Focus on…Christmas Card Trends

Jump to it!

Below: Christmas jumper fun at The Art File, Pigment, GBCC, and

While the Royal Mail strikes caused delays in spreading the Christmas card cheer, they can’t destroy an important British tradition which goes back over 170 years, with publishers investing to create a stunning array of designs for this coming year.

PG joined publishers in reliving the joy of Christmas jumper day and tapped into some of the trends for 2023.

With Christmas cards such a hugely important part of the greeting card industry calendar, almost every publisher has a festive selection, but just what constitutes a winning design in today’s market?

In the latest Census data for England and Wales, for the first time since the 10yearly poll began in 1801 less than half the population, just 46% - or 27.5million people - describe themselves as Christian with ‘no religion’ the second most common response at 37.2% (22.2m).

So, while the event ostensibly celebrates Christ’s birth, it’s grown into a festival enjoyed by all faiths and the fact secular designs now far outweigh the religious ones isn’t surprising. “We don’t do any religious cards at Ohh Deer,” co-owner Mark Callaby explained. “Humour with cats, dogs or Santa seems to perform better for us.” And Wendy Jones-Blackett said her eponymous company “didn’t include any religious imagery in our 2022 range, but I may pop a few in for 2023”. She added: “The nativity scene has sold well for us in the past - maybe with rainbows for this year!” However, at Ling Design 40% of its designs in its charity division have a religious connection. As head of creative Clare Twigger said: “We also cover religious in our boxed and charity FSDU offer, which enables breadth for a retailer to have the best mix of cards for customer choice and proposition, and we offer different styles and content of religious cards for different consumers.”

At Noel Tatt, sales manager Michael Griffiths revealed its Help32 collection has “historically enjoyed more success with lighter religious designs, such as contemporary three kings, village church, choir boys and nativity scenes. In 2022, 13% of our charity range had religious content, in 2023 it’s just over 8%”.

Above: A religious design from Ling’s charity range. Left: Ohh Deer’s Papio Press range has been a Christmas hit with its contemporary styling. Right: UKG has seen a rise in specific religious sends.

Dean plays his joker

For all the new trends out there, traditions have a part to play, especially at Christmas. Dean Morris loves Christmas traditions, one is his is a publishing homage to JC, in Dean Morris Cards style of course! “I produce a new Jesus Christmas card every year - and have done since 2011. Obviously, me being me, it’s always from a humorous angle, but they continue to sell well alongside my traditional festive offering. I’ve had a few emails and phone calls from members of the public over the years who have taken offence, but it’s often led to interesting and good-natured discussions with them about the nature of the cards, that I’ve always enjoyed!”

Left: The 2023 religious design, Dean Morris Cards style. Right: Dean Morris in festive spirit!

Left: Rainbow colours work for Wendy Jones-Blackett. Below leftt: Paperlink’s Reflections range features foil details. Below right: Die-cutting is a sustainable way for UKG to add value. Bottom: Abacus’ selection includes luxury boxed cards.

UKG’s brand manager Rebecca Badrock added: “We’ve seen a gain in popularity in specific religious sends in recent years, although the proportion of these vs non-religious cards is still relatively low. We just make sure we offer a mix of classic and more modern religious styling.”

As Paperlink’s marketing manager Ryan Blue added: “With a more multicultural society, we’re proud to be more inclusive, creating cards that can be given and received with joy, regardless of the sender’s beliefs. These designs have all been inspired by the natural world around us, something that unites us all and gives thanks at this magical time of year.”

And Nigel Quiney’s art manager Carl Pledger explained that religious cards are now a very small percentage of the publisher’s portfolio, with just four of the upcoming 2023 range showing festive wintery scenes of churches and singing choirs out of 250 designs.

The Art File’s

Christmas range caters for all interests and customer demographics. While 20% are religious designs, such as three kings, angels and general nativity themes, 80% are contemporary in theme and imagery featuring Santa, robins, reindeer and mistletoe.

As ever, there’s a difference of opinion on colours on Christmas cards, with navy and gold having risen in ascendence as a traditional option to the reds and greens, while non-trad brights and festive pastels also abound. For every trend there is an anti trend.

