Hallmark streamlines its card production process

Greeting card firm Hallmark is using a new bespoke software package to improve the design process of its cards.

The Card Create software tracks each design element applied to the cards, operating alongside Hallmark’s Photoshop and Quark-powered design processes.

The system has eliminated much of the administrative paperwork connected with translating and handling graphical and text elements, says Vanessa Redshaw, Hallmark’s digital technology manager.

‘Card design can be very administration- intensive,’ she said.

‘Each product manager at our Hambledon studio would have to put information together on what plate changes and what information was wanted on each version.

That same information would then have to be read, copied and rewritten five or six times by different people.

‘Now, the product manager only has to type in something once for it to flow through the system automatically, saving a great deal of time and eliminating errors in the design process.’

Hallmark produces 2.2 billion greetings cards for the UK each year, based on 8,000 individual designs. Each card has up to 200 design elements.

Aside from the requirements of production for the Hallmark brand, the company can also use the Card Create system to keep a better track on the cards it supplies to UK shops such as Marks & Spencer, says Redshaw.

‘The new system will help Hallmark work towards increasing service to its customers and turning our designs around quicker,’ she said.

The program was created specifically for Hallmark by Adobe partner Mapsoft, who worked closely with the company’s designers and technical staff to help tailor it specifically to their needs.