I’ve only just seen this and they’re fabulous postcards Alys. Well done.
For me, no lines. Some addresses are long, some short. It’s easier to space them out with no lines.
I don’t like anything in the stamp area. Sometimes you can see the lines through a lighter coloured stamp and it’s not nice.
Very brief description is fine. Sometimes it fills half the writing side (looking at you Stonehenge!) and that’s just a waste of space.
No separator in the middle either. I like to use as little space as possible for the address. If the address is very narrow, I can fit an extra hundred words on the card if there’s no separator in the way.
I don’t mind a small image on the writing side as long as it doesn’t fill too much space. Looking at your image, the writing area is too small for me already and the heron makes it much harder to write.
4 ot 5 lines. I find some adresses need 5 lines but it works fine if there is enough space between the last line and the bottom of the card (the country name can be in capitals separated down).
No box for the stamp, but please, if they is gonna have a barcode for shops, put the barcode in the place of the stamp. Makes really easy to cover them.
Description better in the bottom left corner.
If there are lines for adress, separator not necessary. Yes to separator if there are no lines.
Those details are nice, usually. But blank space is cool too.
Dislike: barcodes in silly places and broad dark adress lines. Just thin grey-ish ones are better.
Oh, and rounded corners are usually really nice if you find them.
I personally like a small white border around the picture instead of it reaching the ends of the postcard and damaging a little bit.
But I undestand that might not be of everyone’s liking.
I wasn’t able to find a similar topic but feel free to merge if there’s one in place.
I’m opening a postcard shop and have my designs ready but find myself questioning how to design the address side of the card. I find it highly irritating when they’re full of writing, barcodes, stamps placement guides, lines where an address should go etc.
There are different “guidelines” in what makes a “postcard” and not all countries postal services are the same. I have found nothing that dictates what MUST be on a card…only size requirements to keep the price down to a postcard stamp if within the us.
At the moment I have a centerline (more offset than the typical card because I can’t stand how little room I’m given to write on other cards!) a small postage square in the upper right and in the lower left the name of my shop.
However I’m wondering what everyone prefers on the backs of their cards.
If it were up to me it would be blank except for the designer’s logo or shop name.
What do you prefer?
I prefer an empty backside for maximum freedom if creativity , but I also don‘t mind lines for the address area. I do not like a fat line dividing the postcard in address area and writing area, if there is a line at all it should be thin / light grey or so.
I like lines for the address, because I write so uneven, the address can become too small and cramped if there is no lines (but I sometimes draw these myself).
And I like the address side big enoughs, as many USA:n and Chinese addresses are long and I don’t like writing something on two lines, if it’s given on one.
Preferrably information of who took/draw the photo, and the shop.
Not too thick lines
(Also no center line is needed, it sometimes causes troubles, as the word doesn’t fit because the line comes and I need to start from another row. But it’s still ok there, especially if the artist info and shop name is there.)
Here’s the postage square from the back of a postcard issued by a design firm called M & Company.
Shop name/logo, maybe some info on the picture, stamp rectangle
Personally I like longggg address lines because sometimes unusual addresses need more space. I also agree with no center line, personally? It’s a nitpicky thing to think but it does bother me slightly when I accidentally write all the way into it and run out of room >.<
Basically “less is more”, but (in my mind) there should really be a description of what is depicted on the card on the front or back side.
Of the local commercial supply I like these backs best:
The barcode goes under the stamp so saves space, the address lines are faint, but sufficiently long, and there is space around if the address goes to a lot of lines,
the artist’s details are used as the divider
and there is clear information about the image.
The suppliers name may end up hidden by stamps, but that is fine.
For me, I like a separating line and a description of the postcard (if possible & on the top left). Anything extra is nice but I will be okay without it.
In the U.S., you can get a rough idea of how old an antique postcard is by whether it has a divider. The postal service didn’t allow “divided back” postcards until March of 1907.
Welcome to the forum @Fotya21
I moved your question to this topic here.