The Event is Looming

Greetings readers! This is the year! You're just months away from that very special occasion or event in your life: a milestone birthday, a special anniversary, impending marriage, birth of your first child, to name, but a few. So you may be well in the throes of planning a very special celebration or just looking to create some form of announcement. Either way, you want to get the message out there to friends, relatives, loved ones.

I hope this guide will assist you in planning for the event's accompanying invitation or announcement.

Formulating the Invitation

Communicating the invitation or announcement is key; you’re thinking perhaps a stylish greeting card of some form. So where to begin? Now you’ll probably agree that the selections available in newsagents or card shops are just way too mainstream and probably won’t cut it. This is your special event that’s coming and it warrants something very special, bespoke even. A unique customised card can achieve this. So you’ve probably heard of this type of card, but what exactly is it?

The Unique Customised Card

Also known as a personalised card, this card format allows you to use a supplier template and tweak it, perhaps with your own photo, colour blends and personal messaging. Essentially it’s an opportunity for you to bring your own personal touch to the fore. Let’s take you through an example of a card template that I produced and the steps involved with customising it.

Here above is the template I’m using for demonstration. It shows the front side of the card and the inside right side the card. Overall there is capacity for modifying 4 separate elements of the card, thus you can:

1. Replace this stock photo with your own photo, noting that the aspect ratio should be similar.
2. Replace the background colour of the card to complement the photo of your choice. For this I recommend picking a colour that is seen in the photo somewhere, perhaps a highlighted colour. Alternatively, you may wish to make the background a complete contrasting colour to stand out.
3. Replace the generic greeting text on the front and inside the card with your desired personal greeting text.
4. Replace the greeting text colour on the front if desired. Note - it needs to be a colour that can be readily seen over the background. Also note that the text inside the card would usually remain as shown - a black or dark grey.

Here above is the finished product, after the customer has provided the four elements to be replaced. The draft is then sent back to the customer to see if they are satisfied with the result. But you may be wondering now, 'I'm not so sure about that card layout and design - am I stuck with that?'. Mostly the answer is no, you're not restricted to one design template. I happen to offer 6 different designs, for example.

How Does the Process Take Place?

Different suppliers use different techniques in allowing the customer to ‘personalise’. Here, for convenience, I’ll run through the process that I deploy.

1. I invite the customer to peruse the available templates on my website, and once they have settled on a template that they like, they can complete the four steps on that page, identified by four distinct fields or commands:
• Upload their photo
• Select their choice of colour background 
• Add their greeting text to the front
• Add their greeting text to the inside
• Select their choice of text colour (front of card)
2. The customer places the item in their cart, with the selections they've made and proceed to the checkout page.
3. I receive the order along with the specifications.
4. I then commence the process of creating the card, customising as provided.
5. I forward the first draft to the customer, enabling them to check that all is in order and the overall appearance is to their liking.

The process is thorough and allows for some cross checks along the way; I am able to check if the photo the customer has provided is indeed of sufficient resolution that is required for full colour printing. Although colour choices are personal and subjective, I may suggest to the customer that their choice is not wise on this occasion, based on overall aesthetics. The time to process the product may take a little longer than some other suppliers offer; it's true that some offer more full automation, but the benefits of having a critical eye oversee the process (myself) makes up for this slightly longer turn-around time.

My Best Recommendations for Card Attributes

1. Personally I like petit and compact. The card size I use is A6, or 148mm x 105mm when folded.
2. Look for high quality card stock. Some suppliers may hide this specification. I use 350gsm, which is sturdy and refined. The finish is dependent upon personal taste but I think you’ll achieve a more classic look and feel with a matte sheen, rather than gloss. The card should similarly feel good in a tactile sense.
3. Look for suppliers that include the envelopes because who wants to get the ugly surprise later of finding them excluded.

Customer Service

Try to determine from the supplier if they communicate a message of care and commitment. You may not know them, but you can get a pretty good feel from their website overall. Don't hesitate to ask questions, ask for clarification on the process, check that all your requirements are going to be met.

Remember, your special event or occasion warrants a very special invitation. Oh and don’t forget Christmas. Here’s a wonderful opportunity to do something fun and unique - a festive scene featuring you and your partner, or family indulging in the Christmas spirit. What a charming and refreshing idea for bringing back the tradition of sending a Christmas card. A truly memorable card! A unique customised card! Your friends and relatives will love it.

I hope you've found this article to be of some help. If you are interested in checking the product I offer, please feel free to browse here

Similarly, if you have any queries, I'm happy to assist. Thank you for reading.