Design Spotlight: Sue Shepard
Today, the Design Spotlight is shining on Sue Shepard of ABC by Sue – I like the idea of using photographs to spell words, it’s really cool.
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I live in Southern California and I am a Marriage & Family Therapist. What I love about Alphabet Photography is that it gets me outdoors and looking at the world with a new perspective. I began doing it a little over three years ago. First I just wanted to see if I could photograph my own A-Z, but then I got hooked and saw letters everywhere I went and could not leave my house without my camera. Prior to this, the only pictures I ever took were of my nieces and nephew on holidays and the camera I owned could fit in my pocket.
I started by making a 40th birthday gift for a friend by framing some of my photos to spell out their last name. At the party, people wanted to order gifts for their friends and I was asked by an employee of the local School of Arts to sell my photos at their upcoming Holiday Boutique. Immediately I was in business and I had only showed up to show off my new hobby.
At my first event, it was humbling to see real photography students and their instructors buying my photos. I was embarrassed when one of them asked me what aperture I was shooting at and I had to admit that I didn’t even know what that word meant. They were shocked to discover that I had taken my pictures with a pocket sized point and shoot camera. I used the money I made from that show to buy myself a “real” camera.
At the end of August 2011, I discovered Greeting Card Universe and decided to see if I could use my letters to create greeting cards. I sold my first card two weeks after my store went live and I was hooked. One of the things I like best about GCU is that it’s all about the creativity and they take care of all the work. I am thrilled that I can create as many cards as I want because I don’t have to keep any inventory, haul boxes of cards to a boutique, or pay for printing or postage fees.
This “Thank You” card is my current best seller. I like it because it has some of my favorite letters. The “T” and “N” came from a pier in Santa Barbara and I love that I captured these letters with the ocean in the background. The “A” is a weathered bench I found while taking a walk on a pier in Maui. Each letter has a story that goes with it and I enjoy seeing them strung together with every card I create.
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Dash of Inspiration – Military Themed Greetings
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Military Themed Greetings
Some of you may know that within the past couple of years there has been a camouflage copyright battle going on with the military claiming all rights to the use of camouflage patterns on clothes. I asked about the camouflage-use policy at GCU a few months ago and the wise team of experts who investigate these issues informed me that as of this point in time, GCU will allow the use of camouflage patterns on cards.
For some reason that came to mind this morning when I saw this fantastic Can You See Me? Unbelievable Animal Camouflage Photography featured at Noupe and I had to share it! This is a must enjoy link!
GCU has so many categories where a military-theme is appropriate and over the years I’ve sold many Military related cards. Look through the categories and you’ll find not only many holidays where these elements can help you create new greetings, but also keep in mind those military birthdays, retirements and sadly condolences. 
Here are some FREE Hi-Resolution downloads to get you going on military related cards:
Camouflage Pattern Bruhses by Peter Plastic
Military Ranks Brushes by ~TriCornDesign
Military – Veteran’s Day by Jayde at Net FX Studio
FONTS:
A couple notes on the subject before I go:
- Remember when tagging your new cards you are allowed to use Marine, but NOT Marines.
- Also I only provided goodies based on U.S. Military, but hopefully that is enough inspiration for you to search for other countries which interest you
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Critique Clinic – January 20-22, 2012
How does it work? For three days a week (Friday-Sunday midnight), I will open the clinic to any artist who wants an honest peer review and critique of a card which gets plenty of clicks but no sales, so something’s probably not quite right, or you’ve got a new design you want to test drive, or you’re unsure about the marketability of a card. Or perhaps you’re a newbie who isn’t sure if a recently submitted card is up to a marketable standard. Anyone is welcome to participate. In fact, I encourage everyone to at least look at the cards in question and read the critique comments – you may learn something. The purpose of the clinic is to help artists improve the commercial appeal and marketability of their cards.
THE RULES
- ONE card per artist only.
- Card must be for sale at Greeting Card Universe.
