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Focus on…3D and Pop-up Cards
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Off you pop!
Innovation and amazement are the key attributes on the 3D and pop-up card front as the whole point of these designs is the gasp and wonder as the design unfolds. Here, PG delves into the magic - and paper engineering - behind the pop.
There may be a cost-of-living crisis but in the greeting card world it’s actually proving the worth of offering a premium product with a wow factor. Good design is always key, and the added complexity of fabulous paper engineering in 3D and pop-up greetings has them firmly at the forefront of the card-that’s-a-gift mentality - perfect for the current economic landscape.
“Being one of the original innovators of 3D/pop-up cards, we’re delighted to see renewed popularity for these of late,” says Tara Strickland, design and marketing manager of Santoro. “People recognise that sending a 3D/pop-up card is not just about a perfunctory greeting, it’s an experience for the recipient too. Many of our customers keep their cards on display for months after receiving, or even bring them out again each year for the mantelpiece!”
Sheri Safran, 2 To Tango’s creative director is also full of positivity: “Our sales to individuals increased during the pandemic because buyers saw them as special and a gift item and, with the cost-of-living crisis, this has continued.”
The motto of a card and gift in one has been the aim since The Pop Out Card Company started a decade ago, and founder and designer Jonathan Aspinall’s different take on the genre - with his hand-laser-cut pop-out selfassembly decorations - has proved very successful.
As Louisa, co-owner and wife commented: “Owing to the cost-of-living crisis, we’ve been seeing a tendency for people to be making more careful and considered purchases. With their 3D nature, our cards nestle nicely within the small gift category and, looking at the wider 3D card category, this likely explains their growing popularity in recent times.” Raspberry Blossom co-owner
Rebecca Green agrees with data experts Kantar’s presentation made at the recent GCA conference and
AGM in Nottingham that this trend is likely to grow in the coming year or so while everyone is being more conscious of their spending. “In our regular conversations with our retail customers, it’s also something they’re seeing too,” said Rebecca. “It makes perfect sense - sending a statement card with a thoughtful and meaningful message leaves much more of a positive impression with the recipient than a cheap gift that’s often bought in a panic!
Above: One of Alljoy’s innovative Message in a Bottle designs. Far left: A Swing Card from Santoro. Below: UKG’s innovative Beer Can design. Bottom: Jonathan Aspinall designs and laser cuts everything for The Pop Out Card Company.
“We’ve always consciously designed our 3D products to be more than a card, it’s a paper ornament that can be enjoyed for many days, weeks, months or even years after the celebration.”
And at Cardology, md David Falkner pointed out: “One of real strengths of our whole industry is that we supply a relatively affordable product that makes such a big difference to both recipients and purchasers for the money they spend.”
David added: “We see our pop-up paper products taking this a step further, offering premium options for customers who want to go the extra mile when they’re buying for someone extra special, who they know will treasure the card they’ve selected.”
Special Delivery’s founder Mark Jamieson not only comes up with the images, but also works on the engineering: “My mind is always working on new cards and I love a challenge! My 3D stand-up giraffe, Hi, made an interesting puzzle, as I wanted it to be tall, but still fit into a square format.”
Revealing his latest challenge, Mark said: “At the moment I’m working day and night on a new Royal Family card. These are among my most complex cards to work out, but have become a bit of a tradition. I’ve always loved painting portraits and this gives me the opportunity to get my paints out, and it’s occupied me for the last two weeks!” 2 To Tango’s creative directors David Fielder and Sheri Safran work with paper engineers, who send several samples based on the pair’s initial ideas for the handassembled cards. “We work very closely with everyone involved including the printing factory, to make sure the card is the best we can produce, and this may involve tweaks to the engineering - a millimetre difference can prevent a complex pop-up working,” explained Sheri.
Santoro’s Tara Strickland revealed its 3D cards can take anything from 12-24 months in development, from initial concept to launching on the shelves: “Our in-house team of talented illustrators and paper engineers work on bringing sketched concepts to life through a series of blank mock-ups, as every effort is made to include as much detail as possible from an engineering perspective. Painstaking attention must be paid to the weight, balance and intricacy of each piece to ensure easy pop-up as well as smoothness of movement. On top of that, illustrating the various components on a flat sheet, while visualising the end 3D result is no easy task!”
Elod Beregszaszi is one of the world’s lead fold designers and the creator of The Art File’s licensed Form collection, each folded from a fully-recyclable single sheet that’s finely cut and shaped into intricate forms.
