'Cards for All' valentines showcase love inclusively

The expression of love takes many forms, and a new Valentine's Day card collectionsold by London Drugsacross Western Canada aims to illustrate that by offeringan inclusive line of the sweet love notes. The collection is called Cards for All.

"You are my preferred pronoun" reads one card.

"I love that we can borrow each other's clothes," says another, targeted atroommates.

There are cards written in Farsi, Chinese andBraille; cards for all expressions of platonicrelationships such as roommates, co-workers and single friends and cards for the many iterations of romantic relationships.

The 31-card collection featuresdesignsby Canadian illustrators commissioned byLondon Drugs, which is selling the cardsat 20 Western Canada store locations.

The cards retail for $5 a piece. That money will go toward United Way operations working to make communities more inclusive.

"[The cards are] for communities that aren'ttypically represented in the greeting card aisle," saidYvette Biggs with the United Way.

One contributor to the 31-card collection is Calgary artistJames Mackenzie. He designed a cheeky card for introverts that reads, "Let's hide from the world together"

Another contributor is visual artistMustaali Raj, who grew up in Calgary and now lives in Vancouver.

His card is more simplistic in executioncompared to some, but it has a layered meaning. It featuresa line from a famous Punjabi song written in two scripts that translates to mean, "The one who stole my heart."

"I wanted to look into the subtleties of Punjabi as a language," saidRaj.

"Punjabi language phonetically is similar but it's actually written in two different scripts depending on which part of the border you are on. I wanted to make [the card] more inclusive and create a typographic treatment that attempted to integrate the two scripts together similar to the rhythm of [their] sound."

Rajdescribes making this card as a "little step" that makes a big difference in the conversation of inclusivity.

"It gave me an opportunity to reflect another aspect of the cultural diversity of Canada, disrupting the usual narrative we see when we go to pick out Valentine's cards or any cards, for that matter."

Ontario illustrator Cristian Fowliealso designed a valentine for the collection.

The text on his card reads: "What has two thumbs and the best boyfriend ever? This guy."

He agreed to the project not only because he liked the idea but because he says the project givesgave back to the community it was trying to represent through its charity tie.

"There's no reason why everyone shouldn't be able to see themselves on these cards and be able to share themwith different people," said Fowlie.

The Cards for Allcollection is part of a pilot project by London Drugs, says Ben Pullein, who is with the company.

"Love is love, and you want tomakesure there isrepresentation for everybody," saidPullein.

Calgarians can see the collection at the London Drugs locations in Brentwood Village Mall and Mount Royal Village.