- We will take an unlimited number of artists, including those who have submitted recently, HOWEVER I reserve the right to close a clinic for the day if the submissions become overwhelming. If the clinic has been closed, and you submit a card, your comment will be deleted.
- To submit a card for critique, post a link to the card at GCU in the comments section of this clinic post. Allowances will be made if you’ve had a card declined, or a new design you’d like advice on, give us the link where we can see the card, such as your private gallery, Flickr, etc.
- Any artist is free to comment and/or give a critique of a submitted card. HOWEVER, post-and-run comments like “great card” or “you suck” will not be tolerated, nor will abuse. Criticism should be constructive, not destructive. Play nice or you will be banned.
- I also won’t tolerate temper tantrums if you decide your “artistic integrity” is being stepped on because you asked for a critique, and someone told you the photo you’re using isn’t in focus. If you can’t take honest criticism, don’t submit. Once gets you a warning; twice and you’re banned from submitting in the future.
- Artists who critique may do so by giving their opinion, posting an example of another card, or pointing the submitter to a video, on-line article, or other helpful suggestion.
- Don’t forget that artists who are giving you tips and helpful advice are volunteering their time and trouble. Be nice. A link back to their store on your website or blog is appreciated (but not mandatory).
- You are free not to take any advice offered. There’s no guarantee any card will be a bestseller, so don’t come into the clinic with unrealistic expectations.
- Rules may change as we go along and we see how things turn out, okay?
So without any further ado, I declare this week’s Critique Clinic open!
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GCU Badges Campaign II
Hello, artists!
Today, Greeting Card Universe begins a second phase of its Badges Campaign marketing effort.
We’ve done very well in our efforts so far, so all you participating artists should give yourselves a pat on the back and a high five! How are we doing? Here are the stats, current up to this morning:
Such a positive result in just a week makes me very happy. Know what would make me happier? More badges! We need to get out there, spreading the word far and wide that GCU is the BEST place to find the BEST customized greeting cards. Why? Because every person who comes to GCU is a potential buyer of my cards, your cards, everybody’s cards. And who doesn’t want to make more sales, and see your artist commissions go up? I know I do!
To help us achieve that goal, GCU has expanded its marketing program. You’ll receive an e-mail with all the details today. If you don’t get the message, contact me via the Contact Corrie link on the right, and I’ll forward it to you.
Good luck, and get those badges blazing on blogs and websites everywhere!
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Design Contest: I Heart You – RESULTS
Our Design Contest: I Heart You was a success! Voting is now closed, and we have a winner (see that card above? That’s the one). Here are the results:
- 1st Place – Antoinette van Kleef with 60 votes
- 2nd Place – Frida Morris with 50 votes
- Third Place – Judy Cotrone-Ramirez with 47 votes
Antoinette has won her choice of $15 Amazon.com gift certificate OR 10 free card credits!
Thanks to everyone who participated. Next week, I’ll introduce a new BLOG CARNIVAL with a twist that’s going to be fun!
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Custom Corner: An Italian Christmas
In our latest Custom Corner, we find out how Cherie worked with a special customer, and achieved a really stunning result – congratulations, Cherie!
Here’s the original card:
For the rest of the story, here’s Cherie:
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Recently I had the pleasure of collaborating with a customer in effort to create that perfect Holiday greeting card. Together we created a card that told a story, that was fun, original and full of special ‘elements’ while adding that personalized touch. This was an exciting project for me and I was very happy to be the co-designer. Helping a customer’s vision come to life is pretty awesome!
The customer that I was fortunate enough to work with was Mindy and I had a super fun time putting together a very impressive photo card that I must say really surprised me! I couldn’t get over the quality and clarity of the printing, very impressive! The theme of the card was perfect and the overall design worked out extremely well. I was sincerely quite impressed and delighted with the design outcome.
Mindy knew just what she wanted for her family’s Holiday card, an Italian vacation themed design using the family photos from that trip. Mindy suggested plenty of great ideas and was also open to my suggestions as well. Her plan was to create a journal type of card using as many photos on the card as we could fit, handwriting names and places on the photos and then adding a variety of Italian themed embellishments.
