Greeting Card Design

is an illustrated, folded card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions, such as birthdays, Christmas or other holidays, they are also sent to express thanks or other care. Greeting cards, usually packaged with an envelope, come in a variety of styles and are manufactured as well as handmade by hundreds of companies, big and small. These days, greeting cards with die-cuts or glued on decorations may cost up to five dollars each.

Hallmark Cards and American Greetings are the largest producers of greeting cards in the world. In the United Kingdom, it is estimated that one billion pounds are spent on greeting cards every year, with the average person sending 55 cards per year.[1]

In the United States, many adults traditionally mail

Christmas cards

to their friends and relatives in December. Many service businesses also send cards to their customers in this season, usually with a universally acceptable non-religious message such as "happy holidays" or "seasons's greetings".

Standard Greeting Cards A standard greeting card is printed on high-quality paper (such as card stock), and is rectangular and folded, with a picture or decorative motif on the front. Inside is a preprinted message appropriate to the occasion, along with a blank space for the sender to add a signature or handwritten message. A matching envelope is sold with the card. Some cards and envelopes feature fancy materials, such as gold leaf, ribbons or glitter.

Standard types of greeting-card messages include:

* Anniversaries: happy birthday, wedding anniversary
* Holidays: generic or specific holiday — merry Christmas, happy New Year, Hanukkah, etc.
* Life events: congratulations on graduation, baby shower, wedding
* Sympathy: get well, condolences for loss of loved one
* Personal sentiments: thank you, I'm sorry, thinking of you, friendship, love

Photo Greeting Cards In recent years, photo greeting cards have gained wide-spread popularity and come in two main types. The first type are photo insert cards in which a hole has been cut in the center. Your photo slides in just like a frame. The second type are printed photo cards in which the photo is combined with artwork and printed, usually on a high-end digital press, directly onto the face of the card. Both types are most popular for sending holiday greetings such as Christmas, Hanukkah & for baby showers.

Pictures and printed messages in greeting cards come in every style imaginable, from fine art to humorous to profane. Non-specific cards, unrelated to any occasion, might feature a picture (or a pocket to paste in a personal photograph) but no preprinted message.