An evolution of design
Valentine’s Day, celebrated around the world on February 14th, is a day dedicated to expressing love and affection towards our significant others. One of the most common ways it’s celebrated is through the exchange of cards. But where did the Valentine’s Day card design come from?
History
While the name comes from two early Christian martyrs, the first notion of a special day dedicated to love can be traced back to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated in mid-February. During this festival, people would exchange tokens of love and affection. The combination of the two can be traced back to the early 14th and 15th century, with the first recorded romantic Valentine’s Day letter being written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Slowly the practice spread to other countries and the tradition became popular world-over.
Commercially produced Valentine’s Day cards became available as early as the 1840s, with the likes of Esther Howland in America producing “Mother of the Valentine” cards in scale for the general public. With early Valentine’s Day cards would be individually crafted by hand, and often decorated with lace and ribbon.
As printing technology advanced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Valentine’s Day cards became more widely available and less expensive. By the mid-1900s, Valentine’s Day cards had become a major industry, with millions of cards being produced and sold each year.
Today
Today, Valentine’s Day cards come in a wide variety of styles, ranging from simple printed cards, to CNC machined stencil concoctions, or elaborate 3D printed designs. At Design Reality, we specialise in turning your design, your concept, your idea for a product into reality. From life-saving devices like the General Service Respirator, to consumer products like the hands free bag holder, whatever your design we’re here to turn it into reality.
With the boom in 3D printing and Forbes estimating that consumers are likely to spend a draw-dropping $25.9 billion this Valentine season – we can only expect designs to get more and more exciting.
If you need help turning your Valentine’s Day (or otherwise) design into a saleable product, or functioning prototype; why not get in touch:
