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I’ve had the amazing opportunity to give a seminar on trends at National Stationery Show for several years now. It’s evolved into what I refer to as a “reader’s guide” to accompany both our last several and next few issues of the magazine. It is a treat to have the opportunity to interact with readers in a way I’m unable to the rest of the year, and also expand on certain ideas that I don’t necessarily have the space to do in the actual magazine. I really enjoy talking about macro lifestyle and color trends as well as pertinent directions in design elements and product categories for stationery and related product. Frankly, 60 minutes allows me to just scratch the surface!

There’s no way to encapsulate the hour-long speech and 152-slide presentation into a short, so I’m not going to try. However, I will outline several pertinent aspects of our market that I covered:

The Winning Equation. Any product line you bring in should be tops in design, yet still useful and reasonably priced for what it is. Key concepts here are value, luxury, detail, status, self-expression and perhaps most importantly, emotional connections between friends and loved ones. Once you tap into the customer’s emotions, you are that much closer to closing the sale. Also very relevant to this idea: telling a story to your customers by sharing a bit about the faces and processes behind the products.

What makes this Puro Papel invitation a potentially winning equation? The names are stylishly letterpressed without ink, while the printing at bottom is flat-printed, tying into the coordinates and lowering the overall price. Also scoring points: an envelope liner that’s reminiscent of a vintage wallpaper and is contrasty without being too contrasty. All the elements unite for a standout, distinctive design.

Color. This year finds us with two major players, honeysuckle and purple. Note that each is often shown with paler or more intense versions of itself for a beguiling tone-on-tone look.

Look for honeysuckle combined with its more intense sister, fuchsia, on girlier offerings such as this Bat Mitzvah invitation from b.t. elements.

For a beguiling look that quotes from the past while feeling completely modern, this Ben’s Garden offering pairs purple with its paler sister, lavender, as well as red and yellow, both important in their own right.

Minimalist v. Retro. Minimalist product — that is, product pared down to the simplest lines — currently coexists with retro product, which may quote from any era but is updated via color, function and sentiment.

For the maximum minimalism, this paper wheel from Stewart/Stand unwinds and is cut on a stainless steel straight edge. It also features a hidden instrument writing compartment.

Different eras come into and leave vogue depending on a variety of factors including popular TV shows. These magnets, from Anne Taintor’s Taintor with a Twist collection, definitely exude a “Mad Men” feel.

Global Influences. Embracing our age of multi-culturalism, Indian, Moroccan and Asian inspirations abound. Stationery and gift designers take approaches as individual as they are: Sometimes the influence is unmistakable, at other times they will take a pattern or feel and inject it into their own purely American style.

This Wooster & Prince notecard wallet infuses exotic inspirations with more American-based colors and patterns for an effect that’s totally of our time.

Green. Technically, this is no longer a trend, it’s a lifestyle. The narrative is very important here as customers should know just what makes it green – for example, is the paper FSC-certified? Made with wind power? One hundred percent post-consumer waste? Perhaps all three? Look for products that salute the natural world in either whimsical or elegant styles. Any selection you make should be just as strong design-wise as it’s non-green counterparts.

This Kate & Birdie holiday offering is kind to the earth as it glorifies its natural winter wonder. It’s printed with vegetable inks on recycled stock made with wind-generated electricity and paired with a 100 percent recycled brown bag envelope and enclosed in biodegradable cello wrap.

Design Elements. I’d been seeing a lot of bikes before the show, and in fact devoted a page of our spring Fresh Picks to theme. This trend was out in full force on the show floor. Call them a more immediate way to embrace nature or not pay enormous gas prices, bike culture subculture has expanded far beyond urban areas. Other notable elements: bold on bold color combos; cupcakes and cupcake accessories; designs that play on fashion, the female form or silhouettes; and metallics.

Traveling Companion notecard from Screech Owl Design is one of many beguiling bicycle offerings.

Product Categories. None of these are anything drastically new, but rather represent a deepening of existing categories. Anything with a charitable element to it is bound to garner attention. Also scoring points with modern consumers are customized and personalized product — this can be as simple as something with an initial, an edge from being customized and/or personalized; combined with the creativity offered by today’s designers, digital photography elevates paper into directions that cannot be reached via the traditional photocard; and compelling product tailored to the youngest consumers helps ensure a new generation of good correspondents.

Personalization can tie to personal branding, as this example from Gwyneth Paige {Couture Letterpress} demonstrates. Whether you are hunting for a job or launching a new business, the honeysuckle-like ink, presented in a retro letterpressed pattern and contrasted with a aqua liner, is going to say a lot without speaking a word.

Want to see more? You can order Sarah’s seminar, recorded on DVD, for only $99. Click here to order your copy today.