Greetings Card Artist – FAQ
Here’s a list of questions a student asked me about being a greetings card artist/cartoonist.(With a few samples thrown in!)
1. When did you first get interested in becoming a greeting card artist? Probably about 25 years ago – as a beginning cartoonist I was always on the look out for ways to make a living. When it dawned on me that there was money to be made there was no stopping me!
2. Is most of your work done alone? Over the years I have worked mostly alone but have had assistants when things got really busy. One worked with me for 12 years.
3. What kind of environment do you work in? Mostly I’ve worked from home – I did have a studio in the town centre Chesterfield UK for over ten years. I have since extended my home to make a large-ish studio over the garage.
4. What is your greatest success story? There’s been quite a few – I worked for Hallmark cards in the US writing humorous gags for cards and I worked for the UK Division illustrating gags written by someone else. My greatest satisfaction has been when I’ve seen a whole range of my card designs on the shelves in shops.(Some publishers commissioned 24, 36 or 48 designs at once!)
5. What has been you biggest failure? In the beginning no one was interested in my gags/ideas. But I persisted and never let them beat me. I kept submitting ideas and kept improving my artwork until they gave in. So I turned my failures into success!
6. How many hours do you work? Do you have time for vacation? I’ve always worked 50-60 hours a week. But always made sure I took my vacations. It is a bit worrying though as you think other people will move in on your patch while you’re away.
7. What kind of technology do you use in your work? I still draw by hand and then scan everything into the computer using Photoshop where I add text and colour and ready for sending via email or file sharing/upload
8. How and where do you get your inspiration? I get my inspiration from life – there’s ideas all over the place. News on TV and radio always throws up some ideas. Plus the WWW is great for creating ideas.
9. What is your favorite type of illustration? It’s got to be cartoon illustration – because that is my passion.
Greetings card - Happy Birthday- clapped out!
10. What is your favorite aspect of making cards? Coming up with the ideas! I just love the feeling when you see someone laughing/smiling at a card that I’ve created.
11. If you could have another job what would it be, or would you choose to keep the job you have? I would chose to stay as a cartoonist – one thing I’d love to do is do 3D animation if I had to do something different – although it is closely related.
12. What type of people do you intend to sell cards to? I only sell to greetings card publishers.
13. Do you need an education, for instance college, to become a greeting card artist? I have no college education, I’m self taught. You become a great greetings card artist you need a very good sense of humor – the artwork is secondry, it’s the funny ideas that sell the cards.
14. About how many cards have you created? I can’t remember and have never kept count. Must be in the hundreds. I know I’ve created/written thousands of card ideas!
15. How has the economy effected you and your job? Things are really tight at the moment in the card market – they’re being extra choosey at the moment. Luckily I do things in other markets as well.
16. Do you consider greeting card designing a profitable business? It is when the economy is good. Like I said above it’s tough out there at the moment.
17. Who is your biggest role model in the greeting card industry and why? Nobody in particular, I’ve met some very helpful art directors in my time and I have great respect for them.
18. What was the first card you ever made? I really can’t remember the first one – it would have been a joke one for sure, I probably did it for a friends birthday or something. They might have even encouraged me to start doing it professionally!?
19. Do you ever incorporate electronics into your cards? I did try a few card designs with flashing lights that I got and dismantled from some cards I got from the Far East. But all the publishers I showed the ideas to said it would be too expensive. But that was years ago and today it would be easier. I might even dig those old ideas out and have a rethink on them!
20. What color scheme would you say you use most often in your card designs? Bright cheerful and wacky is the norm with my designs!
