A Guide to the Best of Southern California : BROWSING : Good Vibrations

Mix Domenico Ghirlandaio’s painting “Adoration of the Magi” with a photo of a field of flowers, a bee against a yellow background and the words to gather . . . or combine a coil, a dog catching a ball, a photo of a gap-toothed mouth and a blue square imprinted with the word what, and you’ve got, well, what?

“I am trying to create a different vocabulary for greeting cards,” explains Pillow Talk creator and publisher Scott Frankum. Pillow Talk cards ($1.70 each) blend artful graphics and simple text into compositions that are evocative rather than literal and have a greater expressive and interpretive range than those with off-the-rack sentiments. “Our images are more emotion-specific than occasion- or gender- specific,” he says.

Indeed, the Christmas designs are so subtle that it takes a moment to grasp the Yuletide connection. To compound the good vibes associated with giving these cards, Pillow Talk donates 5% of its profits to charity.

Pillow Talk cards are available at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art store, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 621-2766.