Designing Blue Lobster Thank You Cards | Wicked Grateful Collection
- Shannon Cyr
- Jan 15
- 5 min read
Updated: May 19
A look inside the studio as the Wicked Grateful Blue Lobster thank-you cards take shape through ideation, prototyping, and refinement.
Quick note: This post documents early prototypes from my design process. The versions shown are not final shop or donation cards.
Update (April 2026): Since writing this post, we’ve simplified how Mainely Cards supports Wicked Good Cards. Thank-you card purchases now support the creation and donation of cards across multiple categories, based on what’s most needed within care communities. The design work and prototypes in this post reflect how the donation model has evolved to better support the nonprofit over time.
When I first started making cards, smaller card sizes like A2 or 4×6 intimidated me. I was learning the craft, failing at gluing, and trying to understand how different papers behaved. A smaller canvas felt unforgiving.
A larger canvas felt safer. It gave me room to experiment, make adjustments, and learn without everything feeling cramped or constrained. I stayed with larger 5×7 cards longer than I probably needed to; not because I don’t like smaller cards—I do, very much—but because I was still learning proportion, scale, and how tiny decisions can completely change how a card looks.
During that time, friends started asking if I made thank-you cards. I did—just not in the way they were imagining. I designed a 5×7 Thanks a Latte card and a 5×7 Berry Grateful card. While they liked the cards, it didn't meet their need for traditional Thank You cards. I added "create thank-you cards" to my growing list of future projects.
Nonprofit Needs
Then our charity work made the need for thank-you cards impossible to overlook. Last month, when Michael and I donated handmade greeting cards to a hospital partner through our nonprofit, Wicked Good Cards, we asked what type of cards they needed most. They shared that they send thank-you cards frequently.
That feedback changed my 2026 roadmap and opened the door to designing A2 cards that met everyday needs. And honestly? I love thank-you cards. I’ve always been a sucker for a good boxed set. There’s something satisfying about having one ready the moment you need it. Knowing these cards could be used both by customers and our nonprofit partners made them a top priority.
That’s what I’m working on this week.
Starting with the Blue Lobster
I started with the Blue Lobster for a simple reason: it’s the design people consistently choose when asked to pick a favorite.
In early conversations, informal feedback, and side-by-side comparisons, this card kept rising to the top. Something about it just works.
I think it's because the blue paper is unexpected, and it's delightfully shiny.
The image feels familiar but not typical. It isn’t the traditional red lobster people expect to see, and that surprise gives it a lighter, more playful feel without tipping into novelty.
Blue lobsters are rare (about one in every two million) which adds to the appeal without needing to be explained.
It’s also a design I’ve experimented with for a while. I’ve revisited it more than once, making small adjustments over time as my skills improved.
Because this design had such positive feedback, it felt like it was a good start.
Scaling the Blue Lobster
When I started working on the blue lobster thank-you cards, I assumed the main challenge would be size of the eyes. At a smaller scale, I was concerned they would be too tiny. I worried placement would be frustrating and inconsistent.
It wasn't.
The eye placement held beautifully, even at this size. Each one landed cleanly and predictably. That part of the design behaved better than I’d hoped.
What didn’t work was the right antenna. It was a detail I’d adjusted before and thought I had resolved. At its original scale, the right antenna was a tad narrow, but still usable, which made it easier to work around. Reducing the design by about 34% demonstrated otherwise. The blue glitter no-shed paper has a thin backing layer, and at a smaller scale, the narrow cut tore that backing right off.
I fought the right antenna on every single card. What I’d been working around at a larger size became far too fragile when scaled down. None of the six cards were good enough to make it into the Mainely Cards shop.
Back to the Drawing Board
The right antenna was simply too narrow to hold up, so I went back to the original artwork and fixed it at the source. I widened the antenna slightly, adjusted the proportions, and rebuilt the design rather than trying to compensate with materials or settings.
Before returning to the smaller cards, I tested the updated illustration at a larger scale.
As shown in the image below, in the earlier cut, the right antenna thins too quickly as it rises. At quick glance, it looks fine. In reality, it never quite works.
In the revised cut, the transition into the head is more generous. Instead of pulling tension into a single fragile point, the line eases into the form, allowing the structure to hold rather than fight itself.
Looking at the larger blue lobster alongside the smaller thank-you cards clarified how the design wanted to be used. The lobster wasn’t meant to live only at one scale.
The revised cut became the base for a large 5x7 blue lobster greeting card. I created this card as a proof of concept. The goal was to create a larger donated card using the same core design and materials as the thank-you cards, establishing a clear visual link between what’s purchased and what’s ultimately donated.
This was a fast build, and it shows. The lobster body isn’t perfectly straight, and the composition is slightly off center. But it does what it needed to do, and the right antenna issue is solved.
The Wicked Good Collection
Michael and I have been working through different ways to connect card sales to nonprofit support in a way that feels simple, transparent, and true to both brands.
It made sense to create a paired system: a purchased set of cards directly connected to a donated card, all made from the same materials.
The Wicked Good collection exists to make the connection between Mainely Cards LLC and Wicked Good Cards nonprofit visible and straightforward.
Each Wicked Good Collection set will include six handcrafted 4.25x5.5 thank-you cards with the wording “Wicked Grateful” on the front, designed for personal or business use. After a set is purchased and shipped, a separate 5×7 greeting card made from the same materials will be donated directly to Wicked Good Cards for placement in a Maine care community.
Donated cards are documented in the Wicked Good Cards Giving Gallery, creating a transparent record of when cards are donated and where they make an impact.
Wicked Good Blue Lobster Thank-You Cards
For the Blue Lobster thank-you card set, the donated card will be the Blue Lobster You’re a Keeper card.
The cards shown below are a prototype set from the ongoing design process. They did what prototypes are designed to do: surface weaknesses, inform better decisions, and drive changes to make improvements.
Next, I’ll test more Blue Lobster thank-you cards using the updated illustration.
From there, I’ll move on to the next designs: red lobsters, lighthouses, lobster boats, and pine trees. I’m looking forward to growing this collection over the next few weeks. There’s much more coming.
From Maine,
Shannon
