Trotting into this year’s spectacular greeting card ‘courtyards’ at UK trade shows, Spring Fair and Top Drawer Spring, greeting card journalist and promo filmmaker, Gale Astley, spotted a trio of design trends that are singing from the ramparts. Castle Core, Stripes and bottled Potions & Preserves are holding the fort and flying noble banners in the realm of visual aesthetics on card designs in 2026.
Pictured top, Medieval romance aesthetics on a gorgeous design from Piece Of The Peach
Line Dancing
Lined up and dancing at both Top Drawer Spring and Spring Fair this year was one of the biggest design trends of 2026, Stripe Drenching. On the trade shows’ greeting card aisles designs were embracing big tent maximalist ‘Circus Chic’ vibes, striking stripes promising fun and good times, breezy and simple nautical Breton bands and, fresh from the set of the TV series Bridgerton, elegant and dashing Regency stripes often topped with a demur bow.
Breaking rules and boundaries, this season’s stripes are not shy in crossing lines. Front and centre and full of attitude, they are a pattern infused with bold energy and posturing with positivity within a dazzling array of dynamic card designs and colours.
“I’ve always been drawn to geometrics and stripes, to me they’re the new neutral. They have the same versatility as a block colour, but with far more attitude”, believes Amanda Mountain, co-founder of Lola Design. “What feels exciting about stripes right now is their confidence: they’re unapologetically graphic, bold and instantly recognisable. We’re seeing a wider cultural shift towards pattern that feels optimistic and expressive, and stripes cut through beautifully across interiors, fashion and gifts.”
Amanda adds, “In our Curated Chuckles range the stripe isn’t decorative, it’s the statement. Scaled up, simplified and used with intention, it becomes a way to refresh familiar formats and make them feel modern and directional. It’s less about following a trend and more about using a design language that feels powerful, playful and very now.”
Above: An ‘Otterly’ cute and stripy Mother’s Day design from K Dee Designs; Curated Chuckles is a stunning humorous collection from Lola Design that uses strong stripes and geometrics; Susan O’Hanlon’s Stripes range includes this Get Well design and is positive, bold and fresh; Purrfectly striped, a design from Stop The Clock Designs; Inspired by circus stripes, Stripey Cats’ The Birthday Bunch range; Pic6 Gorgeous stripes feature in both Bexy Boo’s new Christmas and Everyday ranges.
Below: Demur Regency style stripes on new Piccadilly designs from Megan Claire.
Castle Core
Enamoured by medieval romance and gothic fantasy, Castle Core is shaking its tassels and courting historic regal symbolism on greeting card designs this Spring. Blending mythical magic, emotion and escapism to days or yore, greeting card designs are harking to the past and entering a world of medieval courts, forbidden passions and enchanted castles.
Card designs in 2026 are beckoning an escape into the sanctuary of a bewitching castle realm, imbued with an air of ardor, passion, devotion and warmth. Whimsical visions of fairytales twined with a fever dream of medieval motifs and regal icons, embellishments and curious silhouettes, love lockets, ornate chequerboard patterns and dancing court jesters, are coupled with medieval symbols of nature and the perception that plants and animals inhabited a spiritual world and carried divine messages: Welcomed to the Medieval palace greeting card gardens are delicately decorated winged messengers of love, majestic and graceful swans, and intertwining blossoming vines that would add an air of mystery and romance to any castle.
“I’ve always been drawn to what castles represent: a quiet form of escapism. It’s probably why I love Disney parks so much (that’s where the inspiration came from for my fairytale castle birthday card). The Disney parks and the castle allow you to step out of everyday life and look towards something hopeful.”, believes David Nichols, director for Ricicle Cards.
“In a world that often feels noisy, sometimes scary and over-complicated, castles offer escapism, romance and a sense of wonder”, believes David. “The rise of Castle Core in 2026 makes sense; people are craving that pause, that gentle escape. Pairing a castle with the card caption ‘May your birthday wishes come true’ felt natural. It’s an invitation to dream, to suspend reality for a moment, and to believe in a little birthday magic again. It sounds a bit cheesy, I know, but I’d rather a bit of hopeful cheese to take the sting away from the world’s divides.”
Pictured above: Harlequin patterning and bonded swans on a Kerry Illustrates design; A beautiful winged messenger card from East End Press.; Escape to a magical fairytale castle tempts Ricicle Cards; Birthday Empress in all her chequerboard glory from Lucky Alice.
Picture below: Pic13 The Traitors order a castle celebration on a card from Dandelion Stationery.
Pickles & Potions
Bottling it up is a well-preserved food trend on card designs ongoing in 2026. Perfectly tangy dill pickles, sweet strawberry jam and saucy condiments such as Ketchup and mustard are on the shelf in jars and bottles and ready to be devoured in the flavoursome Kitschen visual trend – an amalgamation of kitchen and kitsch – interwoven with Cottagecore.
Rustic illustrations or playful, bold and vibrant graphics of tasty treats in Mason jars and stylised retro food brands, Granny would be proud of the card designs that are conserving nostalgic and traditional culinary heritage and has all the ingredients of artisan, homemade and a cottage kitchen, with seasonings of sustainability.
Alongside the pickles in the pantry are beautifully ornate vintage glass bottles of potions on card designs, promising vessels of spells and magical elixirs labelled with messages of love. Intertwined with the Castle Core trend, there is an air of escapism, fantasy and romance to the aesthetics, the richly coloured designs ‘glowing’ with swirling gold foiling to enhance the apothecary feel and tempting hopefuls to take a sip from the bottle’s remedy.
Rocket68 can’t keep the lid on the tempting tastes in its new ‘Jarchive’ range. “It’s jam packed with rich colour and a retro vibe, with bold illustrated jar designs that jump off the shelf and cover a range of occasions including birthdays, good luck and anniversary, to name a few. There is also a striking jars wrap design to compliment the collection,” states the publisher’s illustrator and founder, Jill White, who enjoyed painting all the fruit and elements aimed at giving this delicious collection a homely vintage vibe, but with a contemporary zesty colour palette.
That’s lowered the drawbridge on a trio of the main card trends jousting on greeting cards in 2026, but with many creative ‘knights’ around the publishing table there are more to be seen.
Picture above: Pickles and other tasty treats in Mason jars feature on Rocket68’s new Jarchive range; Jam hot! – Stoats & Weasels’ Pantry range; Happiness is a jar of smiles from Caroline Gardner; Kerry Illustrates offers a beautiful glowing bottle of forever love on a wedding design.
Picture below: A Princess Potion card from The DM Collection.
