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Freebie Wednesday: Lovestory.

July 22, 2020
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Freebie Wednesday:

 

Lovestory is a modern calligraphy font,
It is perfect for branding,logo, wedding invites, every other design which needs a handwritten romantic touch.

What you get?
-Loveyou.otf
-Loveuou.ttf

This beautiful freebie is brought to you by Nirmana Visual. Only available on the Hungry Jpeg site for a week!

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

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from → Fonts, FREEBIES

Nuts and Bolts: Dedicate Yourself to the Details – Legibility.

July 17, 2020
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Nuts & Bolts – Dedicate Yourself to the Details – Legibility

 

It is often the little details that escape the artist’s eye. It is always a good idea to step away from a design that you have been meticulously working on or ask a brutally honest companion to give it a once over. The review team is certainly a fresh set of eyes and often catches tiny fixes or areas of improvement. GCU is grateful for artists who are open to collaborating with the reviewers on minor adjustments that make a big difference.

 

See this example with an improvement in text placement and font choice both leading to better legibility in the final design.

Original Image:

 

From the reviewer:

The card front text is not very legible against this background. Please adjust the background or text style. Please ensure there are no overlapping lines of text on the card front as seen in this image.

TYPOGRAPHY – Legibility
See the GCU Blog for explanation & examples:
https://gcucommunity.com/2013/06/03/dash-of-inspiration-typography-legibility/  
 
Resulting Image:

 

Thank you to GCU artist, Linda Gladman Art, for her quick edits and receptive teamwork with our review team to create a submission that speaks volumes.

Here is another example of before and after improvement for cover text legibility by Angela Castillo of FairyGirlCards.

 

 

The difference is in the details.

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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Wanted New Cards: Nursing Home / Assisted Living / Retirement Community Variations.

July 16, 2020
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Wanted Cards – Nursing Home / Assisted Living / Retirement Community Variations

 

There are many staged changes in aging and living conditions, based on factors like health, mobility, and often finances.

 

We are looking for more variations in this category to address a broader spectrum of situations. Here is the original Retirement Community Wanted Cards request on the forum.

 

Occasions >> Congratulations >> New Home >> Nursing Home / Assisted Living / Retirement Community:

 

Consider cards for specific relations other than Parent / Parents.  These cards will go in the >> Relationship Specific catch-all (consider custom front allowing the shopper to change the relationship to fit their needs).

 

Also designs that are specific to a “retirement community” as well as cards addressing a more modern term with less stigma may be Skilled Nursing Care vs Nursing Home.  Consider a variation of terms.

 

Please put thought and care to these submissions as it can be a difficult and emotional transition for many seniors.

 

Here are some helpful articles:
5 Tips for Reducing a Senior’s Anxiety about Moving
Emotions of Senior Downsizing

 

To expedite the review of these cards, please check Fast Track Review on the card image details page when you create your card and add a Note for Reviewers like “for BLOG– Wanted Cards”.

For standard front designs, consider using Stock Card Creations to create new cards quickly. These cards are automatically set for expedited review so no need to Fast Track.

 

 

 

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Freebie Wednesday: Clareta Font.

July 15, 2020
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Freebie Wednesday:

 

Clareta Font (by R. Studio) is a lovely calligraphy font. This is a beautiful combination of timeless elegance and authentic calligraphy. Clareta Font will add a romantic feeling to any design! It’s free at Creative Fabrica for the next 5 days so be sure to check it out.

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

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from → Fonts, FREEBIES

Rainbow Connection: Winter Holiday Color Inspiration.

July 14, 2020
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Some Winter Holiday color inspiration I found on Pinterest this week:

 

 

 

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from → Rainbow Connection (Colors)

Nuts and Bolts: Winter Holiday Cards in July.

July 10, 2020
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Nuts & Bolts – Winter Holiday Cards in July

 

It’s time to start thinking of new designs for the upcoming winter holiday season – Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, New Year’s.

Whether you like it or not, as a greeting card designer July is the month when you need to be in full holiday mode to be ready for the shoppers!

Also this is a good time to look at your existing winter holiday cards that are Year Specific and update them for the new year, 2020 (2021 for New Year’s cards), even custom front designs to make them more marketable and ready-to-buy for shoppers.

Why so early you ask?  Like everything else, avoid the holiday rush! Time for you to create.  Time for GCU to review & approve. Time for search engines to index cards. Time for shoppers to find & buy them (and many shoppers buy their cards early). Last but not least, time for YOU to enjoy your holiday season.

Please take some time to look at what is ALREADY being offered and design something DIFFERENT.  Look at current trends is style, design, color, fonts, etc.  Explore the Color Connections palettes that Corrie has shared on the blog.  Maybe use the next Design Challenge or two to be inspired.

See this related post from 2015 which still rings true When to Make Holiday Cards.

