I learnt that Hallmark do a lot of research when making cards and that the design the cards a year ahead of time. They check the colour forecasting which Pantone predicts the colour of the year based off what is happening in the world for example 2021 colour of the year was neutral ultimate grey and vibrant yellow illuminating. According to pantone “It’s a combination that speaks to the resilience, the optimism and hope and positivity that we need, as we reset, renew, reimagine and reinvent,” this is the first time a grey was picked it was picked as a lot of people were in a bad place due to covid which is why they paired it with a bright yellow to try inspire positivity and hope that the pandemic will end soon. Hallmark use visual communication to create an atmosphere, create emotion, to tell stories, and trigger memory to attract attention and convince the consumer to buy it. My specialist practice links to Hallmark because a lot of designers that work for them are illustrators and use simple designs to help convey the message. The session with Hallmark did not change my ideas for the project but it did help me understand why sometimes when I print my work the colours are not as bright or change shade when I print it out it is because printers’ use different colours to computers. They did not really change my ideas about my project as they mainly talked about different way, I can develop my ideas using photography and my specialism is illustration so it did not appeal to me.