by Michigan Artist Maggie LaNoue

Why send custom holiday greetings?

Our high tech world has given us every kind of instant communication, entertainment and stimuli, leaving many of us in a whirl, so busy that we hardly can take the time to read notes from our friends and family, much less reply to them. Our world of instant communications actually leaves us feeling isolated, and a personalized note can remedy that by helping to create a sense of connection.

Corporate America is now challenged with its own distinct problems of identity, and ethics challenges. With competition from every quarter, and clients and suppliers also interacting in this new flattened world, branding of the product and business name is more of a challenge than ever.

Falco Construction Corporation Headquarters, Brooklyn, New York Family Established and Owned since 1952 Holiday cards 2001

While many are complaining of the higher prices for postage, and opting not to mail holiday greetings at all, the situation in today's world is an opportunity to stand out.

A holiday greeting can become a way to make a statement of quality and purpose of the business. A card can depict a place in the world, a mission, it can reach out and touch someone.

How can a corporation take the time to create personalized holiday or thank you cards?

It is actually not as difficult as it may appear. A subject for a holiday card might be a location, with details added for winterization and a holiday feel, or it might be a logo, that is redesigned to look like old fashioned victorian pen and ink.

State Farm Insurance   Thank you cards

Work today can be accomplished over the internet, with the work flow occuring with email and proofs being shown on-line. A business can have input into a custom designed card, and help to get the right feeling from the custom art for the card.

With the new digital art, photos and art can be combined into layers, which can be creatively combined and filters used for the best effect. Your representative can give feedback to the artist, and help to influence how the final art will appear.

A.M. Todd Holiday cards 2006

It is best to use a designer such as Albion Design, with over 25 years of experience in printing and graphics design. We guarantee our work will please the client, and will print out well. Ask to see samples of previous work, both online and printed.

Expect the work to take some time, don't begin to think of custom holiday cards at Thanksgiving for same year delivery.

But do expect your clients and everyone on your holiday list to respond enthusiastically to a card that has personality and warmth, that shows what is unique about your business. Expect a custom card to have a longer "shelf life"
- your custom card may well be kept when the generic greeting cards are tossed out for the season. This is especially true of cards that are in a series, or designer cards from a known artist such as Maggie LaNoue.

If your organization is ready to look into custom cards for the holidays, start early in the season, a little planning early on will help greatly to make the holidays into a time for generating new business and customer loyalty.

Southern Michigan Bank and Trust
holiday cards 2006

Frequently Asked Questions about custom corporate cards