How to Get Into the Greeting Card Art Market
Break into the greeting card art market by working as a freelancer or by starting your own small greeting card business. Both of these options require hard work, but eventually you will be able to support yourself with your art. Though at first you will be working independently, some greeting card companies have a permanent team of artists producing greeting card designs for them, giving you the option for more stable work.
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Instructions
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Freelance Greeting Card Artist
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Research the demand. Look into what kinds of art are wanted in the greeting card industry and on what subjects. For example, you may find that there is demand for funny, graphic art, or for heartrending watercolor art. Christmas cards are in demand during the winter, and wedding cards are in demand during the spring. Focus your efforts on what is in demand.
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Develop a portfolio. Start making a lot of greeting card designs, and select the best four to six for assembly into a digital portfolio. Even if you have to develop new art to get hired for particular projects, this will be good practice, and when you are asked for a portfolio, you'll look professional when you can produce it immediately.
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Place bids on projects. Contact greeting card companies with submissions or post your profile online at websites such as iFreelance. Find greeting card companies to contact directly using Artist's Market publications from the library, or by doing an Internet search for greeting card companies, and then clicking on their submissions guidelines links.
Small Greeting Card Business
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Go into business with a writer or make cards exclusively with illustrations.
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Create a number of artworks that would work on greeting cards. Try to hone in on a specific style, such as line drawings of animals or humorous photography.
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Select the best art pieces and lay them out to fit on greeting cards.
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Have a high-quality commercial printer mass produce the cards for you, or make them at home using your own print-making materials.
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Contact local bookstores and boutiques with a sampling of your work to see if they'd like to carry your line of greeting cards.
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References
Resources
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