From sincere statements of love to jocular jabs, the contemporary greeting card industry provides a note for practically every expression. Hallmark and American Greetings are the biggest names in the business, offering cards for many occasions. Other card companies have carved out their own individual niches—specializing in hand-drawn cards or cards that focus on a particular holiday or life event such as a breakup or wedding. Though some of these companies use the talents of full-time staff writers and designers, others rely on freelancers to submit ideas, images, and expressions. In addition to greeting card production, some companies buy words and images for e-mail greetings, and for lines of products like mugs, posters, pillows, and balloons.
Working from home offices, greeting card writers and designers read industry trade magazines, visit company Web sites, look over stock photos in catalogs or on the Web, and, most importantly, rely on their own creativity to come up with their ideas, then submit them to the companies for consideration. Artists and photographers submit reproductions of their work, rather than their originals, because some companies don't return unaccepted submissions or may lose the submissions in the review process. Artists submit prints, color copies, PDFs, or CDs. Writers submit their ideas on index cards. Additionally, some companies accept submissions online.
Freelance greeting card designers and writers must also have good business and marketing skills. They need to keep track of assignments and payments and constantly seek out new clients in order to stay in business.
- Advertising Managers
- Apparel Industry Workers
- Appliance Service Technicians
- Architects
- Art Directors
- Art Teachers
- Artists
- Automotive Designers
- Beverage Industry Workers
- Bloggers
- Book Editors
- Business Managers
- Canning and Preserving Industry Workers
- Cartoonists
- Columnists
- Comic Book Artists
- Comic Book Writers
- Computer and Video Game Designers
- Computer-Aided Design Drafters and Technicians
- Copy Editors
- Copywriters
- Costume Designers
- Customer Service Representatives
- Dairy Products Manufacturing Workers
- Diet and Fitness Writers
- Digital Designers
- Drafters
- Editorial Assistants
- Editorial Research Assistants
- Editors
- Electrical Engineering Technologists
- Electrical Engineers
- Electronics Engineers
- Ergonomists
- Ethical Sourcing Officer
- Exhibit Designers
- Export-Import Specialists
- Fabric Designers
- Farmers
- Fashion Designers
- Fashion Illustrators
- Fashion Photographers
- Fashion Stylists
- Fashion Writers and Editors
- Film and Television Directors
- Food Writers and Editors
- Foreign Correspondents
- Furniture Designers
- Furniture Manufacturing Workers
- Gallery Owners and Directors
- Grant Coordinators and Writers
- Graphic Designers
- Green Marketers
- Green Products Manufacturers
- Hardware Engineers
- Home Stagers
- Illustrators
- Indexers
- Industrial Designers
- Interior Designers and Decorators
- Jewelers and Jewelry Repairers
- Landscape Architects
- Learning Innovations Designers
- Lexicographers
- Literary Agents
- Magazine Editors
- Makeup Artists
- Market Research Analysts
- Marketing Managers
- Medical Illustrators and Photographers
- Motion Graphics Artists
- Multimedia Artists and Animators
- Newspaper Editors
- Non-Fungible Token Artists
- Online Journalists
- Photo Editors
- Photographers
- Plastics Products Manufacturing Workers
- Playwrights
- Political Columnists and Writers
- Political Speechwriters
- Product Designers
- Product Development Directors
- Product Management Directors
- Product Managers
- Production Designers and Art Directors
- Publicity Photographers
- Quality Control Engineers
- Quality Control Technicians
- Radio Frequency Engineers
- Real Estate Writers
- Remote Health Care Engineers
- Reporters
- Rubber Goods Production Workers
- Sales Managers
- Sales Representatives
- Science and Medical Writers
- Screenwriters
- Silverware Artisans and Workers
- Smart Building Systems Designers
- Software Designers
- Software Engineers
- Sporting Goods Production Workers
- Sportswriters
- Swimming Pool Designers
- Tailors and Dressmakers
- Tattoo Artists
- Technical Writers and Editors
- Tobacco Products Industry Workers
- Toy Industry Workers
- Typists and Word Processors
- Video Game Art Directors
- Visual Interaction Designers
- Watch and Clock Repairers
- Writers