Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Some size clarification


Dimensions/Layout (pick one):
*Option A: Vertical holiday card (5 x 7) (note: this is for your design’s printable space – your actual image should be as big as 5.5 x 7.5 to give a little wiggle room for our automated card-cutting machines, so we don’t chop off any of your brilliant concept. This is called the “bleed,” coincidentally.)
*Option B: Horizontal holiday card (7 x 5) (note: this is your design’s printable space – see above for explanation of what the heck that means.)
Click on the picture to get a larger view of the fine print.


19 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the clarification. I had formatted the design I've been playing to the proper specifics, but I have tweaked it a tad bit, now, so that pertinent portions of the design are not cropped from view, should it make the "cut," no pun intended.

hypnobee said...

The Funny*ness cards are finally available in Canada! Hurray!

Do you know when the Store Locator will be updated to include Canadian locations?

Wordy McGee said...

Hypnobee,

We're gonna give it to ya straight. Our store locator isn't equipped to handle all the stores in Canada so it looks like our Canadian friends will have to do the locating the old fashioned way. Sorry about that. In the future, if we can expand that capability, believe you me, we will. Thanks for telling us about Funny*ness reaching Canadian stores. Yay!

steffie said...

Hi all:

I have what may seem like a rather silly question for you card conisseurs's: My X-mas card has a front design and a short, sweet message on the back. I intended to scan them together on the paper they're created on and send the entire image. Will that be acceptable and still count as one card or is there some other way to send? Thanks!

Wordy McGee said...

steffie,

Silly? We don't think so.

Here's what to do with your design and your short, sweet message. Once the contest opens, you'll be able to upload your design directly on one of the submission pages. You'll actually type your message directly into a text box we provide on that same page.
So just scan your design. Worry about the words later. Got it? Oooh, I'm getting all excited to see the cards!

Unknown said...

Wordy,

Upon learning of the (RED) campaign with these holiday cards, I completely re-designed my idea and created something I actually like better than my original idea. I can't wait to submit it!

I've always been one to enjoy helping others and whether I end up being a finalist with my holiday design or not, I love the idea of tying our appreciation for winter holidays, as expressed in our cards, into a way that will be beneficial to others who may not be able to experience the holiday cheer, due to the worry of AIDS and its affects on the patient's family.

Lastly, please disregard my message about tying (RED) into the card verse that I asked on the other blog posting. By re-vamping my design, I've solved my own dilemma. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

That's huge for a card or maybe I did something wrong? Should our designs actually be almost as large as a sheet of notebook paper? I want to make sure I am doing this correctly. The measurements are in inches...correct?

Wordy McGee said...

poeticfisherman,

Glad to hear it! We can't wait to see it!
It's only a matter of days, now . . .

Wordy McGee said...

lateda625,

Don't adjust your set (sorry. couldn't help myself.)!

If you've made it 5.5 x 7.5 inches, you've got it right.
It does seem big but that's because we need extra room during production for cropping, etc.. We will do the size adjustments to make sure it fits on standard card sizes (a flat photo card and a 5 x 7 folded card, in particular).

Does that help?

Anonymous said...

Thanks Wordy! I was a little worried. (Say that fast 3 times.) Now that I know I have the correct measurements...back to the lab I go!

kmbrco said...

I could very well be seen as a complete moron, but I'm going to ask this question anyway...

In designing a submission, what constitutes original work? Do we need to be concerned about fonts, or elements used in the work? I know we can't use someone elses artwork or images, etc. Maybe I'm thinking too literally. I'm not a graphic designer or artist professionally, so copyright is a bit of a quagmire for me.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Unknown said...

kmbrco,

For writing, I know the copyright laws like the back of my hand; graphically, since I'm a designer second (and by a great distance), these laws are a little fuzzy to me, too.

Hopefully, Wordy will be able to advise us all, but in the meantime, I found an article on copyright laws for fonts. In the article, written this year, it is stated:

"The US Copyright Office still officially refuses to accord protection for typeface designs. This is due to a misunderstanding of the field, which has resulted in the United States being the only country in the western world not to recognize the intellectual property in typeface designs." Source: www.typeright.org/feature4.html

I hope this helps everyone, until we hear otherwise from our fine Hallmark judging panel.

missmaravilla said...

okay well I'm a little confused. I don't know whether I can copy the size template it shows us on the website. Because I measured 7.5x5.5 horizontal and it comes much smaller than the template shown on the website.

Unknown said...

genesism15,

I had the same problem with the template. I formatted my card to the proper specifications using my Adobe photo software program.

I printed the template and measured it (roughly 4x6, in my calculation). Afterwards, I figured the template was meant as a guide (i.e. placing the card design beside the template to eye how it would look) and thus, not to proper scale.

Good luck!

Judgy's Little Elf said...

Genesism15, the downloadable template is the correct size and dimensions for work created at 300 dpi. If you are having sizing issues make sure to check your image resolution to ensure it matches the template (300dpi).

Wordy McGee said...

Anyone still wondering about fonts? Yes? This is for you:

You don't need to worry too much about breaking copyright laws by using fonts. You DO need to give us the name of the font and tell us where you got it. Then, we'll handle all the legal stuff on our end. Teamwork--it's a good thing.

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I'm new to this contest stuff, and wanted so very much to follow your design instructions down to the letter, that I think I did something a little (maybe a lot, depending on your answer) dopey.

I downloaded one of the templates and created my design "inside" of it (not the dopey part, since that's what templates are for). However, (and here it is) when I saved my design as a .jpg, and subsequently submitted said .jpg to Hallmark, I did so while my seemingly wonderful, and brilliant design (my husbands words, because he knows what's good for him) still sat atop the template.

In other words, what I submitted has the template in the background (around the image, of course, since I followed the instructions---bleeding out to the blue line---actual design within the red). I don't know what part of my brain read the instructions, looked at my design, and registered that it would be a good idea to submit right on the template, because some other part of my brain is now looking at it saying "huh?", and working itself into an all out panic.

What I'm hoping is that this was not sooo dopey as to render my design completely useless and disqualify it from even being judged. So, my question is, how dumb was it to submit my design within the template?

Judgy's Little Elf said...

Vicky,

No worries. Completely acceptable to submit on the template.

Anonymous said...

Bless your heart, judgy's little elf! Thanks for your answer.