I recently had the pleasure of speaking to the Brighton Illustrators Group about how to create best selling greeting cards.
The evening kicked off with an insightful talk from greeting card illustrator Ilona Drew, from Brighton publishers I Drew This, who cut her teeth with the likes of Tiger Print, Watermark Publishing and Carte Blanche Greetings. Having designed over 1,000 cards during her career, she talked through some of the things to bear in mind when designing cards and how to get the most out of illustrating for cards.
My talk followed with a brief history of Blue Eyed Sun, followed by tips on how to think like a card designer, what goes into creating a best selling card and how to approach the card market by licensing or self publishing. We also took a brief look at the nature of greeting cards themselves, how they came into existence and why they are still used today, despite the advent of email and the social media.
Last, but by no means least, James Emmerson from cutting edge card publishers 1973, gave a brilliant disection of a number of his previously published ranges. An honest account of his successes and failures helped those attending get an idea about the nitty gritty of what makes some cards work and others fail. It was a fun evening and lovely to meet and support such an interesting group of local creatives in Brighton.
Brighton Illustrators Group is run by illustrators for illustrators. It supports and advises freelance illustrators living in Brighton and the surrounding area. Formed 22 years ago, the group shares information about professional practice through emails, events and newsletters. The Brighton Illustrators Group blog and website also promote the use of illustration and the work of the group.
Here are the slides from my talk which are interactive and contain hyperlinks to relevant websites:
Click here for updates on the Ladder Club Seminars for new Card Publishers
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