The birthday dilemma Card

Because birthdays are supposed to be fun, but nobody warns you about the crippling decisions they bring with them. Dance like it’s still 9pm… or sit down quietly with cake and regret everything slightly less. A truly relatable crisis.

A birthday card designed in the style of a sensational vintage paperback cover, inspired by trashy midcentury pulp novels. The dramatic title reads “The Birthday Dilemma,” surrounded by exaggerated teaser text promising scandal, suspense, and personal turmoil. At the centre, a worried woman bites her finger in deep thought, caught between two very different birthday outcomes — a glamorous party scene on one side and a calm, solitary evening on the other. The composition uses classic pulp illustration techniques with expressive faces and heightened emotion, distressed textures, and theatrical lighting. The colour palette blends rich teal blues, warm yellows, and dusty reds, with faux pricing, bestseller badges, and worn-paper effects completing the retro paperback illusion.