First I cropped the photos, maximized their color and clarity, added some photo frames and white borders, then arranged them so that they would all fit properly. I wanted them to look appealing and not too overcrowded. I originally suggested a textured fabric look background.
After presenting the first ‘sample’ idea to Mindy the wheels started turning and I’m sure the family had a ball coming up with the next phase of designing. It was suggested to use items such as the pasta, passport, stamps, pushpins and all sorts of neat Italian themed elements. In turn with that, I thought it would be neat to change the background to a more Italian themed paper look.
Now it was time to design the inside of the card which turned out superbly! We used the ‘collage’ type of design, the same as on the front of the card, for the top of the inside of the card. Mindy’s idea of an Italian restaurant menu on the bottom half of the inside of the card, to write about each family member and adding some light humor about it all, was perfezione! Now that is what I call a ‘personalized’ greeting card, and how endearing!
Receiving a photo card that shows the smiling faces of your family or friends while enjoying themselves either on vacation or in their everyday lives, with added tidbits of humor and personalized moments is a priceless gift. You just cannot help but smile with enjoyment, knowing that this card is a treasure. It’s a memory ‘keepsake’ and one that is indeed heartwarming, suitable for framing as well as for keeping for forever. I was happy to be a part of creating such a personalized gift.
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And here’s what Mindy had to say:
I always like to have some fun with our holiday card and glad I found Cherie to be up for the challenge. She turned my wild ideas into reality. Cherie was a dream to work with and has a real eye for perfection which is great since there were so many little elements in the design. We’ve gotten rave reviews and even some of the GCU artists we’ve sent it to have asked “how did you do that?!” We literally have friends stopping us around town and sending us emails saying how much they enjoyed our card.”
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Dash of Inspiration – Who Are You Calling a Dingbat?
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Who Are You Calling a Dingbat?
A couple years ago I had no idea what the computer industry was talking about when they used the term ‘dingbat’, but I’ve since learned they are fonts with symbols, shapes or artwork in the positions designated for alpha or numeric characters on the keyboard.
Though I DO NOT recommend using the majority of the Dingbat Fonts you find as is on your greeting cards, they can offer your imagination a very creative outlet. Here are some ideas for having dingbats in your artist’s toolbox. In my book there are two types of fonts which fall into this Dingbat category.
1. Those I mentioned above, which are true dingbat fonts so there is an ornament/character which completely replaces the normal keyboard output. So instead of an A when you hit that on the keyboard, you get an Alligator for example.
2. The other I tend to put in the dingbat category because you certainly shouldn’t type a whole word using these Letter+ Ornament types of fonts.
ORNAMENTAL LETTER FONTS:
You many find these types of fonts fun, but trust me, your cards are not likely to be accepted if you use them in excess on your card fronts. However,using them sometimes for the first letter of a holiday such as Christmas, Easter or Valentine’s Day can offer a special touch when combined with the right font to compliment the overall appearance.
Here are some FREE downloads:
DINGBAT FONTS:
Dingbats are fun if you look at them as an additional source of creative elements. It’s as easy as pie! Remember that fonts are very much like Photoshop Shapes in that you can make them as large as you need to and most will look great. So try this process to make Dingbats individual elements you can use in your design work.
- Download a Dingbat Font and Install it (if you don’t know how to install fonts on your computer, ask Google and find easy instructions based on your current computer’s operating system)
- In Photoshop, create New file (preferably transparent background) at the size you want and 300 resolution.
- Choose the Text Tool and the Dingbat Font you installed.
- Make the size of the font very, very large – I typically use 300 to 800 in order to fill my new transparent file.
- Type the letter A and you’ll see the ornament that represents the letter A for this dingbat font. Also check lower case, which in many dingbats has a whole second set of characters. Repeat this for all the letters your dingbat font shows as having characters.
- To save the character you produced, Rasterize the layer and voila – you have a new design element large enough for any of your uses. Color them, do whatever you can think of with them. They are now no different than Free Clip-art!
