We’re now well into the “back-to-school” season and its been a busy transition
back to Toronto and Ryerson School of Fashion. This being my last year at
school, I’ve been working on my Creative Capstone project, which is basically a
4th year thesis explored through design and research.

Because I’m so completely in love with beautiful paper and greeting cards
I chose a topic that would allow me to study and design paper products
all year long! The thesis question is: “How can designed products, such
as greeting cards and notebooks, act as memory keeping objects?”

This vintage card is adorable and easy to relate to. It reminds me of my brother and I trying to fall asleep on Christmas Eve. (I don't know that we ever looked this peaceful.)

The idea for the topic came from my Grandma, who had the most incredible collection of
images, journals, scrapbooks, cards and paper things. And she wasn’t the only one. It
seems that most people have a collector or two in their family.

And why not? Cards, in particular, are designed to mark the times worth remembering:
birthdays, graduations, marriages, deaths, holidays, and everything in between. The
images and typography choices reflect the style and design of time. And a really great
card reflects the personalities of both the giver and receiver, describing their relationship
in the card selected as well as the inscribed message.

One of my grandparents' Halloween games. Pull a feather from his wing to reveal your fortune. This game was well-used and well-loved by family and friends.

When some of the feathers went missing, they were replaced by home-made fortunes. This one was typed out using a typewriter and coloured with crayon.

I was thrilled to come across an article about vintage greeting cards in the October
issue of Print Magazine. (Check out: printmag.com) Writer, Penny Wolfson
talks about her mother’s greeting card collection from the 50’s and 60’s. The article
is described as “One life seen through greeting cards.” Wolfson talks about the
craftsmanship and creativity of these cards.

I love the illustration and typography in this vintage greeting. And take a look at Santa's lush lashes!

Whether you are a collector or not, you will probably appreciate the wit and whimsy of
these cards. Here are some of the amazing pieces that I’ve found in my search so far.

I've never been on a merry-go-round at Christmas, but this still feels nostalgic.

A fashionable Halloween greeting

If you or someone you know has a story to tell through greeting cards, I would love to hear it. Please contact me at alex@alexperlin.com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 11:24 am and is filed under Blog Posts, Design, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.