So cue that holiday music playlist and grab a mug of hot cocoa!

 

The difference is in the details.

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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Wanted New Cards: Coronavirus Back to School / First Day of School

July 9, 2020
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Wanted Cards – Coronavirus Back to School / First Day of School
 
Before we know it Summer will come to an end and school will begin.  Most students, teachers, administrators, and parents aren’t exactly sure what this school year will look like but there will be a first day of school – virtual classrooms, hybrid curriculum, smaller class sizes, who knows as we still cope with shelter in place, face masks, social distancing, and more.
 
Please consider creating new cards for Back to School and First Day of School under coping with coronavirus conditions.

 

These cards will go here:
Occasions >> School Days >> Back to School >> Coronavirus / COVID 19

Occasions >> School Days >> First / 1st Day of School >> Coronavirus / COVID 19

If you card does not fit the above back to school / first day of school occasions we have a School Days catch-all category here:

Occasions >> School Days >> Coronavirus / COVID 19

All COVID-19 specific cards should also go in the catchall category:
Collections >> Health Awareness >> Coronavirus / COVID 19
Since Stock Card Creation cards are automatically assigned a category, their categories should be as follows:

To expedite the review of these cards, please check Fast Track Review on the card image details page when you create your card and add a Note for Reviewers like “for BLOG– Wanted Cards”.

For standard front designs, consider using Stock Card Creations to create new cards quickly. These cards are automatically set for expedited review so no need to Fast Track.

Be inventive and creative!

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from → Wanted: New Cards

Freebie Wednesday: Free InkWerx Font & Extras.

July 9, 2020
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Freebie Wednesday:

 

InkWerx is a punchy uppercase font that comes in 2 sets of uppercase letters with different splatter, this helps your letters look that little more original. Also included is a complimentary dingbat font with a set of 26 swashes, drips, and splatter, just what you need to bring your design to life. These will also be available as transparent PNG’s, vector EPS, Ai & CDR format.

This font comes in both OTF and TTF versions, and full European language support.

This beautiful freebie is brought to you by SketchWerx. Only available on the Hungry Jpeg site for a week!

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

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from → Fonts, FREEBIES

Rainbow Connection: Art Nouveau Colors.

July 7, 2020
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Some Art Nouveau color inspiration I found on Pinterest this week:

 

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from → Rainbow Connection (Colors)

Nuts and Bolts: 2Q Earnings & Free Card Adjustment.

July 3, 2020
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Nuts & Bolts – 2Q Earnings & Free Card Adjustment
YOWZA … it was quite a dramatic quarter as far as world happenings and the impact to social and professional lives. GCU is overwhelmingly GRATEFUL to have the ability to continue operating with our HQ staff, card review team, artist community, printing partners, and mail delivery personnel. The icing on the cake was significant growth in 2Q sales. This was a serendipitous GIFT!

 

We are elated to be paying one of our artist’s an applause worthy quarterly commission of over $20,000!  Plus paying 20% more artists than last quarter which means 20% more artists met their minimum payout mark. And 50% more artists met the quarterly threshold bumping them up to premium earnings.  All good news!

 

GCU has never been so pleased to process our artists’ earnings than 2Q 2020!  See 2Q2020 Pay Day.

 

GCU has adjusted artists’ earnings on single card orders where the promotions were redeemed (STAYHOME or similar) that resulted in 0 earnings. The artists’ commissions for these transactions have been updated from 0 to 10 cents. This is reflected in your Earnings Report and reflecting in your 2Q earnings. As we continue these promotions, we will continue to adjust earnings at the end of the pay period. 

 

We are seeing the sales growth begin to flatten but are confident that many shoppers new to GCU will be staying with GCU and will spread the word. Read what they are saying! We are swamped daily with glowing testimonials and happy shoppers!

 

“Having the ability to personalize my cards and do this all from home has been immense!!! Thank you, GreetingCardUniverse.com for providing such excellent service. Thank the artists also for their inspirational designs.” 
 
“I absolutely love all the cards I’ve bought at Greeting Card Universe. High quality, great designs, speedy delivery. This is now my go to place for all the greeting cards I buy. I’m so glad I discovered it!”
 
“I’m so happy that I discovered Greeting Card Universe! Their prices are right and you can shop right online for amazing cards! Thank you. Also, my order is always right.”
 
“We are very pleased with the quality and price of the product we purchased as well as the quick delivery. We definitely will use your service the next time we are in need of it. Thank you for being there exactly when we needed you. Our grandson will receive his Eagle Scout award next month.”
 
” I love, love these cards! I will never shop for cards elsewhere”
 
Thank YOU for your creative contributions helping shoppers send well wishes, find some levity, send birthday and holiday greetings from afar, commiserate & CONNECT.  Thank YOU for delighting our shoppers and helping them get through these challenge times.  

The difference is made by people like YOU!

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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