblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/art-licensing-event.html)

Greeting Card "Towels" on Amazon

"Card Towels" Towels you can mail like greeting cards!
*click on item to order through Amazon