Nuts and Bolts: Best of 2016 Feature Page
February 27, 2017
Nuts & Bolts – Best of 2016 Feature Page
In January, GCU proudly announced the Best of 2016 Founders’ Choice Award winners! See all the winners here on their very own landing page which will soon be linked from the site and shared via social media.
This was GCU’s second annual “Best of” awards as part of the monthly Design Challenge series. Be sure to check each month’s challenge as it may be a perfect opportunity for you to submit a design that’s been on your mind, or something totally new getting you outside of your comfort zone or overcoming artist’s block.
Design Challenges are run each month and announced on both the GCU community blog and GCU forum. There are a few days left to enter February’s challenge, see details here.
Tip: for a design challenge, and any new card for that matter, take a look at what is currently offered in the category and do a little brainstorming to offer something DIFFERENT not just more of the same. This will help your card stand out from the crowd and offer shoppers more choices, and ultimately sales!
The difference is made in the details!
Mindy
GCU Community Manager
GCU Community Manager
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Wanted New Cards: Preemie Milestones
February 23, 2017
Wanted Cards – Preemie Milestones
Babies’ milestones are exciting and well worth celebrating! So many firsts – first steps, first words, first tooth and more. Preemies will have these milestones too, all in good time. But having arrived early on the scene there are many earlier milestones to celebrate, especially for the parents of preemies to whom each milestone is a combination of excitement and relief.
Please consider creating cards for these new categories:
>> Feeding Tube Removed
>> From Incubator to Open Crib
>> Off CPAP
>> Opened Eyes
>> Passed Car Seat Car Test
>> Preemie’s 1st / First Bath
>> Preemie’s 1st / First Cry
>> Preemie’s 1st / First Cuddle
>> Preemie’s 1st / First Feeding
>> Preemie’s 1st / First Outfit
>> Preemie’s 1st / First Pacifier
>> Preemie’s 1st / First Weight Gain
>> Preemie’s Due Date
>> Preemie’s Homecoming
>> Release / Graduate from NICU
>> Weaned off Ventilator
>> Other Preemie Milestones
If you’ve had experience with preemies and their unique milestones, please feel free to suggest additional 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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Font Frenzy: Catandra Font
February 23, 2017
Nuts and Bolts: Keywords – Abbreviations & Variations
February 20, 2017
Nuts & Bolts – Keywords – Abbreviations & Variations
We’ve always stressed that keywords are key – key to helping searching shoppers find exactly what they are searching for and key for search engines too.
As a refresher GCU advises:
Use terms or “keywords” that are descriptive to the image/art that are only otherwise seen. This will help shoppers find exactly what they are searching for.
For example: colors, animal breeds, flower varieties, etc. See the GCU BLOG for helpful examples.
Additionally, consider other related terms that a shopper might use to find your card like variations on a term, nicknames or abbreviations.
For example: California
Additional terms: CA, Cali, West coast, golden state
For example: 18th
Additional terms: 18, eighteen, eighteenth, legal adult, adulthood, legal age, age of majority
For example: Labrador Retriever
Additional terms: dog, canine, lab, labrador, retriever, sporting, gundog
TIP: when entering keywords they should simply be separated by a space and comma as shown in the examples above.
The difference is made in the details!
Mindy
GCU Community Manager
GCU Community Manager
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Wanted New Cards: Cinco de Mayo
February 16, 2017
Wanted Cards – Cinco de Mayo
The following new sub categories under Cinco de Mayo are in need of cards.
>> 1st / First Cinco de Mayo >> General
>> 1st / First Cinco de Mayo >> As a Couple / Engaged
>> 1st / First Cinco de Mayo >> As a Family / Parents
>> From All of Us / Group
>> From Both of Us / Couple
>> For Couple / Both of You
>> Across the Miles / Far Away
>> Missing You on Cinco de Mayo
Remember, if you’re creating a like image series of cards to get your first concept review approved before creating the balance of the collection. In your first submission of the series include a Note to Reviewer. See here for more details on Series Concept Review.
Tip: If you choose to create cards for Cinco de Mayo in Spanish, remember to check the list of supported characters to avoid unsupported character usage in your inside verse as well as to include an English translation in the Artist’s Notes field.
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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Font Frenzy: Roseline Script
February 15, 2017
Roseline a lovely handpainted Script font by DoffDog comes with a full Commercial License.
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Nuts and Bolts: Corrections for St. Patrick’s Day
February 13, 2017
Nuts & Bolts – Corrections for St. Patrick‘s Day
Well, paint us green and call us a shamrock! It has been brought to our attention that GCU has missed the mark in two respects for appropriateness on St. Patrick‘s Day.
1. Paddy’s Day not Patty’s Day
As a nickname, St. Patty’s although seemingly a correct abbreviation for St. Patrick‘s in the U.S., is glaringly and offensively incorrect. The correct usage is St. Paddy’s.
Why? Read here.
Check your store to see if you’ve made this innocent error and get a head start by editing your cards. GCU will be returning cards with cover or inside text of “St. Patty’s” for edits.
2. Shamrock vs Lucky four-leaved Clover
The four-leaf clover, although validly a symbol of good luck, is not related to Ireland nor St. Patrick‘s Day. The shamrock, three-leaved clover, however, is and here is why. The plant was used by Saint Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity (3). It has subsequently become a national symbol of Ireland. The word comes from seamróg, the Irish name for the plant.
At this time we will let designs with four-leaved clovers associated with St. Patrick‘s Day, Ireland and Irish remain on the site. We will leaf, I mean leave, it to the artists’ discretion to make edits to these existing designs noting that sales may be affected. New cards will be held to the three-leaf standard. Four-leaf clovers of course can be used for any “good luck” occasion.
This is a good reminder as to the importance of knowing the nuances of different languages, cultures and holidays to make sure you’ve hit the nail on the head. Even if you think you’re a subject matter expert, doing a little research can be good inspiration for a fresh take or different angle.
The difference is made in the details!
Mindy
GCU Community Manager
GCU Community Manager
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Wanted New Cards: Thank You Roommate
February 9, 2017
Wanted Cards – Thank You Roommate
We have all heard a horror story or two about “the bad roommate”. What about the good ones? Let’s take some time to celebrate and gush over the good roomies!
Please consider creating cards for this new category, which at this time will serve as a catch-all for any and all variations (gender, name, etc.).
There are currently 0 cards in this category.
Be sure to use your own roommate experiences, and if they were all bad then imagine what you’d thank a perfect roommate for. Be sure to explore the colorful challenges and joys of college dorm life, apartment living, and other reasons and times in life for having a roommate.
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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Rainbow Connection: Pretty February Colors
February 7, 2017
Here are some pretty February Colors I found on the internet this week:
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Nuts and Bolts: Custom Request Design Change
February 3, 2017
Nuts & Bolts – Custom Request Design Change
Be sure to keep an eye out for custom design change requests. Here is a look back at some good tips to not miss any shopper requests.
Reminder: if you changed your Custom Request Availability setting to NO while you were away or busy during the holidays be sure to turn it back to YES. See here.
And while we’re talking about custom request design changes, we’d like to share a recent example by GCU artist Alda Monteschio of Heart Tugs.
Shopper request:
I found a card that I like but I don’t like the background picture. Could you use the same text but change the background to something more rustic or fall themed? Thanks!
Kudos to Alda for taking good care of the shopper and making GCU look like a hero!
TIP: Consider seasonal variations to some of your top selling designs, especially those for discriminating brides.
The difference is made in the details!
Mindy
GCU Community Manager
GCU Community Manager
GCU Community 