Explaining the process, The Art File’s James Mace added: “At our warehouse in Lincolnshire our paper-folding specialists spend a huge amount of time
learning folding techniques in order to create the final card. Our most intricate designs include our city skylines which can take a considerable amount of time to prepare due to the complex design of multiple, uniquely-shaped buildings which require careful precision with folding.”
UK Greetings has been producing 3D and pop-up cards for many years, with a team effort between the more technicallyminded folk and the illustrators and designers necessary as the publisher
Furio’s flourish
Above: Special Delivery has animals and royals. Left: Keepsakes extended Raspberry Blossom’s ranges. Right: 2 To Tango’s Dachshund card is popular.
Origamo’s intricate designs take between 40 minutes and an hour to handmake each one at its own studios in Vietnam where there’s a team of six paper engineers. Company founder Furio Ceciliato believes the increase in sales is due to pop-up cards being “more and more appreciated on the market since customers are choosing more premium designs with a wow effect”. For Furio, the engineering is paramount as the card “has to be completely flat when closed, and complicated and big when it pops up, in order to have a great wow effect”, with extra assurance given by them being made in Origamo’s Fair Trade-certified studios using Italian-made eco-friendly paper.
Above middle: Origamo’s wow factor. Right: Origamo’s md Furio Ceciliato with the paper engineers in Vietnam who take up to an hour to assemble each card.
constantly pushes for exciting new concepts and more elaborate designs.
“But it’s always the quality of the idea that makes these things rather than the complexity,” explained Ben Whittington, UKG’s creative director for humour, character and licensing. “I think the best 3D/pop-up designs are those where the innovation adds to the storytelling of the designs.”
And UKG has been working hard to bring sustainability into the genre too. Having ruled out plastic protection, innovative ways to protect the cards are required, such as the 3D beer can design where there are no catch points on the lower two thirds to prevent damage when consumers put it back in the rack, and there are also paper sleeves.
At My Design Co, the Music Box cards have always had a 3D element with the cut-out dancing character, recently the designs were retro-engineered by the inhouse product designer to add handassembled pop-up elements.
Elaborating, creative director Jamal Merdassi said: “Most of the challenges for creating the pop-ups really came from adapting the illustrated scenes retroactively. The Mermaid Adventure card was complex to devise the pop-ups for, as the scene features a mermaid coming through a cave. For this, it was important to create a sense of depth, so required separating out the rocks into distinct layers.” Raspberry Blossom pushed the 3D element after its Treasures foldout collection won a 2020 Henries award, and introduced Keepsakes at PG Live 2022. “For a good design it needs to work!” Rebecca said. “If it’s a pop-up, it needs to have that element of wow when opening the card and, if 3D, it needs to be able to stand-up. In Keepsakes, there are two designs that are more fiddly for us to assemble. The engagement card with big pop-up ring, and the drinks cabinet birthday card have a few extra folds and slots to navigate but, when you’re in the swing of packing them, you get the hang of it.”
Cardology’s design director and co-founder Kripa Shah is the company’s doyenne of paper engineering, having swapped being a mechanical engineer road-testing gearboxes on highend Jaguars for her true calling with the publisher where she now works with her husband David Falkner and sister Dipa Shah.
Now known for both its officiallylicensed ranges, such as Battersea, Peter Rabbit, The Snowman and The Original Stormtrooper as well as generic designs, the Cardology team asks two questions of any new card - will it be kept on display way past the occasion it was bought for, and how does the customer know the card looks fantastic before they buy it - and looking at display solutions and space is David’s current focus to answer these.
“I’ve spent over 30% of my working hours this year immersed in point-of-sale solutions,” he admitted, highlighting one of the challenges with 3D cards. “And we’re increasingly selective over which customers we partner with, recognising both we and they will need to invest in display solutions and space if our range is to succeed for them in the long term.
Fortunately, there’s one thing you can say for this industry, we’re all a pretty progressive, forward-thinking multidimensional bunch!”
Goal scoring
Having won The Henry Cole Classic award for its Pop-Ups collection back in 2013, Second Nature has continued to ensure the evolution of this enduring 3D range with innovative designs, with one of its latest cards, scoring goals with retailers as soon as it was launched. “As a diehard football fan myself, it was great to see that our paper engineers had done such a fabulous job in being able to create a 3D design that actually looked like a football,” explained Chris Bryan, Second Nature’s joint general manager. “While this design was initially scheduled to launch at the start of 2023, we moved heaven and earth to bring its production forward to coincide with the World Cup,” revealed Chris.
