GB2268120A - Greetings cards. - Google Patents

Abstract

A kit for the construction of a greetings card comprises a blank decorated card, a separate insert bearing a printed message, and means to fix the insert in the card. Thus, the customer can obtain a card tailor made with his or her own preferred picture and preferred message. The fixing means may be a ribbon, adhesive tape, staple, pin or stud. The means may be decorated.

Description

GREETINGS CARD This invention relates to a kit for the construction of a greetings card.

Greetings cards are an extremely popular form of written communication, especially at birthdays and religious holidays. The commonest form of greetings card consists of a sheet of card folded into equal halves. The front of the card generally presents an attractive or humorous printed image. Examples of such images might be a copy of a work of art, a comic drawing or a geometric design. The rear of the card may be blank, or may contain information such as copyright details, the name of the manufacturer and such like. Such details are not generally prominent. The inside of the card will normally contain a printed message or verse, with ample space for personal messages to be written on by the sender. Alternatively, the inside of the card may be blank.

More expensive varieties of cards may have multiple folds, or contain more than one card or paper component.

However, the choice of the greetings card purchaser is limited to the array of pre-printed cards sold by a card retailer. In particular, the combination of printed image and printed message may prevent the purchaser from buying a card with both a preferred image and a preferred message.

For example, a purchaser may find the drawing on the front of the card especially attractive, but the greetings verse inside the card less to his or her taste. Likewise, a well chosen greeting might be housed in a card bearing an unattractive or inappropriate picture.

One solution might be to purchase a blank card and inscribe a greeting of one's own choice, but this deprives the purchaser of the aesthetic benefit of an attractively printed message, or else causes the purchaser extra work: extra work of the kind that purchase of pre-prepared greetings cards is intended to prevent.

Accordingly, the invention provides a kit for the construction of a greetings card, comprising a decorated card; a separate insert bearing a printed message, for example a greeting; and means to affix the insert to the decorated card.

Obviously, the invention is concerned with decorated cards which are "blank", that is they contain no significant pre-printed greeting, message or verse, although they will not be entirely blank as they will have some sort of image on the front and may include incidental information printed on the rear.

For the full benefit of the invention to be achieved, the potential purchaser would need to have a range of both decorated cards and printed message bearing inserts available. A retailer might stock a plurality of cards, inserts and attaching means, and the purchaser could then select his or her chosen card and match it with a chosen insert. Alternatively, the purchaser could buy a kit containing a plurality of different cards and a plurality of different inserts.

An additional advantage of the invention is that the configuration, even of a given card and given insert, is under the control of the purchaser of the kit. Users may wish to assemble cards which they find especially pleasing.

They may, for example, wish to place a plurality of inserts in a single card.

In specific embodiments of the invention, the means to affix the insert to the decorated card may be ribbon, adhesive tape, a staple, a paper pin, a paper stud or some other device specifically designed for this purpose. If possible, the affixing means may also be decorated or decorative to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the constructed greetings card.

Claims (5)

1. A kit for the construction of a greetings card, comprising a decorated card; a separate insert bearing a printed message, for example a greeting; and means to affix the insert to the decorated card.

2. A kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insert is one of a plurality of inserts each bearing a different printed message.

3. A kit as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the decorated card is one of a plurality of differently decorated cards.

4. A kit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the affixing means is a ribbon, adhesive tape, staple, paper pin or paper stud.

5. A kit for the construction of a greetings card as described herein.