A Quarter Century of Quirkiness – Celebrating 25 Years of Dean Morris Cards

The year is 1999. Everyone’s dancing to Britney, swooning at Brendan Frasier in The Mummy, and panicking about the Millennium Bug. Someone else got a bug that year… the creative bug, that is! 

Dean Morris, one of thortful’s very first Creators, started his greetings card journey 25 years ago this year! Listen to all the wisdom he’s accumulated in his quarter-century-long career:

Congratulations on 25 years as a greeting card designer! What inspired you to start designing greeting cards, and what keeps you passionate about it after all these years?

Thank you!  It definitely feels like something I was always meant to do.  As a child and through my time at Uni I would always buy cards from stores for Christmas and birthday celebrations for my family and customise them and decorate the envelope.   Another lightbulb moment was walking around Paperchase around 1998 and looking at all the fancy papers and in a moment of uncharacteristic confidence I thought I could publish greeting cards.  I guess I just thought it was always something I could do, and a way of avoiding getting a real job.   What keeps me passionate about this business is seeing the joy that my cards have provided, still feeling I have plenty of ideas to publish and it still is a great way of avoiding a proper job.

Looking back on your journey, how has the greeting card industry evolved over the past two decades? What major changes have you witnessed?

It’s certainly more diverse now than what it was in 1999, and I think the technological advances have meant that more smaller companies can now publish.  With the advent of the internet and print on demand companies can now be nimbler in producing very topical stuff.  If I ever publish any topical cards, it’s usually through thortful as the publishing method enables that. 

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced early in your career, and how did you overcome them? Are there any obstacles today that are different from those early days?

There were several! Having the time and space to make what were all handmade cards back at the start.  I found the move to printed cards when I could afford it and focus solely on humour was a great help in focussing my business and working to my strengths.  Having a successful business does provide a good life but managing cash flow and increasing costs is still sometimes a struggle and I’m sure it will continue to be so for me and all my peers.    One obstacle today which never presented itself in the past is other companies copying your designs.  I appreciate that there are certain phrases and themes that will always be ubiquitous in humour cards, but blatant copies are still galling and the internet has obviously fed this.

Can you share a memorable moment from your career that stands out as a proud accomplishment?

Anyone who follows me on social media will know I’m quite an oversharer and I’m always posting stuff about the person behind the brand.  This has resulted in being recognised out and about quite a few times and this is my proudest moment.  I was once having an issue with my airline ticket at Heathrow very early in the morning on a flight to the middle east.  Whilst being assisted by a very polite British Airways check in member of staff, he looked at my ticket and asked me “are you THE Dean Morris of Dean Morris Cards?”  Needless to say, it was a miracle I managed to fit on the plane with my head so big.  It has also happened a few times on Virgin Atlantic so my cards must be popular with airline crew.

How do you approach the creative process when designing a new card? Do you have any sources of inspiration, or strategies to stay original after so many years?

I have several image libraries I use and finding a great image is a good start.  There’s some images that inspire a card almost instantly and others that sometimes can take years.  I’ve best sellers in both camps so who knows what’s best.  I try and design when I haven’t done too much admin that day as that’s a mood killer and always make sure to note down an idea when it pops into my head wherever I may be.

 

Over 25 years, trends and tastes must have changed a lot. How do you balance staying true to your personal style with adapting to new trends?

I try not to slavishly follow trends too much and being a humour publisher being able to make people laugh is more important than whether something is bang on trend.  My design skills have evolved over the years though and the cards I’m releasing now just look more up to date than what I was doing twenty odd years ago. It’s a subtle evolution.

In your opinion, what makes a great greeting card? Are there any key elements that have remained timeless throughout your career?

I sometimes publish successful cards that don’t follow this but, on the whole, I think a greeting card needs to be striking and present its message in a speedy manner.  A snappy three-line punchline or message is best.   Also, I’ve never been a fan of the punchline on the inside, all of my messages are there on the front.  

What advice would you give to aspiring card creators who want to enter the greeting card industry? Are there any lessons you wish you'd known when you started out?

If it’s something you’re passionate about, go for it!  Find your niche and own it.  I made plenty of mistakes along the way and I’ll probably still make more (and I know my peers in the industry have all made the same too) but I don’t regret them as with each one you learn a little more about the business and also yourself.   Getting money of some suppliers was tough back then and it can still be nowadays.

What do you see for the future of greeting cards and your role in it? Are there any exciting projects or goals you’re looking forward to in the next phase of your journey?

I don’t see greeting cards disappearing any time soon, despite all the stuff that has been thrown at the industry in the last fifteen years.  Ecards were going to spell the end of the physical greeting card industry and what happened to them?  I hope our lovely industry will continue to grow and evolve with the times but ultimately always be there to provide a good laugh or a comforting hug when received.  In a moment of semi-serious self-confidence, I see myself entering my legend phase. 

What's next for Dean Morris Cards?

Well, I’m writing this on the last day of my 40s so a couple of days off to celebrate my half century.  After that, it’s all about Christmas and in the long term just more of the same fabulous stuff and with a cheeky eye on retirement in a decade or so.  

Have an awesome 50th birthday, Dean! Thanks so much for sharing your brilliant story. You’ve definitely inspired a fair few people to carry on with their card-designing journey now. Here’s to many more years of making the greeting card industry that much brighter (and cheekier.)