Greetings Card Association

The Greetings Card Association has been a handy website for a number of reasons. I've been on there throughout researching for my greetings card brief, as well as when I was looking for people to contact for work experience. They have sections for students which inform them about the industry, as well as lists of their members that are looking for internships/ artists. They also have guides on how to set y publishing businesses, which I'll be looking at because I'm really interested in it. Since me and Sophie are thinking about selling similar stuff, it would be useful to know.
Below is some of the information that the website shares, this is just for my future reference.

Resources for Students

Resources for Publishers

"Is it worthwhile pursuing a career in greeting cards? How do you get involved in the greeting card industry? What are the options?"

The UK greeting card industry is a world leader, a home-grown fashion industry. New publishers start up all the time and existing publishers are always looking for new designs. It is a vibrant multi-skilled industry with people entering from many different backgrounds, including fine art, graphic design, textile design, font and calligraphic design.

This section pulls together the relevant resources on this website, to help you decide whether to make greeting cards your chosen career path or part of your portfolio of interests.

This section briefly explains the advantages of each step when researching/ trying to enter the greetings card industry: 

Researching the Industry
Trade Fairs
Competitions
Internships and Work Placements
Freelance Designing
Publishing Your Own Artwork

Q&A

Despite being such a huge industry with lots of opportunities, very few colleges promote this industry to students. Here are the answers to the questions most frequently asked by students

• My lecturer has put me off entering the industry saying it is oversaturated. Is it worthwhile pursuing?
  In the UK we buy more greeting cards per person every year than any other nation and this industry thrives on new design. It is a mature and very compeitive market, but there is always strong demand for new designs.

• Would working within the greeting card industry be enough to support me financially?
  This depends on how good you are! There are plenty of artists who are making a good living from greeting card design.

• What are the people in this industry like?
  This is a very friendly industry. Even though everyone is competing against each other in a crowded market, it is also a supportive community where people talk and share information.

• I want to start up a publishing company of my own, but am unsure of how to begin.
  Our Starting Up section provides in-depth information and advice, including information on the Ladder Club Seminar, a very reasonably priced one day crash course in greeting card publishing.

• As a new publishing company, how can I promote myself?
  All GCA members have their own page in the Members' Directory on this site, which is used by retailers to source new products. Progressive Greetings is our official journal and the leading magazine to the greeting card trade. Published monthly, the magazine’s Innovations section showcases the latest ranges and products and artists are featured in the Art Source section. These sections are both free publicity for publisher or  artist being featured.
   
• As a publisher, how many designs should I ideally have when lauching my company at a trade fair?
  To exhibit at a trade fair, you should have between 50-60 designs in total across a number of card ranges. This gives retailers a wide range to choose from and enables them to cherry pick designs.
   
• I have some ranges that are very different in style from each other, would this be a problem?
  Your ranges should sit well when placed together, for example you wouldn’t place a very rude range next to a cute one.
   
• What is the best way to gain better knowledge and experience of the greeting card industry?
  Internships, work placements and trade fairs make for the perfect glimpse into the industry.
   
• Are companies like Clintons and Paperchase classified as publishing companies?
  Generally publishers produce and retailers sell, but just to confuse the issue, in this increasingly hybrid world some of the multiple retailers also publish their 'own brand' ranges. However, the the independent card and gift shops will be unlikely to do this and will purchase products from publishing companies to sell to the general public.