Hello creators!
Today we’re talking about birthdays. Unsurprisingly, Birthday is our top-selling category. It’s an occasion that’s always relevant (with lovely peaks in September & October, the most popular months for birthdays) so creating a strong birthday range is a great way to help ensure you’re making consistent sales all year round.
At thortful, we’re firm believers that greetings cards should have an emotional impact. In other words, we look for cards that evoke an emotional response when opened, be that a smile, a chuckle or blushing cheeks!
But what is it that gives a design emotional impact? And what else makes a birthday best seller on thortful? In this article we’ll explore the different ways our creators have seen success to help broaden your thinking when developing your birthday ranges.
Cheeky card for parents by Dandy Pug
First up we have this cheeky design from Dandy Pug, currently sitting in our birthday top-sellers. So what makes this a great thortful card? Interestingly, we’ve seen real success with cards that refer to the sender themselves, not the recipient! It’s a clear reflection of their relationship: that cheeky sense of banter and gentle wit will make this the perfect card for many.
Stylistically the design is simple, centred and easy to read, which helps it to stand out in the catalogue. It’s also easily adaptable for other recipients – Dandy Pug has cleverly evolved this design for ‘son’ and ‘sister’ too, to maximise their sales.
And finally, if you’ve read our Consumer Insights report, you’ll know that there’s a great opportunity for cards for parents (as well as partners). Our research tells us that these are the relationships our customers are willing to spend that little bit more on a special card for, which is worth bearing in mind when expanding your range! You can read our Partners & Parents brief here.
Naughty balloons card by Wink Design
Next up it’s this brilliant design from Wink Design. We love this card for a few reasons. Firstly it’s not graphic; it’s just silly, playful humour making it naughty enough for our rude-card-loving customers but gentle enough to not be off-putting for our more conservative shoppers. It’s more than subtle enough for our recipients to not be embarrassed to have it on display.
Secondly, the notion of “not growing up” is something a lot people identify with, and even take pride in. We know this card will evoke a smile and or a giggle.
Finally, we love its carefully considered design. The colours are strong yet CMYK-friendly, and in terms of visual hierarchy this card is spot on – you process the design in the correct order, with the no YOU grow up message just small enough to read after you’ve already smiled at the balloons’ cheeky composition.
Pretty birthday card by Louise Tiler
Who said pretty doesn’t sell on thortful? Over the years this beautiful design by Louise tiler has racked up an amazing amount of sales!
Referring back to our Consumer Insights report once again, our research tells us that one of our biggest opportunities lies with classic and pretty designs. We know that as a brand we’re currently known best for our trendy pop culture cards, and while there’s still a place for these cards (after all, they’re the cards our existing customers know and love us for!) we’re keen to expand our range and reach new audiences to ensure we have the perfect card for everyone. So if pretty is your thing or something you’ve considered trying, now’s your time to shine!
What are the reasons behind this particular card’s success, you ask? From a design perspective this card is pretty, vibrant with a level of finesse that gives it a professional finish. The colour palette just works, it’s neatly centred, the font is readable – we’d expect nothing less from Louise Tiler! However we also think its generic caption plays a huge part. This card is beautiful, designed well enough to be a card you’d be proud to give a close relative, whist generic enough that you could buy it for anyone, appealing to a wide audience. It’s a card you can appreciate and guarantees to be given pride of place on the mantelpiece.
Sweary Blessings card by Designs by Andy
Since its upload to thortful back in August last year, this funny card by Designs by Andy has found itself a firm place in our top-sellers, selling thousands of times every month! Let’s look at what makes this the perfect kind of ‘rude’ card.
There’s a time and a place for profanity, and this was it. The use of expletives in some way levels up the humour of what is actually a bit of a dad joke. If you’re considering uploading a sweary design, ask yourself: does the use of an expletive elevate your design and add emphasis? Or is it simply unnecessary? It’s important to remember that rude cards aren’t for everyone, so consider whether adding expletives to your designs is limiting your appeal and decreasing your sales potential.
There’s a touch of whimsy to this design which we feels softens the blow of the ‘f-bomb’. The bold font works perfectly with the strong lines of the illustration. It looks hand drawn yet professional, with its quirkiness lending itself to the random, silly humour of the caption. And once again it’s very clear and easy to read. Customer eyes will naturally be drawn to it when scrolling, helping its discovery in our competitive birthday collection.
Trendy air fryer card by Becky Wood
Air fryers. Someone in our office once actually described them as ‘life changing’. And clearly our customers agree, with this birthday card by Becky Wood being a best seller for a number of months. This card works because it’s chosen its niche, and a popular one at that; a lot of people will relate to this card. This playful humour that pokes fun at the recipient without being rude or crass is a perfect demonstration of the gentle humour our customers look for. We also know that relatable, observational humour works wonders – what are some other relatable things about ageing you can refer to in your own designs?
We hope this has given you some guidance in how you can optimise your birthday ranges. Let us know if you found this article useful over on our Instagram @thortfulcreators – we’d love to hear your thoughts, good or bad.
Happy creating!
Team thortful
