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This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/529,705, filed Dec. 15, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to cards having a combination of positive motivational, inspirational, and/or educational material printed thereon regarding a specific theme or message, wherein the material is written and/or organized in a manner to influence or persuade the person viewing the information to act on the message. The cards have material in the form of writings and/or images printed on at least one side thereof, and preferably on both sides. The material on the cards may also include drawings or photographs of persons, places or things. The material on the cards may further include biographical information, other factual data, and even trivia. The cards can be directed primarily at children, such as teens, but can also be designed for adults.
2. Description of Related Art
Cards having information or pictures printed on one or both sides are well-known in the art. Sports and other types of trading cards are one example. These cards typically include a photograph on one side and statistical and/or biographical information on the back of the card, which relates to the subject of the card, which can be, for example, sports or action figures, or things like cars and motorcycles.
Daily calendars having tear-off sheets are also known, which, in addition to the date, are also known to include other material, including jokes, inspirational or motivational quotes, and facts about persons, places and things, depending upon the theme of the calendar.
However, it is not known for either trading cards or tear-off calendar sheets to include a combination of motivational, inspirational, and/or educational material with facts, trivia or drawings/photographs, all of which is written and/or organized in a manner to influence, or persuade, or support the person viewing the information.
The invention provides a card 10 having a combination of positive motivational, inspirational, and/or educational material printed thereon regarding a specific theme or message. The cards 10 have material printed on at least one side thereof, and preferably on both sides. The material on the cards 10 may also include drawings or photographs of persons, places or things. The material on the cards 10 may further include biographical information, other factual data, and trivia.
The material printed on each card 10 pertains to a specific theme or message. The material on each card 10 is written and/or organized in a manner not only to motivate, inspire, or educate, but also to influence or persuade the person viewing the information to act on the message, i.e., to adopt a personal behavior consistent with the message.
FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a representative card of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a back plan view of the representative card of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front plan view of a second representative card of the present invention;
FIG. 4. is a back plan view of the second representative card of FIG. 3; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a deck of cards according to the present invention, illustrating one card removed from the deck.
Cards 10 according to the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1-5. As depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3, a front surface 12 of a card 10 is shown. The cards 10 typically have four sides and are in the shape of a rectangle or a square and generally include a top edge 16, a bottom edge 18, a right side 20, and a left side 22. The cards 10 also generally include at least one writing 24, at least one image 26, and at least one source indicator 28 on the front surface 12.
As depicted in FIGS. 2 and 4, a back surface 14 of a card 10 is shown. Again, the cards 10 typically have four sides and are in the shape of a rectangle or a square and generally include a top edge 16, a bottom edge 18, a right side 20, and a left side 22. The cards 10 also generally include at least one writing 24, at least one image 26, and at least one source indicator 28 on the back surface 14.
FIG. 5 illustrates a deck 40 of cards 10, showing one card 10 removed from the deck 40. In FIG. 5, the top surface 42 and left side 22 of deck 40 can be clearly seen. Further, at least one writing 24, at least one image 26, and at least one source indicator 28 can be seen on the front surface 12 of the remaining top card 10 on the deck 40.
As shown in FIGS. 1-5, the present invention provides at least one card 10 having one or more writings 24 thereon. The writings 24 may be a combination of positive motivational, inspirational, and/or educational material regarding a specific theme or message. The writings 24 may further include biographical information, other factual data, and trivia. The cards 10 have writing 24 printed on at least one surface thereof, and preferably on both the front and back surfaces 12, 14. The cards 10 generally also include at least one image 26, such as, drawings or photographs of persons, places or things. The images 26 are preferably present on both the front and back surfaces 12, 14 of each card 10, however, only the front or back surface 12, 14 may contain an image 26. Further, images 26 may not be present at all on some cards 10. The cards 10 may be in whole or partially presented in color, black and white, grayscale, or a combination of at least two of the three.
The material in writings 24 and/or images 26 printed on each card 10 pertains to a specific theme or message. The material on each card 10 is written and/or organized in a manner not only to motivate, inspire, or educate, but also to influence or persuade the person viewing the information to act on the message, i.e., to adopt a personal behavior consistent with the message.