At Wendy Jones-Blackett, creative maestro Wendy revealed that: “For the second year running we found non-traditional card colours have done as well as the traditional red/gold/green. Our Rainbow Drops range has exactly that, rainbow colours across all the designs. It’s something fresh against all the dark colours!” But it is not just on the design front that trends are being tracked, arguably even more apparent over the last few years has been publishers’ respective approaches on the sustainability front. And the 2023 collections will continue this journey. A case in point is Abacus. With everything printed, manufactured and packaged in the UK, the publisher’s latest charity packs have new packaging in translucent paper bands which can be widely recycled, and it has now also engaged with tree-planting scheme www.ecologi.com to offset the company’s carbon footprint by planting a tree for each customer order.

As Liz Ellis, Abacus’ studio manager, highlighted: “Within the industry there’s a distinct move away from flitter/glitter even though eco options are available, and cards without finishes are much more prevalent. Hot foil, emboss and die-cut are still widely available, these products tend to have slightly higher price points but all can be recycled.” All Nigel Quiney cards for Christmas 2023 are also flitter-free, with Carl Pledger explaining they use foil finishes instead “with care taken not to cover more than 25% of the card so they are recyclable”. In addition NQP is focusing on

Relationship matters

So how are changing family dynamics coming into play in Christmas card collections?

At Noel Tatt, sales manager Michael Griffiths comments that Mum & Dad captions have declined in popularity over the years, in answer to which the publisher has launched a significantly larger number of caption cards for 2023. “Both Of You and Special Couple are far more popular, perhaps reflecting how the traditional family unit has changed over time. Son & Partner and Daughter & Partner are being introduced by us for this coming year, following many requests by our sales team,” revealed Michael. It's a similar story at Nigel Quiney where To All The Family, From All Of Us, and To All Of You captions worked well in 2022 so “we’ll look to add more of the same for 2023” Carl said, while taking heart from the positive general Christmas cards sales in 2022 to expand for the new year with the introduction of Christmas Flower Press and humour range Giggle Bells.

Above: A contemporary Christmas design from NQP. Far right: NQP’s Carl Pledger showing off his Christmas jumper and a traditional card design. Right: A new caption card from GBCC.

Above: Nature is key at GBCC. Left: This Art File Form card is also a decoration. Right: Ling revamps its Robin each year.

embossing and die-cutting “all of which have no impact on recyclability - we have added card attachments to our higher price codes, fixed with card pads, keeping them eco”.

Paperlink’s Ryan Blue concurs on the foil trend as it “provides a real feeling of luxury, at an affordable price”. He added: “Sustainability is key, so we’ve kept foil thickness down, allowing every design to be recycled. We’re also part of the World Land Trust, so every card sale benefits critically endangered forests and balances the carbon emissions of production.”

With UKG’s retail customers in tune with shoppers looking for a sustainable option, Rebecca Badrock said: “Our keepsake boxes are always in demand. They’re beautifully designed and the reusable keepsake box is great for storing cards or other items.”

The publisher’s whole 2023 Christmas range will be 100% sustainable, glitter replaced with special foil finishes and all pads, ribbons and gems are now fully sustainable. Rebecca added: “Paper engineering and laser diecutting are also great options for adding value to designs in a sustainable way.” At Noel Tatt, all boxes and charity packs are plastic and glitter-free, with its counter cards also available unwrapped, as Michael Griffiths said: “I think there is a direct connection for most people towards being kinder to our planet and enjoying Christmas surrounded by future generations.” GBCC believes the growing consumer desire for environmentally-friendly products leans into the trend of capturing people’s connection to nature and the world around. Nostalgia is a key requirement, head of creative Lucy Ledger said, along with designs featuring household pets, and she added: “Forest flora and fauna and elegant festive woodland characters are gaining in popularity as they evoke the magic of the outdoors at this special time of year and beautiful seasonal foliage designs continue to be strong.”

For The Art File Christmas cards remain thematically consistent each year. As James Mace explained: “We pride ourselves on combining classic designs with contemporary features including foiling, diecutting and embossing, all of which enhance the overall quality and experience of each card while maintaining imagery customers have come to expect from a great Christmas card.”

