Meet the professional writers and designers at American Greetings who know how to make the perfect valentine!
READ THE SCRIPT:
[Carrie] It can be daunting to search for a card that conveys the message you want to send at Valentine's day. But greeting card writers take on the challenge of writing on behalf of everyone.
- 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 today, it's all about love. Of course, that's complicated.
- 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, you know? 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.
- We don't just sit at our desk and try to write the most romantic-y, fluffy thing possible. Like, I think what's really important to a lot of the writers that I work with, is that like it feels real. And that someone could feel proud to send this card, 'cause it speaks for them.
- I find music very useful, so I usually have my earphones on most of the time when I'm just getting started.
[Carrie] The writers compile a variety of copy for editors to peruse. Some of which makes its way to the artists.
- We'll read the copy and then kind of, I'll sketch out like 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 want to use. What types of finishings? Should it be really blingy, do I want a lot of glitter? Do I want like ribbons and bows?
[Carrie] Designing for Valentine's Day is one of her favorite occasions. I like that Valentine's day can be more playful. You know, you can have a card that says, I like you more than pizza. And that's like really fun to design.
[Carrie] The challenge for all these veteran card creators is keeping things fresh.
- 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.
- 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 a grandchild that's really 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.
- I wrote a card, a gray 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 like how she makes me feel and all that. And like 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.
- 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 can keep those feelings positive. So don't hold back, put down in writing what it is that you really, really want to say.