Editor's Letters Features

Sometimes we focus on a task so intensely, we miss the bigger picture altogether. That was the case in early 2023 when Mary Engelbreit appeared on my podcast The Paper Fold. Given her superstar community status, as the interview neared, I became even more nervous than usual.

You see, although I’m seven seasons in, recording podcasts still doesn’t feel as innate as my writing process. Spoken interviews demand that one thinks on one’s feet, plus running the technical side. So, while recording, if I get too focussed on the latter, when the subject says something unexpected, I may not respond as I would had I been writing a profile.

Thus while recording, I make a concerted effort to relax, get out of my head, and not take it so seriously. It is, after all, just a conversation. Anyway, during our recording, Mary noted that in the 1980s, people would only buy cards that “looked like them.” That consumer preference eventually went away, Mary explained — but added that
now, it is back.

How interesting is that — and why is that? The cyclical nature of trends will never not fascinate me. What is currently resonating did not resonate last month, or last year — and may not resonate a year from now. Any trend — be it an icon, like mushrooms, or type of messaging, say a “congratulations on your divorce” card — has a function behind it. If you focus on the function, not its expression, you understand and can play with the trend.

So, sit back and take in our annual design issue. I just know you can pull some inspiration from these pages and brilliantly transform it into a distinctive expression, custom-tailored to your clientele.

Just relax, get out of your head, and don’t take it so seriously. These
are, after all, just design trends.

Until next issue,