At Ling, having analysed its Christmas card sales data invariably “top of the tree” according to Clare Twigger is the Ling Robin. “So, we make sure we have designs that encompass and move that on - the challenge is that every year we want the design to be even better than the last.” Christmas past and Christmas future!

Charitable acts and packs

The greeting card industry has a long history with charity tie-ups, but this is something which will be even more needed for worthy causes in the coming year, generating income and awareness for numerous charities.

Noel Tatt is a master on the charity card front, with its Help32 multipack range supporting 32 good causes across a wide spectrum. Having now raised over £2million for Help32 over the years (see news) as Michael Griffiths, sales manager, summed up: “There is no other industry like ours that raises £millions for charities each and every year. It is something of which we should all feel proud.”

UK Greetings is another publisher committed to its charity Christmas card programmes, It will be supporting nine charities in the UK and Ireland with its specific Christmas charity collection, namely British Heart Foundation, RSPCA and SSPCA, Marie Curie, Mind, Samaritans, NSPCC, Alzheimer’s Society, Children’s Health Foundation, and Focus Ireland. At Paperlink, charity cards remain an important element of its Christmas offer, with Cancer Research and the NSPCC the beneficiaries. As marketing manager Ryan Blue highlighted: “According to the Charities Aid Foundation 2022 report, charity donations were down in 2021, and expectations are that 2022 will be even worse. With many people forced to cut back on donating, charity cards represent a way to give back without an additional cost to the end user. “In 2022 we launched a new, stronger and more prominent display stand for our cards, and some fantastic new designs. We’ve seen a real increase in sales - the figures so far indicate we’ll be able to provide the charities with a worthwhile donation.”

Hallmark takes collaboration even further with longstanding partner Barnados. As the publisher’s head of brand marketing Jess Lovelace said: “We work very closely with the Barnardos team to develop our product ranges - even involving the children the charity works with in the creative process to ensure we have a true collaborative approach.” The “incredible support” of customers has allowed The Art File to raise over £250,000 for Young Lives Vs Cancer, RSPCA, Dementia UK, and Motor Neurone Disease Association, through the sales of its Christmas cards. Sales and marketing manager James Mace said: “We’re immensely proud to support them for the outstanding work they do across the UK. For every Art File charity pack sold this year we will donate 50p to these amazing charities.” Having increased its charity offer for 2023, Ling has a twopronged approach with the Ling Charity division offering a bespoke design and packaging service on its ranges for good causes who want their own Christmas cards, and, head of creative Clare Twigger added: “We also run our very successful Ling charity packs which support five carefully-chosen charities across a spectrum of sectors. This is incredibly important to both us and our customers and we ensure the design selection is exactly right. For 2023 we have slightly increased the size of the FSDU which has allowed us to reduce the RSP which we know is very important to the charity card customer.”

Ohh Deer has UK Harvest lined up as its 2023 charity partner, and co-owner Mark Callaby said: “We will be donating a proportion of our sales to them for some of our card packs - we’ve already signed off Christmas 2023 and have sent it to some customers already.” With the current economic climate Abacus Cards understands people are more cost conscious but, said studio manager Liz Ellis: “They still want quality and to be able to purchase beautifully designed and manufactured products,” so the publisher is offering a wide variety of caption titles, charity packs, bumper boxes, and luxury boxes with sleeves and apertures for a touch of indulgence at an affordable price. Liz added: “Charity cards are valuable. By sending a charity card, as well as spreading that all-important Christmas cheer, our industry is helping raise vital funds for worthy organisations to help support others in need.” Funds raised through the sale of the Abacus charity packs are split equally between the British Heart Foundation and Marie Curie, and for sister brand Clare Maddicott the contribution is divided evenly between Parkinson’s UK and Young Lives Vs Cancer - last year alone its charitable donations exceeded £49,000.

Left: The Art File’s charity cards have raised £250,000 for good causes. Below left: A modern take on the religious theme on this Abacus charity card. Below right: Some of the designs from Noel Tatt’s Help32 range, which over the years has generated £2 million for the good causes it supports. Bottom: Collaboration is key for Hallmark and Barnados.