Hallmark, you hide your age well.

Like many 100-year-olds, the card company is sweet, traditional and occasionally crass.

But in its centennial year, Hallmark stays young and fresh because it has to, amid the rise of e-cards, e-mail, social networking and, generally, the changing platforms of communication. Declining sales last year forced the corporation to eliminate 550 to 750 positions — about 6 to 8 percent of the workforce.

To draw a straying market back to the Kansas City-based brand, Hallmark has pioneered card trends, such as cards with sound and, more recently, customizable greetings that users create online and the company prints, stamps and sends. The company also sharpened its edge with the new One Tough Chick line, which tackles tough topics such as cancer with playful language like this: “Chemo sucks.”

Here, four creatives working in some of the century-old institution’s most fresh and innovative divisions discuss how they stay relevant and creative in a changing industry.

Heather Hale Print-on-demand designer

Heather Hale, 27, designs print-on-demand cards — online customizable greetings such as baby announcements and party invitations that Hallmark prints, stamps and sends. Users add their own photos and messages to templates Hale created.

The designer, who has worked at the company for four years, often relies on research from Hallmark’s trend spotters for each year’s hottest hues.

“The first couple years I had to compromise my personal aesthetic,” she said. “I had to stretch myself. I’ve definitely gotten to a place where I can create something and know what’s right.”

When Hale hits a slump, she seeks artistic refuge in crafty activities such as woodworking or bead making. Hallmark calls it “creative renewal,” and staffers often retreat to a farm in Kearney to recalibrate their creative juices.

“It gets your mind thinking in a whole different way,” Hale said.

Click on the links at right for the other Hallmark profiles and a gallery of Hallmark card ideas that didn’t make the cut.