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Freebie Wednesday – HollyDays Free Hand Drawn Font

December 6, 2017
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Freebie Wednesday:

The Hungry JPEG has a cute Freebie Font for your design arsenal. HollyDays is downloadable for another 6 days.

 

As usual this product comes with a complete commercial license.

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Rainbow Connection: Dutch Masters and Indie Underground

December 5, 2017
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Some Trend Council color forecasts for 2017/2018 I found on Pinterest this week:

 

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Nuts and Bolts: Holiday Custom Design Requests

December 1, 2017
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Nuts & Bolts – Holiday Custom Design Requests

Custom design requests provide a wonderful opportunity to delight a shopper!  Some requests are a simple color or word change while others are more involved resulting in a new design altogether.

 

During the holiday season, shoppers are understandably choosy with their holiday card choices so GCU sees many custom requests during this time of year.  We are seeing them come in daily and they are typically for large quantities.

 

Here are some recent custom requests examples:

 

Eugenia Bacon of EB Designs received this shopper request:
I like your card very much, but would like it in Norwegian – is that possible?

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Tammy Moody of Tam Moody’s Greeting Cards received this shopper request:
I would like a black Partybus with name on the side of it. A&A DYNASTY and in the inside to say. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year we feel it is important to take this opportunity to thank you for your Business. We look forward to serving you in the New Year. from all of us at A&A DYNASTY LLC
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Cisillia Tay of Cisillia’s Card Store received this shopper request:
Hi, Can you substitute the word “Holiday” instead of Christmas? I’d like to order several cards for people of different religions.
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Well done, ladies!  Thank you for being so responsive and taking such good care of our GCU shoppers!  This is how we DELIGHT shoppers and differentiate ourselves from other card companies.

 

PLEASE be sure to check for custom requests.  Since email deliverability can be questionable, make it a routine, perhaps twice a week, to check your Manage Custom Requests in your account.

 

TIP: if you plan to be on holiday and will not be available to respond to custom requests please be sure to either turn your setting to OFF or updated your message to set shoppers’ expectations.  See here for more info.

 

Here’s a refresher on Custom Card Requests.

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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Wanted New Cards: Christmas Grandson & Granddaughter in Law

November 30, 2017
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Wanted Cards – Christmas Grandson & Granddaughter in Law
 
The perfect card will speak to relationships exactly how shoppers feels. Grandson & Wife and Granddaughter & Husband may fit the bill or suffice when there are no other options but for other shoppers “wife” or “husband” may be too impersonal.

 

Please consider creating cards for these new subcategories:

 

 

We’d like you to create at least one card for these categories using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock) or your own graphic designs.

Remember, when you’re submitting your new card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers. Be inventive,  be clever, be creative. Go for it!

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Freebie Wednesday: Textures

November 29, 2017
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Freebie Wednesday:

Here are some Freebies for your design arsenal – as always, be sure to thoroughly read and follow the contributors TOU (Terms of Use), and to offer that link in your Notes to Reviewer when you utilize 3rd party resources.

Graphicburger offers 7 Glitter Textures for all your festive holiday needs:

 

or if you’re looking for something more vintage, here are 6 Wood Textures:

or how about 7 Natural Paper Textures:

and for the trendy modern look there are some Polygon Textures:

 

 

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from → Fonts, FREEBIES

Rainbow Connection: Indigo Blue is hot for Summer 2018

November 28, 2017
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It seems that Indigo Blue is the hot new trend for Summer 2018:

 

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Nuts and Bolts: Last Design Challenge of 2017

November 24, 2017
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Nuts & Bolts – Last Design Challenge of 2017

 

With the holidays approaching, this will be the last challenge for 2017 and the deadline will be extended to December 15th to give all of you a bit more time to participate in both your seasonal hustling and the challenge too.

 

Give it a try, November’s Design Challenge – Make Them Laugh
Tip: this challenge is a Stock Card Creations (aka: BigStock) only challenge so be sure to glean some Design Challenge and BigStock Card Creation Tips from repeat challenge winning GCU artist Betsy Bush.

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager
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Wanted New Cards: Phlebotomist

November 23, 2017
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Wanted Cards – Phlebotomist
 
Such a variety of professions and occupations!  Many of whom provide services that shoppers may want to remember on special days and holidays.

 

Please consider creating birthday and holiday cards for a Phlebotomist.  Specifically …

 

Birthday >> Occupation Specific >> Phlebotomist
Holidays >> Thanksgiving >> Occupation Specific >> Phlebotomist
Holidays >> Christmas >> Occupation Specific >> Phlebotomist
Holidays >> Valentine’s Day >> Occupation Specific >> Phlebotomist
 

If you submit to a holiday or occasion that does not list Phlebotomist please submit to >> Occupation >> Other.

TIP: These are holiday and birthday cards so although phlebotomists work with blood the designs don’t necessarily have to be … well, bloody.

 

We’d like you to create at least one card for these categories using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock) or your own graphic designs.

Remember, when you’re submitting your new card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers. Be inventive,  be clever, be creative. Go for it!

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from → Wanted: New Cards

Rainbow Connection: Spring / Summer 2018

November 21, 2017
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Stylist Priya Chander of PC Trend Research is giving us some lovely color forecasts for Spring/Summer 2018:

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Nuts and Bolts: Like Image Series Stock Card Creations.

November 17, 2017
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Nuts & Bolts – Like Image Series Stock Card Creations

 

There are many different steps and guidelines with GCU’s Stock Card Creations service (aka: BigStock Cards) vs traditional submissions. Since announcing in 2015, the number of Stock Card Creation submissions is picking up speed and is now a collection of nearly 3,000 cards. All reside here as the primary category Collections >> Off the Cuff.

 

We have noticed that once an artist gets the hang of the tool it opens a floodgate of opportunities and ideas.

 

One thing that is the same that you may not think of is a like image collection or series.  Once you have a card design that you think is a real winner (and it has passed review), just like any other card, consider variations of the design for other categories like an age specific or relation specific series.

 

Here is a wonderful example of a Thanksgiving In Remembrance series by GCU artist Danielle Duckery:

Consider how that concept can be replicated for a different occasion / category as clever Danielle has done here for a Christmas in Remembrance series:
Be sure to follow the Series Concept Review process to save you and the review team time and grief.  Since Stock Card Creations are already expedited there is no reason to request FastTrack review as is customary with the series concept review process.

 

Note: While submitting a Stock Card Creations card, if it didn’t dawn on you to create a like image series and the idea for a series came after its approval, no worries! Simply create your next design (2nd like image submission) and include in the Notes to Reviewer your intention to create a series based on the original design PID######).

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager
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