Before you begin, please read this, or this blog will make no sense.
In May 2024, I will have been writing and designing greeting cards for 18 years. Over those 18 years, I’ve written roughly 5,000 greeting cards, and 20 were truly a best seller. You are probably thinking, what a terrible writer you are, Amy. Potentially, but when I’m writing, I’m trying to achieve something that the greeting card industry has coined as “universal specific.” Universal specific is when a card feels specific to the “me to you” relationship yet is broad enough to appeal to a large audience of customers. The “universal specificness” is often the eye-rolling part of the greeting card aisle, memes on the internet, and signs in your Aunt’s bathroom. By nature, because the phrase is so relatable, “everyone” starts to use it to express their own experience. As a result, the phrase is used over and over and becomes cringe-worthy, worn out, and tired.
BUT the first time you heard it – it WAS funny, clever, and novel. Capturing a feeling and then translating it into something that appeals to EVERYONE is a talent, and it only comes from writing, thinking, and writing constantly.
This blog is about giving credit for universally creative creativity.
