Learn a little more...with a link!
Website: Postcard & Greeting Card Museum | Find some extraordinary cards at this online museum.
Website Article: PBS Learning Media, Hack a Greeting Card | How to recycle a musical greeting card for a fun use.
Video: YouTube, Diy Paper Crafts: How To Make A Homemade Greeting Card | Make a card for that special occasion or person?
Read the script:
CARRIE: It can be daunting to search for a card that conveys the message you wanna send at Valentine's Day. But greeting card writers take on the challenge of writing on behalf of everyone.
GREG VOVOS: When I see my own card, and I'm watching someone else buy a card next to me, it just really reminds me of what cards are doing, you know, like people are taking the time to pick out something really special for someone they care about. So, for me, it's a really important reminder about what the task is.
CARRIE: At Valentine's Day, it's all about love. Of course, that's complicated.
ANNE MCEVOY: Love comes in all different stages, right? You've just met, you've been together for a long time, you've broken up and gotten back together, you've broken up with this person, and now you're in a relationship with this, it's like, oh this is what love is. So, it's constantly redefining itself, so I think that's one of the challenges.
CARRIE: Card creation usually starts with the copy. American Greetings writers pull inspiration everywhere from pop culture, to their own lives.
GREG: We don't just sit at our desk and try to write the most romantic-y, fluffy, thing possible. I think what's real important to a lot of writers that I work with is that it feels real, and that someone could feel proud to send this card 'cause it speaks for them.
ANNE: I find music very useful. So I usually have my earphones on most of the time when I'm just getting started. The wide range of music is really a good reminder of a lot of different stages of love, and there's always new music coming out, right, along with all the classics.
CARRIE: The writers compile a variety of copy for editors to peruse, some of which makes it's way to the artist.
RACHAEL KOENIG: We’ll read the copy and then kind of... I'll sketch out thumbnails and ideas of what I might want the card to look like before I move on to the final design. And usually, while I'm drawing the thumbnails, I'll think about what colors I might wanna use, what types of finishings, should it be really blingy, do I want a lot of glitter, do I want ribbons and bows.
CARRIE: Designing for Valentine's Day is one of her favorite occasions.
RACHAEL: I like that Valentine's Day can be more playful. You can have a card that says, I like you more than pizza. And that's really fun to design.
CARRIE: The challenge for all these veteran card creators is keeping things fresh.
RACHAEL: On Valentine's Day, you know with design, people expect certain things. They expect hearts and red and roses. So, I think that's the challenge in designing for love, is not reaching to those same symbols over and over again.
CARRIE: And they try to craft messages you would actually say.
ANNE: As greeting card writers, we are semi sociologists, keeping our finger on the pulse of relationships. Maybe I'm sending a Valentine's Day card to my stepson, or grandchild that's from a blended family situation.
CARRIE: Believe it or not, the writers behind the cards often don't see how their prose was used until they head to the store, or in some cases, receive the card.
GREG: I wrote a card, a great card, for wife, okay. You know, I'm saying that; I'm biased, totally. And so, I wrote it for wife, and then, for Valentine's Day, I get this card, and I start reading it. I'm like, oh my gosh. I wrote this card for you. And the card really talked about the relationship, and how she makes me feel and all that, and they took this card I wrote for wife, and turned it into a husband card. And it worked.
CARRIE: And if you want to add a personal message to cards, these experts say make it your own.
ANNE: In this day and age, people are becoming less and less apologetic about expressing their genuine feelings, and that's a wonderful thing, if we could keep those feelings positive. So, don't hold back, put down in writing what it is that you really, really want to say.