The cards 10 are meant to provide a way for teenagers and their parents to communicate with one another and learn together. The cards 10 also provide a way for parents and their children to share valuable and meaningful time with one another. The messages on the cards in the form of writings 24 and/or images 26 encompass subject matter that is often difficult to cover in a book or magazine. One of the key qualities of the cards 10 is that they provide a conduit to provide vital information in small quantities to a reader. This is especially critical with children and young adults, who tend to have shortened attention spans and a reduced capacity to absorb large amounts of information at one sitting.
The cards 10 can be provided in a 4×6 format, and could be sold in packages of multiple cards 10 as shown in FIG. 5. Further, the cards 10 may be provided as having equilateral sides, such as a two-dimensional square or triangular shape. The cards 10 may also be a two-dimensional ovoid shape or a variety of two-dimensional geometric shapes, the variety of which would be endless. The cards 10 could be glued at the top 16 and shrink-wrapped. The cards 10 may also be provided loose from one another, but in a stack. The loose cards 10 may be sold shrink-wrapped and in a box or similar package, or simply placed in a package without shrink-wrap. However, there are many different ways the cards 10 may be presented. The cards 10 could be distributed monthly, which would keep them current.
Other ways to present the cards 10 include calendars, tear-off pads, tablets of any conceivable size, including display size, class assignment sheets, CD's, drinking mugs, playing cards, and even as an electronic game.
Along with sports related cards 10, there can be, for example, teenage driver safety tip cards, drug and alcohol cards, spiritual or religion based cards for different religions, history, music, different ethnicities or nationalities, and countless other themes are possible.
One manner of presenting the invention is for a parent to share one card 10 per day with their child. The number of cards 10 in a set can vary. For example, a sports cards' 10 December package can have 31 cards, one for each day. However, for teenage driver safety tip cards 10, there can be a package of 180, one card for each day of the teen's six month driver's permit.
As for the six month driver's permit card sets, each card 10 will have facts as writings 24 pertaining to the message on one side, preferably the front. For example, a “Loud Music” card 10 can have facts on the back surface 14, such as “Fast Loud Music is Linked to Car Crashes” and “Dangerous Driving” facts regarding speeding, jumping red lights, and car crashes. Some facts could indicate that drivers who listen to fast, loud music in the cars may have more than twice as many accidents as drivers listening to slower or quieter music. Additionally, as the tempo of music increases, drivers tend to take more risks. It is difficult or impossible to hear emergency vehicles, and if the music is too loud you also may not be able to concentrate on driving.
The present invention may also include memorial cards. For example, for the card 10 sets on drugs/alcohol/and driving, some cards 10 can have writings 24 and/or images 26 in memory of teens who have died due to taking unnecessary risks.
The cards 10 are not limited for use with just one age group. Different deck 40 set examples include:
The aforementioned deck 40 set embodiments of the present invention are for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be exhaustive. Further embodiments, also not meant to be exhaustive, include: Sexual educational card sets, Summer camp sets, First Communion sets, CPR training sets, and Hunter safety course sets.
The cards may be made of laminated or unlaminated cardboard-type material. Further, the cards may be made of laminated or unlaminated heavier gauge paper. Additionally, the cards may be made of plastic or other suitable material now known, or heretofore developed, which is capable of having writings and/or images printed thereon.
In accordance with the present invention, the images 26 may be of people, places and/or things. The people may include professional and/or amateur athletes, entertainers, political figures, historical figures and non-famous men, women and children. The places may include foreign countries, schools, historical areas of interest, ethereal and mythical places, churches, etc. Things may include any object left to one's imagination. The aforementioned list is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to be exhaustive.
Writings 24 may include quotes, phrases, facts, trivia, puzzles, stories, tips and lyrics. The aforementioned list is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to be exhaustive.
The source indicator 28 may include a word trademark, a design trademark, a word and design trademark, a copyright notice, a company name, etc. Again, the aforementioned list is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to be exhaustive.
The images 26, writings 24 and source indicator 28 are not required to be used in combination on either the front or back surface 12, 14 of each card 10. In example, a back surface 14 may contain only one or two or all three categories. Further, when desired, the front or back surface 12, 14 of a card 10 may be intentionally left blank with only a solid color being perceived or with a stylistic design contained thereon.
Moreover, although certain embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications to those details could be developed in light of the overall teaching of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular embodiments disclosed herein are intended to be illustrative only and not limiting to the scope of the invention.