Because sometimes the only way to get your point across is with

We may be "Rotten Cards"...but we're not "rotten people".  A portion of all sales are contributed to charities that help needy children, the homeless, disabled veterans, the elderly, the mentally challenged, and numerous other groups.

Just click on our logo above to to back to our welcome page.

The story behind

"Rotten Cards"

My name is Kevin R. Braden and I am the creator, owner, maker, designer, photographer, and anything else you can think of, here at "Rotten Cards".  This is kind of a long story so grab a beer, a mixed drink, a glass of wine, yourself, or anything else you want to grab...sit back, and enjoy...

I'm the son of a tradesman.  My father was a plumbing and heating contractor and like him, I have worked with my hands all my life.  While this is something I enjoy doing, I've also been told that I have an interesting creative streak that runs through me and intertwines with a sharp attention to detail.  I went to college and earned a degree in business, marketing, and management graduating summa cum laude with a number of additional academic achievement awards along with holding a number of student offices.  A lot of those involvements made me start to see what those around me were telling me about my creativeness.  I don't consider myself a salesman, but rather a "marketer".  However, I did have a close friend once say, "A great salesman can sell ice to an Eskimo....Kevin Braden can sell the Eskimo a freezer to store that ice in".  Not sure if that's true or not, but it meant a lot to me.

Now in addition to working in the maintenance department of the college I attended, I also started (1992) my own home & commercial property repair business.  Again, I do like doing this kind of work, but it doesn't give one much chance to use my creative spirt.  So, with that being said, I decided to go out on a limb, take a chance, and try to find an avenue to express myself.  The result?  "Rotten Cards".

Photography has been a hobby of mine since I was about 6, so, when I decided to start this company, I decided to incorporate my love of being behind the camera.  Besides, I can't draw for shit and I'm too damn cheap to hire someone to do it for me.  I can invision art...but there's some sort of block between my brain and my hand.  I can draw stick people...and on a good day...stick people with hair.  So, God Bless the camera.

Granted, "Rotten Cards" may not be the first adult themed greeting card company in the world, but I feel we are very unique.  There's an old saying that says, "A picture is worth a thousand words"...and that's very true, however, when you do it right, you can lock a picture down to just one or two words...which I feel we have done.

Someone once asked me why I chose to do "Rotten Cards" in black and white.  Well, there's a number of reasons.  The first is I personally love B&W photography.  It has a certain appeal that sets it apart...maybe it's the lack of color.  Hey, I was a business major, not an art major, don't ask me to get too deep here.  The second, and probably more stronger reason, is because when I sat down and started writing "Rotten Cards" one thought that came to mind is that the messages inside the cards need to be blunt...or and I would say, "black and white".  As you read them you'll see that there's not a lot of grey area here.

In addition to being a tradesman, my father was in the Navy in World War II, or as he would call it, "The Big One".  Needless to say, dad, or "padre" as I always called him, had quite the colorful vocabulary.  I often heard him instructing people to do things to themselves that I really don't think were humanly possible.  A lot of the cards we sell came from things I've heard over the years coming from padre's mouth. 

Now don't get me wrong...my father didn't talk like this ALL the time...and neither do I.  Actually, I like to think of myself as a polite, old fashined gentleman, however, let's be honest here...sometimes there's only one way to get your point across...and that's with a "Rotten Card".

Ok, I know you're probably getting tired of reading about me, but I would like to close by thanking a number of special people in my life who always give me the moral support I need to take on things like this.  I'll leave out their last names to spare them the embarassment...

My beautiful wife, Heather, who stands behind me no matter what...probably be cause she feels safer back there.

My (attack)mother-in-law, Barb, who should get most of the credit for she is the one who once

looked at me and said something to the effect of, "You should start a greeting card company...".

My friend Jim (aka - DASH)...for telling me that, "sometimes in life...you just gotta take risks...".

My good buddy, Dr. Mark (aka - The Repairman)...who seems to believe more in me than I do myself at times.

(Hey Mark - FYYFF!...sorry, inside joke folks).

Dr. Mark's beautiful wife, Rachel.  For being such a dear friend and for giving me something

to look at while visiting Mark so I don't have to sit and stare as his ugly ass all day.

My good buddy Don, who like "Rotten Cards", is probably the most blunt person I know...and admire.

Don's wonderful wife, Michele, who once said to me, "I don't know why you're wasting your time doing

what you do...you could do so much more!"  (see where your words have taken me Michele?!?!)

My parents, Dean and Helen, for having what ever they had in their DNA to make me the way I am...

and for having way too much green beer on St. Patrick's Day, 1966,

and conceiving me not too long after "last call".

(Hey, maybe it was the green beer and not the DNA)

Anyway...

May they rest in peace in the hands of God...