Here are some FREE Downloads:
So off you go to find some fun additions for your toolbox! Nearly all font houses carry dingbats, and . . . ALWAYS be sure to ONLY download FREE COMMERCIAL USE dingbats!
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Critique Clinic – January 13-15, 2012
How does it work? For three days a week (Friday-Sunday midnight), I will open the clinic to any artist who wants an honest peer review and critique of a card which gets plenty of clicks but no sales, so something’s probably not quite right, or you’ve got a new design you want to test drive, or you’re unsure about the marketability of a card. Or perhaps you’re a newbie who isn’t sure if a recently submitted card is up to a marketable standard. Anyone is welcome to participate. In fact, I encourage everyone to at least look at the cards in question and read the critique comments – you may learn something. The purpose of the clinic is to help artists improve the commercial appeal and marketability of their cards.
THE RULES
- ONE card per artist only.
- Card must be for sale at Greeting Card Universe. HOWEVER, if you want advice on a card you intend to sell at GCU prior to uploading it, we will accept it, or if a card has been declined, we will accept it.
- We will take an unlimited number of artists, including those who have submitted recently, HOWEVER I reserve the right to close a clinic for the day if the submissions become overwhelming. If the clinic has been closed, and you submit a card, your comment will be deleted.
- To submit a card for critique, post a link to the card in the comments section of this clinic post.
- Any artist is free to comment and/or give a critique of a submitted card. HOWEVER, post-and-run comments like “great card” or “you suck” will not be tolerated, nor will abuse. Criticism should be constructive, not destructive. Play nice or you will be banned.
- I also won’t tolerate temper tantrums if you decide your “artistic integrity” is being stepped on because you asked for a critique, and someone told you the photo you’re using isn’t in focus. If you can’t take honest criticism, don’t submit. Once gets you a warning; twice and you’re banned from submitting in the future.
- Artists who critique may do so by giving their opinion, posting an example of another card, or pointing the submitter to a video, on-line article, or other helpful suggestion.
- Don’t forget that artists who are giving you tips and helpful advice are volunteering their time and trouble. Be nice. A link back to their store on your website or blog is appreciated (but not mandatory).
- You are free not to take any advice offered. There’s no guarantee any card will be a bestseller, so don’t come into the clinic with unrealistic expectations.
- Rules may change as we go along and we see how things turn out, okay?
So without any further ado, I declare this week’s Critique Clinic open!
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GCU Badges Campaign – UPDATE
Hello, everyone!
As you know, GCU started a new promotional campaign yesterday called the GCU Badges Campaign. You should have gotten an email with all the details – if not, email me (use the Contact Corrie link on the upper right of this page) and I’ll forward you a copy.
So how far have we spread the word? We’re off to a pretty good start!
Remember, any artist with a blog and/or website can participate. Know a GCU artist with a blog or website who hasn’t heard the word about the campaign? Bring them up to speed!
Because I’m mighty excited by our progress, here’s a little MINI CONTEST for you: if we get 100 BADGES placed by the end of the week – that’d be Sunday, January 15 – I’ll do a random drawing of all the participants so far. The lucky winner will receive a mystery prize!
Thanks to all the artists who have already shown their community spirit by stepping up to the plate. We sure do appreciate you and everything you do to help make Greeting Card Universe truly become the world’s biggest card store.
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NEWS: New Guidelines Are Here!
I know the introduction of Marketability Standards threw some artists for a loop, and there was some confusion over what would be accepted or declined.
Now GCU has created a set of Submission Guidelines to be used by artists that should make things much clearer, as it spells out what elements will cause a card’s to be declined or returned for edits (not all, of course, but enough, especially in combination with the other information given). Before you rev up the ol’ designing engine, be sure to familiarize yourself with the new Submission Guidelines. Here’s a link:
And as always, feel free to submit a design to the Critique Clinic held here every Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get a peer review and advice on improving your card’s chances.
GCU Community 