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The Art of Greetings Cards

Let’s face it, we are a nation of greetings card lovers with a mind boggling £1.5 billion a year spent on cards alone. This equates to an average yearly spend of £50 per person, quite something for an ink on paper product! Of course, the emotional value we put on cards is the important thing and getting that message just right from sender to recipient through either images or words is the key. Artists, illustrators and creative writers are the life blood of any greetings card as well as it being a fabulous medium to display creative work.

I have been involved as a creative director in the industry for over sixteen years and cannot think of any other industry that is able to draw on creatives from so many different disciplines. Fine art, graphic design, animation, textile design, illustration, industrial design and creative writing are just some of the backgrounds of artists and creatives I have worked with. However, the entry route into the industry is not always an easy one. Based on my experience within Hallmark Cards and the Card Factory, two giants of the industry, I’d like to outline a few pointers for up and coming freelance talent who are wanting to get more involved with greetings cards.

There are two main ways of getting work published. Firstly, to become a greetings card publisher. This is usually the first thought that most creatives have when looking at how to see their work printed in card form. This would involve taking on all the set up and running costs as well as the production, selling and administrative responsibilities. Certainly not impossible, but as a one person outfit this often leaves liitle time for you to do what you do best, creating artwork.

A more common route is to supply existing greetings card publishers with artwork. It’s estimated that there are around eight hundred publishers in the UK, ranging in size from one man operations through to multi nationals. Not all of these companies will accept freelance work but alot do. The industry is creatively driven and the companies at the top of their game are always looking out for new talent. Doing your research in this industry is very important as publishers are not seen as brands by the public (Hallmark being an exception!) Check out the genres and style of cards in local independents and high street stores, the publishers details are on the back of all cards.

The UK tastes and styles are eclectic to say the least, so as well as the more traditional interpretation of scenes and images there’s lots of room for the more quirky and edgy styles. However, do remember that the big publishers with the big distribution are usually the ones with the big budget for artwork. Research their genres, as catering for a larger audience generally means creating work with a high degree of commercialism ie cute characters, florals, traditional scenes etc.. If you are a creative writer, I would recommend targetting the larger companies as there is far more scope for word driven cards because of the many different sending situations that are covered.

In line with supplying publishers directly, another approach which is becoming increasingly popular with creatives is to be represented by an art agency. This route doesn’t suit all freelancers as many are more than capable of marketing and selling work directly to publishers. However, for a commission (averaging 25% - 40%) the agency will promote the artists work to the relevant publisher, with the added potential of commisioned assignments. In addition, the work is licensed out to the UK publisher, therefore enabling the same image to be licensed to other countries throughout the world, maximising the amount of income recieved for each artwork. I do believe this is a great way of entering the card market and with the right level of expertise within the agency, new talent can be introduced to the industry that otherwise may have struggled.

Like most things, the greetings card industry is constantly changing both on the high street and online with the huge success of personalised cards through Moonpig. However, the one overriding factor that unites all in the industry is the desire for innovative product that stands out from the competitors. This is why creative talent will always be the driver!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jo Caswell .