YOUR GRADUATION CARD ADORNED WITH GOLD
Graduation marks a huge academic accomplishment not only for the graduate but also for parents and other family members who were alongside the grad on their journey. With such a momentous occasion underway, it only makes sense to make your graduation announcement match the excitement you feel. Celebrate this educational achievement in style with classic and formal gold foil graduation announcements. After all, the diploma that has been earned will most likely have some foil-pressed elements on it, so why not match that same prestigious look with your mailer? On Minted you can sort through our foil graduation cards (either party invitations or announcements) to help you share the exciting news with family and friends with a touch of shine.
WHAT IS FOIL AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
Distinguish your cards from all the rest by adding some sparkle and shine with our hand-pressed foil graduation announcements. Created exclusively for Minted, all of our foil card designs are produced by our community of independent designers. Our process for applying foil elements to the printed cards is just as tedious as creating the designs themselves. Foil material is applied with pressure and heat onto your choice of luxurious paper stock. Once the foil ink dries it will reflect light and bring an enhanced shine to your card.
Each foil card is uniquely stamped in an array of colors, including gold, silver, red, rose gold, glittery gold, or glittery silver. When selecting your card, you have the ability to change the main color theme as well as the foil color, giving you the ability to select a unique color and foil combination. This flexibility allows you to create a truly custom design, using colors that match your high school or university’s school colors. Combine a blue themed card with glittery silver foil for a modern look, or select a gold foil to go with a dark crimson theme for a more classic look. We encourage you to adjust the background colors and foil colors in our preview screen to see what color combination achieves the dramatic look you are aiming for.
ACHIEVE A FORMAL GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENT LOOK
As you begin looking for your special graduation invitation or announcement, there are various filters we provide to help you narrow in on the card that’s right for you. These filters can help you identify design features and personalization options that will guide you toward a mailer steeped in class and sophistication.
- Designs based on your school year: When beginning to search for a card, it can be helpful to sort through results by way of graduation age. On Minted, we offer a “school” filter to sort for high school, college, and grad school graduation designs. As each graduate is at a very different life stage, we think it’s important to offer designs that suit each student’s unique experience and accomplishment.
- Photo vs non-photo: Consider if you want your design to have one or multiple photos. If you have an elegant photo of your grad, or a series of photos from a casual or formal photoshoot, it’s good to keep those in mind when searching for your design. Filter for one, two, three, and more than four photo designs. It all depends on how many photos you wish to showcase. To get a great understanding of how your photo will look in each of our designs, we recommend using our “Find it Fast™” feature at the top left of this page. Simply upload your image and it will quickly be inserted into all of our designs.
For a more formal invitation, you may want to feature design and text elements on the front of the card, with the photo appearing on the inside panel or back of the card. In that case, filter for zero photos to view all the non-photo, design-forward options. - Choosing a refined style: Next, use our style filter to choose from our selection of refined design styles for your card. For a timeless look, you can’t go wrong with the “Classic & Formal” filter. This filter is a great way to find cards with classic design elements including gold-foil typography, elegant borders, traditional script stylings, and serif fonts. If you are looking for a more modern take on a classic look, use the “Preppy” filter. Designs in this styling feature foil-pressed emblems, plaid elements, and subtle geometric accents. Maybe you’re looking for something that’s sleek and simple, in which case you can use the “Simple & Minimalist” filter. This filter will help you find foil-pressed designs that have delicate foil accents and sans-serif text that draws your attention over a plain white background.
Don’t forget that font styling and size can play a big role in the overall tone that your card exhibits. A light script font that mimics something hand-written can allude to a more formal event or gathering. A sans-serif font with bold font and thick lines can portray a completely different vibe. These font differentiators should be considered as you sort through our designs.
CUSTOMIZING YOUR CARD
Once you find the perfect design, you can begin to customize it to meet your exact needs. First, you can choose between a flat or folded design. If you want more formal graduation announcements and have a lot of information or photos that you would like to include, perhaps a folded card is for you. Maybe you want to keep the card simple and just include a friendly update, in which case a flat card will do the trick nicely.
Depending on how much information you want to include, you can then choose between different card sizes. Sizes range from our smallest cards measuring 6” x 4.25” to our grand sized cards measuring 8” x 6”. We even include a special magnetic card option that can be placed on a refrigerator as a constant reminder of when the big graduation party will take place.
Don’t forget the shape of your card. Besides a more classic straight edge, consider a waved frame, scalloped border, rounded corners, curved frame, or even a card that resembles a shopping or gift tag. Just like your font selection, the shape of your card can portray a certain theme. For a modern and formal look, consider sharp 90 degree corners and straight edges. A scalloped border can come off as more playful and lighthearted.
The thickness and feel of your card can also speak volumes. Our signature paper option has been perfected over the past decade and has a smooth cotton feel. Our recycled paper is great for the environmentally conscious and has a thick matte finish. The subtle shimmer of our pearlescent paper creates a great foundation to accent the foil-pressed elements of your design. Lastly, if thickness is what you are aiming for, choose between DoubleThick or TripleThick cardstock for a card that will make a sound as it lands in the mailbox.
Really make your card your own by customizing the photos and text on the front, interior, or back of the card. When adjusting the back of the card, you can choose between white, a solid color, or a pattern that matches your card’s overall look and feel. We also provide a number of templates for the inside or back panel of your card to include more information in a stylish way about the graduate. Highlight the graduate’s journey through school, additional party information for guests, a three-photo timeline, or a collage of all their fondest memories from school.
ADDING THE EXTRA TOUCH OF CLASS
Once your grad card is finalized, there are some additional options to enhance the overall correspondence. First, Minted offers various envelope colors to choose from, including white, navy, silver, black, speckletone kraft, grey mist, aubergine, spruce, charcoal, antique rose, and cloud blue. You can choose a color that coincides with your high school or university’s colors, or one that accentuates the design you selected. Picking a unique envelope color with help set the formal tone when recipients receive your gold foil graduation announcements or invitations in the mail. Along with your envelope, Minted also offers free recipient addressing. Take advantage of choosing a unique addressing design that matches the card you selected, or choose from one of our specially designed graduation addressing formats. Choose from options that include imagery of a graduation cap or the phrase “Let’s Party”. Your mail recipients will get a hint of what your envelope holds as they see the themed printing on the exterior of the envelope.
Next, you can complete the overall design look by adding custom SkinnyWrap™ to the envelope. SkinnyWrap™ is an adhesive strip that wraps around the side of the envelope and includes sender addressing on the front and a colorful design on the back. Then, for the final touch, you might consider adding an elegant wax seal to your graduation announcement envelopes.
THE MINTED MODEL
Minted is built upon a unique model in which everything sold on the site was designed and created by an independent artist. We develop design challenges and then enable artists to submit their creations which are then later voted on by customers and artists. With this unique model, we are able to source designs from independent artists from around the world, allowing for diversified assortments with visual variety and differentiation. In recognizing the work and ambitions of artists who’s designs are selected, a portion of card sales will go back to the contributing artist. Because of this innovative model, you will be sure to find a foil-pressed graduation card that can’t be found anywhere else!
