Custom postcards for your brand that show that you care for your customers!

Why postcard design, and what can it do for you?

Postcards have been around since the late 1800s, and for most of their life, they have been unchanged. A 3.5" x 5" card, printed on cardstock with a cityscape on one side and the address field and stamp on the other. Sent via direct mail to your relatives and loved ones.

In recent years, the usage of postcards has changed. Since the prevalence of email and the perennial outflow of social media platforms, they should've lost their value. But brands, big and small have kept the postcard alive because they are tactile. When brands send postcards to their customers, it's a physical piece of collateral with a brand's own photos and a custom message showing that the brand you shop from, cares about you.

Custom postcards are all the rage today and a business can take its brand presence to the next level by including postcards in the mail, with their packages, and giving them out in-store. A dependable promotional tactic that also builds your brand. Brands across the world, especially personal care and cosmetics brands, have their own postcard added to shipping packages.

Nothing shows that you care, louder than your personalized postcards for your customers. We are all still human, and based on research, we all love to get mail, as long as it isn't electronic in nature. So, say what you need to say to your customers with a tactile custom postcard.

Things to consider before you hire a postcard designer

A postcard is a relatively simple piece of collateral and more often than not, your designer would need instructions without any prerequisites. However, if you intend to create custom postcards, it's always a good idea to have certain foundations in place. Here are a few quick tips for the same:

Do you even need a Postcard?

From the get-go, the first question to ask yourself is if you even need to create postcards. Postcards are small pieces of collateral and are generally meant for distribution in the mail or handed out at events. They should contain a small message, a single promotion, minimal elements with your own logo and that's about it. If you plan to add multiple products or to promote events and multiple offers, a sell sheet or poster might be more suitable for your intended use case.

Images

Images are the lifeblood of a good postcard. If you are working with an illustrator or have pre-made campaign assets, make sure they are of the highest quality and print ready. The designer can design the postcard with respect to text and layout but you will need to supply your own images or good-quality stock photos for the designer to work with.

For the best possible outcomes, it's recommended that you use your own photos taken and edited by a professional photographer to really nail the brand feel that you are going for.

Copywriting

The copy would be the star of your postcard. Yes, the image is beautiful and engaging but the copy is what truly makes it personal. Your own custom postcards are incomplete without a personalized copy. You can choose to go the route of printing a blank spot to add a customer's name on your postcard which makes it even more personal. Either way, the copy should make customers and prospects feel special which means showing that you really care

The Design

After running through the list of prerequisites, it's time to design your own postcards. A few things to keep in mind when working with a designer or using a postcard template:

Layout

The layout is everything when it comes to postcards. We all love pretty images but combined with a solid layout, that's what makes a postcard desirable. The image should be the star of the show. It piques interest simply because a print of an image or illustration 'that' pretty would be nice to have. Next would be a strong message, ideally in bold font on either the front or the back of your postcard design would be the next consideration. Just remember, a postcard is personalized marketing collateral; it shouldn't look or feel like advertising.

Colors

The image should be the point of focus on your postcard, so pick your colors wisely. Don't aim to use all your brand colors simply for the sake of branding it but rather do it tastefully. So when you start customizing your postcard, make the image and the message on it, of prime importance. For branding objectives, just use your logo on the back or in a monochromatic version on the front. It would always be a balancing act with colors, so aim for the finished design to be a piece of artwork, a real postcard rather than branded collateral from a company. That may come off as ingenious.

Fonts

Fonts are an amazing way to make your postcards feel like postcards. We all know the postcard that says "Greetings from the Fabulous Las Vegas" and its something about those fonts that make the postcard special. You can feel the electricity of Vegas in that expressive font and there's not much like it. So be bold with your choices. Although not always recommended but venture further with font, maybe even outside the guideline. You can see how that works out and later on expand your brand guideline to include promotional material and font usage. It will come down to the design skills of the designer to really sell the message, but be brave.

The Designer

Designers come from a varied set of backgrounds and can often create awesome design work in their specific niche. Print design is a whole different territory. Apart from the technical specifications that set print designers apart from digital artists, there's a great deal of color theory that goes into creating good-looking postcards, so the ideal designer can't be found with just a few clicks.

You would need someone with a background in postcard design or proven experience in working with print collateral. This entails setting up your own images or stock photos for print resolution, familiarity with postcard sizes, and establishing color harmony for printed colors. Print uses a CMYK color space and digital uses RGB, so something good-looking on the screen might not translate to a perfect result in print.

In a nutshell, your postcard designer has 3 tasks:

• Set up images for print by creating print-ready files

• Understand visual layouts for clear and strong messaging

• Customize designs and color choices based on your goals for the postcard

Lastly, we strongly recommend against using postcard templates or a free postcard maker online as they are often overused, unoriginal, and provide very little in customization. Some high-quality prints also include especially printing techniques like a gloss and metallic finishes which most postcard templates do not have provisions for. If you use a postcard template, make sure to use ones created by real vetted designers who have applied solid design principles to create their designs. These are often paid but inexpensive and can be found at a shareable link on Behance and other portfolio sites.

Output Processes

If you are designing postcards, you are likely aware that it's a printed piece of collateral and will require print considerations like approving colors, sizing, and paper quality. Make sure you have a dependable printing partner who can provide high-quality prints in the volumes that you desire.

The other consideration would be use case dependant. Invitations may require individual sorting, direct mail postcards would have to be supplied to a logistics partner, and so forth. The design, printing, and delivery method of postcards are the factors that dictate a successful campaign so make sure you pay close attention to all of these stages. It's better to have everything in order even before you start designing, that way, you are aware of the timelines you need to work within.

What is my process for postcard design?

Postcard design is an effective and affordable marketing strategy. They can be used to introduce new products and services, and announce a sale or special offers. We begin with a short consultation call to understand your requirements. At this stage, you can share the images and copy that you want to see on your own postcard. We create a design based on your input and you can request one revision. Once approved, we send you the digital and print-ready files for your postcard.

• One Design and One Revision

• 4" x 6”, 5" x 7”, and 6" x 9” sizes to choose from

• Digital and Print-Ready Files

All of our designs are completely original and created for you and your brand without the use of any postcard templates.

FAQs

What is Postcard Design?

Postcard design is the art of creating personalized print collateral with a marketing objective behind it. The ultimate goal is to move your customer into the next cycle of the sales process, this may include discounts, free samples, event invitations, etc. It has a marketing intent but it shouldn't look or feel like an advertisement rather with high-quality prints and thick paper, it should feel like an art print that your customers would like to take with them.

How can I make a postcard beautiful?

Postcards are supposed to be attractive and beautiful. You can use a variety of ways to make a postcard beautiful. This includes using attention-grabbing high-quality images, bold and contrasting fonts, specialty envelopes, and various printing techniques. A combination of these solutions will ensure that your final design is beautiful and appeals to a customer.

How do I design my own postcard?

Most graphic designers and illustrators use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop for their postcard designs largely due to the specific setup required for printed collateral. You can use Canva as a free postcard maker where you upload your own photos and customize fonts to create a design. You can also easily download a postcard template from Adobe to create your own designs. This is good for a personal or small operation, but for a business, it's ideal that you work with a designer for your postcard design.