During the holiday season, you likely amass a number of cards from friends, family and colleagues.
Creating and sending a holiday card might be at the top of your personal to-do list, but what about your company’s? Whether you want to shake up your standard holiday card design or delight your customers with a first-time holiday message, Alphagraphics Kansas City can work with you to
create a festive piece that delivers a lasting impression.
One of our favorite things about helping clients design holiday cards is that they’re the perfect project to stretch your creative boundaries and have some fun. This is an ideal opportunity to showcase your company’s personality (yes, it has one!) and connect with your customers and peers.
Ready to get started? We recommend deciding on your message and any accompanying visuals first, which will help dictate the aesthetic elements of the card. For example, do you want to use a more traditional holiday message or a New Year’s greeting? Do you want to gather your employees together for a zany and impromptu group photo to feature on the card or will you opt for classic seasonal imagery?
Once you’ve decided on the basic elements of your company’s holiday card, it’s time to bring it to life. There’s no shortage of papers, folds and printing techniques you can use to create an unforgettable card. To help jumpstart your inspiration, we thought we’d share three of our favorite holiday card elements.
3D Spot UV: This is a printing technique in which a UV coating (also referred to as liquid lamination) is applied to certain areas of the printed piece. The resultant glossy coating draws attention to a particular design element: think of a shimmering ornament, candle flame or snowy scene. As the 3D classification indicates, the coating is slightly raised from the card’s surface so you won’t just see the coating—you can feel it, too.
White Ink: In a 2015 article,
PrintingNews called white ink a “game-changer” for the printing industry, proclaiming that white ink has given printing companies the ability to expand offerings to “…include products printed on dark and unusual substrates and create special-effect pieces.”
The festively colored paper used for cards is typically a perfect match for white ink, which creates an eye-catching contrast (and can be a subtle yet effective way to mimic wintry scenery). Thanks to advancements in white ink, it’s also an ideal medium to use on metallic papers.
Specialty Papers: We might argue that
paper selection is the most important part of the holiday card creation process. After all, it’s quite literally the foundation of your piece! Depending on your message, other design elements and the tone and aesthetic you want to evoke, we can help you select the perfect paper. In many cases, you might opt for a particular finishing technique to add visual interest and texture to the piece. Examples include linen, felt and vellum, although there are a number of other paper types and finishes to consider.
Ready to fill your customers’ mailboxes with some holiday cheer? We’d love to chat with you and bring your holiday card design to life. Feel free to reach out to us at (816) 842-4200 and we’ll make a plan.
And from our Alphagraphics Kansas City family to yours: happy holidays!