5 Christmas card designs that are so bad they're actually good

Incredibly the 19th century tradition of sending Christmas cards to friends, family and colleagues continues to survive in the age of mobile apps, email and instant messaging. According to the Greeting Card Association, around 1.3 billion Christmas greeting cards were sold in 2022, and the market is worth around £1.7 million.

Of course, some people make their own Christmas cards, and that's where the real fun begins with this Victorian Christmas tradition. Some of these designs can result in unintentional hilarity and raise a smile from even the most jaded Ebenezer Scrooge. 

See our roundup of Cricut Christmas ideas and free Christmas fonts if you're lookin for inspiration for your own designs, and make sure you check our article on what NOT to get a graphic designer for Christmas. In the meantime, here are pick of the bad, the ugly and the downright weirdest Christmas card designs we've seen.

The worst Christmas card designs we've seen

01.  Smile, it's Christmas!

To many of us there might seem something strange about sending a Christmas card with your own image on it, but it’s long been a tradition among public figures – the first ever commercially produced card designed by civil servant Sir Henry Cole in 1843 depicted his own family, and family Christmas cards are a tradition in the US. 

The strangest thing about this 2014 card from former British prime minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie is that presumably this shot, in which Cherie seems to be holding her husband back from setting upon the photographer, was chosen as the best from the session. Comments on Twitter at the time ranged from calling it "Menacingly odd", to "terrifying".

02. Deck the halls with trashy dollar signs and broken mannequins

The Kardashian-Jenner clan took family Christmas cards to a characteristically OTT extreme with this 2013 offering, which cost a reported US$ 250,000 to produce. The photo shot by David LaChappelle shows the women of the family in black dresses, Kim in a revealing gown and Kris wearing a Metropolis-esque head-piece, against a gaudy carnivalesque backdrop decked with neon lights, pop art, Olympic gold medals, mannequins and graffiti reading 'fame', with discarded Rolling Stone magazines on the floor showing Kanye West as Jesus for an extra festive touch. It’s horrendously (or wonderfully) garish and perfectly captures the out-of-control consumerism of the season.

03. Merry Catmass

Animals feature highly in the great Christmas tradition of greetings cards, from robins in the snow to airborne reindeer and penguins relocated to the arctic. So why not cats? Manchester’s Chetham’s Library thinks this card is the worst in their Edwardian collection and the choice of picture seems to be as random as it is ugly, but, produced by Raphael Tuck & Sons in the early 1900s using artwork by French artist Maurice Boulanger, the randomness of the image and the message 'Splashing with loving Christmas wishes' gives it a certain charm.

04. Cringe

There’s nothing like turning to popular culture for some pop references and more puns and Christmas humour, like this delightful wish for the season from celebrity chef and TV presenter Paul Hollywood, a judge on The Great British Bake Off known for his appreciation of a moist fruit cake. It’s so squirm-inducing that it’s brilliant.

05. Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul

As with any project, designers need to pay close attention to composition, scale, colour and the juxtaposition of all the elements in a design for a Christmas card. The snowman in this card sent out by a company to its customers seems to be just a little too excited about the imminent holiday season.

For more holiday inspiration, see our pick of the best Christmas ads of all time.