Kate Harper's Blog: 9/18/11

Holiday Greeting Card Towel

On Fridays, I like to display samples of my products. Here is a sample "card towel (towel that you can send as a greeting card) by Fiddler's Elbow.

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Technology, Art Licensing and the Stationery Industry

Technology is changing the stationery industry and art licensing business. For artists & writers, this means we can get world wide exposure practically for free but it also requires we welcome learning new skills. Here are a list of interviews with designers, greeting card manufacturers, trend forecasters, and card sales reps who use new tech skills in their businesses.

High Tech Artists

See Article: Artist Goes High-Tech in Surtex Booth (ipads)
See Article: Licensing Art on Electronic Devices (skins)
See Article: Art Licensing on Tech Products (cameras)
See Article: 120 Resources for Artists to to Build an Online Presence

Online Groups for Greeting Card Professionals

I often read or use these resources to get tips and advice from other greeting card designers. I have found them to be helpful in my greeting card and design business:

GREETING CARD GROUPS

Linkedin Greeting Card, Stationery & Gift Industry Gurus
Networking links of sales, marketing, product development and sourcing people from these related industries and to help entrepreneurs gain access to industry knowledge and 'how to's."

Greeting Card Professionals
The worldwide default network for publishers, distributors, designers, buyers, developers, (online) retailers and anyone else relevant in the business. Feel free to join and don't forget to invite your colleagues and business relations.

Greeting Card Professionals
The Independent Greeting Card Professionals Association is composed of working professionals--and beginning professionals--who create and sell greeting cards retail or wholesale, at craft fairs or trade shows, or via the Internet. Members produce work in a variety of greeting card genres.

ART LICENSING GROUPS

Art of Licensing
A LinkedIn networking group dedicated to Artists, Illustrators, Designers, Product Manufacturers, and Licensing Agents in the ART LICENSING industry.

Yahoo Group Art of Licensing
A SPECIAL FORUM dedicated to Artists, Illustrators, Designers, Product Manufacturers, and Licensing Agents in the ART LICENSING industry.

MORE GROUPS TO CHECK OUT

Escape for Illustration Island
Illustration Resource Website and Podcast devoted to helping artists to connect and communicate with fellow creators.

Scbwi
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Art & Design Lounge
help Artists and Designers advance their careers and business goals helping them make vital new business contacts.

Stationery Trends
Facebook group for the magazine focused on the products, designers and inspiration that make up the stationery, greeting card and gift industry.

TWITTER RESOURCES

Stationery Show
Leading trade show for the social stationery industry.

Surtex
Selling and licensing art and design for every product, every industry.

Greeting Card Designer
Tips and resources for Card Designer and Writers .

* Am I missing something? Let me know. I'll add it to the list. Or leave comment below. *

40 Hand Made Fonts for Typography

Here's an interesting article by DJDESIGNERLAB blog. Read entire article...

Read entire article...

New Business Looking for Card Designer

I received an email from a blog reader Felix Tarnarider, who is looking for someone to design greeting cards. Here is what he said:

I am launching a new e-commerce website and am looking for someone to design 4 distinct greeting cards with a creative and simplistic design of content and cover. Please email felix@ubercaveman.com if you are interested in working on this design.

BOOKS FOR THE CARD DESIGN

These are books I own and recommend. Some may be out of print, but used copies may be available. Check link.

Start & Run a Greeting Cards Business Book covers starting a card business in the UK. Good basic info, but financial/measurement info is in different monetary units.

Greeting Card Design Book that shows examples of professional card design.

Publishing Your Art as Cards How to make and sell your own cards for an extra income.

Pushing the Envelope How to work with greeting card sales reps.

Complete Guide to Greeting Card Design and Illustration Great Book on understanding the greeting card profession and how to develop a style.

1000 Handmade Greetings: creative cards and clever correspondence This is not a simple craft book for hobbyists,instead it is a picture book of professionally handmade cards by leading companies and designers.

By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes & More Book that addresses how to "manufacture" handmade greeting cards.

How to Write and Sell Greeting Cards, Bumper Stickers, Tshirts and Other Fun Stuff

Sell the Fun Stuff: Writers' and Artists' Market Guidelines for Greeting Cards, Posters, Rubber Stamps, T-Shirts, Aprons, Bumper Stickers, and More!

Writing Card Sentiments

Freelance Writing for Greeting Cards Another good book on how to write for cards professionally.

You Can Write Your Own Greeting Cards Clear guidelines on how to write card sentiments professionally.

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

Licensing Your Art to Companies

Licensing Art and Design

Licensing Art 101 Good beginners guide on the art licensing business.

2011 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market List of greeting card companies, art licensees and agents.Detailed information on submission guidelines.

Gift and Product Design

Start with a Scan One of a kind book that tells you how to transform your art into a scan and what to do with it from there.

Design Your Own Repeat Patterns Simple book on learning repeats.

Twentieth-Century Pattern Design Great book for inspiration and creative approaches to designing patterns.

How to Break into Product Design Overview of product design in all industries.

Designing a Digital Portfolio Shows you how to put a digital portfolio together for the modern era.

Mary Engelbreit: The Art And The Artist Amazing story of how Mary ended up doing licensing.

Principles of Pattern Design Good info on pattern design

Imagery on Fabric Basic info on putting images onto fabric.

Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing Yearly updated guidelines for pricing for people in art careers.

5,000 Years of Textiles Far East, Americas, Africa, Scandinavia, and Egyptian. Good for studying fabric design.

Abstract Design and How to Create It Over 380 illustrations, diagrams, designs, border patterns and textile patterns.

Creative Illustration Workshop Exercises for integrating illustration with other mixed-media techniques, and scan and layer your illustrations using a computer.

Print Workshop Hand-Printing Techniques for low budgets. Interesting ways to put imagery on products. Perhaps a good technique for putting our designs on model items to show what they would look like on real products.

Digital Alchemy Printmaking techniques for fine art and how to transfer images to a variety of surfaces. It includes decals and skins.

Critical Mass Cutting-edge developments in international printmaking. Since printmaking is fundamental in most surface design concepts, this book's goal is a modern approach on a traditional printmaking.

Tradeshows and Booth Design