Thursday 30 August 2007

Freelance Greeting Card Artists Required

Looking for work as a greeting card designer or artist?

For an up-to-date list of all Greeting Card Association members who are looking for freelance artists click here.

Wednesday 29 August 2007

General Facts: U.S. Greeting Cards

Source: Greeting Card Association - United States.

U.S. consumers purchase approximately 7 billion greeting cards each year, generating nearly $7.5 billion in retail sales.

More than 90 percent of all U.S. households buy greeting cards, with the average household purchasing 30 individual cards in a year.

The average person receives more than 20 cards per year, about one-third of which are birthday cards.

Greeting cards range in price from 50 cents to $10, although counter cards typically cost between $2 and $4. Cards featuring special techniques, intricate designs and new technologies are at the top of the price scale.

The exchange of greeting cards is one of the most widely accepted customs in the U.S. There are cards for virtually any occasion or relationship, and they are widely available. Approximately 100,000 retail outlets around the country carry greeting cards.

Women purchase more than 80 percent of all greeting cards.
Although women are more likely than men to buy several cards at once, men generally spend more on a single card than women.

There are two categories of greeting cards -- Seasonal and Everyday. Total card sales are split approximately 50-50 between the two types.

The most popular Everyday cards are Birthday (60%), Anniversary (8%), Get Well (7%), Friendship (6%), and Sympathy cards (6%).

The most popular Seasonal cards are Christmas (60%), Valentine's Day (25%), Mother's Day (4%), Easter (3%), and Father's Day (3%) cards.

Nine out of 10 Americans say they look forward to receiving personal letters and greeting cards because cards allow them to keep in touch with friends and family and make them feel they are important to someone else.

Although e-mail, text messaging and phone calls are valued by Americans for helping them communicate with family and friends, the majority of Americans say they prefer the old-fashioned handwritten card or letter to make someone feel truly special.

Saturday 11 August 2007

Cool Cards Gay Greeting Cards


Cool Cards have long been on the hunt for sensitive and stylish Gay and Civil Partnership cards.
We now proudly welcome Pogoplum as the latest greeting card publisher to Cool Cards.

Whichever term you prefer... Gay Wedding, Civil Partnership, Gay Friendship... Cool Cards are proud to offer these contemporary gay greeting cards.
Classic gay celebration and friendship cards:
.:Click:. View Gay Cards at Cool Cards

How Green Is Our Valley?

Greening the Greeting Card Industry
Via: GCA

...The time could be nigh for a universal grading that will clearly state the heritage of each card. “I would love to see the environmental credentials of not just the card but also the envelope and packaging to be made compulsory for all, so that consumers can make an informed choice when buying their greeting cards,” suggests Susanna Morrish from Glebe Cottage.

Besides board and envelopes, packaging is another element that is coming under the environmental spotlight. While paper can be fairly easy to recycle, individual cellowrapping is not. Some publishers, notably Glebe Cottage, Canns Down Press and Art Angels have recently begun using bags made from corn starch, which is fully compostable, while Roger La Borde is looking at introducing biodegradable bags on all its cards for 2007 so this looks to be something that will develop quite quickly in the next couple of years. “There is a small cost concern when it comes to using corn starch bags rather than those made from polypropylene but we can just about manage to absorb these costs. I am sure that as publishers begin to increase demand for these bags, I am pretty confident that the prices will reduce in line with this,” predicts Robert Hartford, director of Canns Down Press.

The UK printing industry has long been governed on minimising any damage to the environment (with greeting card specialist Loudwater being the first in the trade to gain the highest ‘green’ credentials) but there is the inevitable environmental cost of transporting the materials to consider. “To be honest I don’t think it’s enough to just to look at the product and pander to public concern by undertaking a defensive marketing exercise. We feel we are going to have to review the so-called carbon footprint of all our business activities and we are just starting the process of assessing everything, from our electricity suppliers to our how long our computers stay on for in a bid to try to reduce the size of this footprint,” explains Tim Solnick, director at Roger La Borde.

At the moment, public concern over the environmental credentials of the greeting card industry has been relatively low key – there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to potentially harmful manufacturing. However, as the ecological situation worsens and global warming hots up, so society’s demand for every aspect of manufacturing and consumerism to be environmentally responsibly is likely to increase. Add this to the fact that it is in everyone’s best interest to protect our precious planet as much as possible, in any way possible, and it becomes clear that taking a strong eco-friendly approach is essential, even for those who don’t list ‘tree-hugging’ among their hobbies...

Read More: Via GCA .:Click:.

Wind Power Cards

Greeting Card Publisher, Gallery Collection, Announces Wind Power Commitment
"We are trying to do the right thing for our planet," declared H.L. DeVore, Chief Marketing Officer of Prudent Publishing. "We want to conduct our business in a fashion that minimally impacts the environment and makes good economic sense."
The Gallery Collection's commitment to wind power actually began in 2006, but the company made the decision to stay quiet and see how the political and economic landscape developed for "green corporate behavior." DeVore admits to some reluctance about making the move to wind power, stating: "It seems there are always people looking to criticize you for not going far enough." He further comments, "These critics hurt the world and make people reluctant to do their small part. Green should not be about extremes. Green should not be a political issue. We are trying to do our small part to help the environment and send energy dollars into friendlier hands."
Via Marketwire .:Click:.

Wind Power to Propel The Gallery Collection into the Future
The Gallery Collection has made a commitment to wind power energy, specifically in the manufacturing of our greeting card stock and envelope stock. Currently, we sell 163 (cards) that are produced in windpower paper mills. Additionally, all of our envelopes are made in these eco-friendly facilities which are utilizing Green-e (.:Click:.) certified renewable energy.
Via The Gallery Collection .:Click:.

Cool Cards comment: We haven't been able identify which paper mills are used in order to validate these statements. Perhaps Gallery Collection could provide further information?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cool Cards were very pleased to receive a comment from Mr. DeVore, who informs us that The Gallery Collection use paper mills owned by Mohawk Fine Papers.
Many thanks Mr. DeVore and congratulations on your excellent green credentials!