Humour Supplement 2019

ER-FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019 100.indd 1 FC_Humour 2019.indd 1

23/04/2019 09:43 23/04/2019 17:51

www.ukgreetings.co.uk

IFC_Humour 2019.indd 1

23/04/2019 17:52

3-5.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:35 Page 1

Focus On Humour News

3

The Final Laugh

Dry wit, sarcasm and satire are drilling the unending humour source that are all pervasive in current politics and the recent round of Brexit shenanigans.

Comedic commentators such as Sarah Pascoe, Frankie Boyle, the fictitious Jonathan Pie (comedian Tim Walker) and online memes are having a heyday!

Sitcoms go from strength to strength, with the BBC’s White Gold mocking sexist, smarmy salesman in the lucrative double-glazing business and favourite Fleabag has even sparked a rise in M&S’ gin and tonic mixers.

And to rank up the TV titters, comedians Joe Lycett recently presented the BBC’s The Great Above: Michael Sheen and David Tennant will star in British Sewing Bee, the TV remake of the comedic book Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. while Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding currently host Channel 4’s The Great British Bake-Off, with Jo Brand adding the tasty An Extra Slice spin-off program.

One of well-loved authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s comical books, Good Omens, is released on screen this month on Amazon Prime, telling the funny story of the birth of the son of Satan, the coming of The End Times… sounds politically familiar!

And with such a world of laughs to tap in to, it portents a good omen for humour greeting card designs.

Focus on Humour forecasts the chortling news, views, fresh launches and topics in this sector of the market.

Museum of laughter The Cartoon Museum is moving from its previous location in Bloomsbury to a new permanent home on Wells Street near London’s Oxford Circus. The 4,500 sq ft site has been undergoing a £1 million refurbishment and will reopen this month.

“It will probably be the only museum in London where you come out a lot happier than you go in!” states Oliver Preston, cofounder and trustee of the museum, cartoonist and humour card publisher.

Run by charity The Cartoon Art Trust, the Cartoon Museum has previously organised over 50 exhibitions showing the work of great British cartoonists, including Ronald Searle, Ralph Steadman, Steve Bell, Heath Robinson and H M Bateman; popular themes such as The Beano, Spitting Image, Doctor Who and Viz; and ground-breaking shows such as The Inking Woman, 2000 AD and The Great British Graphic Novel.

The museum also owns a nationally important collection of cartoons, comics and caricatures that has grown from 1000 to 6000 items over the past 13 years, featuring the very best of Britain's cartoon, caricature and Top: Just one of the thousands of Britain's cartoon, caricature and comic art heritage to be found at the comic art heritage. It holds a library Cartoon Museum (image: The Estate of HM Bateman). of 18,000 books and comics.

Above: Artwork from British cartoonist Tony Husband, who has a regular cartoon strip in Private Eye. “With a new permanent home we want to promote the understanding of the art form and Britain’s cartoon heritage, encourage visits from new audiences, conversation, activity, interaction and enjoyment,” explains Oliver.

Contents 3-5 8-9 12-13 17-19 21-23

Overview Retailer Feedback In Comic Relief New Launches Topical Tastes

Editor in chief: Jacqueline Brown (jw@max-publishing.co.uk) Main contributor and Deputy editor: Gale Astley (galea@max-publishing.co.uk) Advertisement director: Warren Lomax (warren@max-publishing.co.uk)

Focus On Humour is published annually by Max Publishing (publishers of Progressive Greetings). It is distributed with the May edition of Progressive Greetings.

Max Publishing, United House, North Road, London, N7 9DP Tel: 020 7700 6740 www.progressivegreetings.co.uk FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

3-5.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:35 Page 2

4

Focus On Humour News

Seven Lol’s At Cardshit they love to make people laugh.

‘Frankly, we’d be a rubbish humour card publisher if we didn't’, they add. So they’ve compiled a Seven Things you might not know about laughing… err… compilation.

‘We've collated our favourite little factoids to see if they trigger your hippocampus (this isn't a school for large, round African mammals who love water, but a part of the brain responsible for laughter): l The average adult person laughs 14 times a day, whilst babies can wrack up a whooping 300 times. l Rats and gorillas laugh when they are tickled. l Laughing for 15 minutes burns 40 calories (whereas licking a stamp gains 6 calories per lick). l Psychology Today once published a study in an attempt to explain why bottom burps evoked more laughter than regular burping. l You can’t make yourself laugh by self-tickling. l When you laugh your diaphragm spasms, which is why we make noises like "Ha-Ha-Ha", "Ho-Ho-Ho" or 'He-He He". l The premotor cortical region of the brain stimulates your face muscles to smile when you hear laughter, it's almost impossible to resist.”

Want to make your customers premotor cortical region of their brain fire up? Contact Lee@cardshit.com for a free 'Smile Trial' and see the effects for yourselves.

Above: Left to right: Cardshit’s Emily Brooks, co-founder, Tom Hollingsworth, marketing manager and Lee Thomas, co-founder.

Left: A self-tickling card from Cardshit.

New wave laughs

Below: Paul Weller defrosting - from artist and DJ Andy Bush on cards from Buddy Fernandez.

Buddy Fernandez recently teamed up with artist and Absolute Radio DJ, Andy Bush, to publish a range of his ‘Celebs at Home’ cards.

With Ed Sheeran playing with Lego or Paul Weller defrosting the freezer, the witty little illustrations feature top music stars doing mundane chores, doing everyday things, or having a personal crisis that we can all relate to. The 22 celebrity designs are 155mm square (including the envelope) and cellowrapped.

Mindful marriage Ohh Deer has been working with bestselling mental health author and comedy writer, Aaron Gillies to create Technically Ron, a bold and bright range of eight A6 sized cards.

Known for humorously articulating ‘life’s more idiotic moments’, Ohh Deer came across Aaron Gillies through twitter, where he regularly broadcasts his musings to an audience in excess of 160k followers.

“Launching a card collection seemed obvious to us, and we were thrilled when Aaron was keen to collaborate too!", says Jamie Mitchell, Ohh Deer’s co-founder.

“We've not long released a self-care themed stationery range, and have always striven to highlight the importance of mental health awareness with Ohh Deer, so it's great to see this becoming so pertinent at present.

Humour has the ability to provoke and normalise discussion about mental health, making conversation about these concerns more comfortable - and Aaron Gillies' writing embodies this, letting people know that they aren't alone in their feelings.”

Above: Funny thoughts on everyday life from Aaron Gillies and published by Ohh Deer.

Quad-rupling the comedy Carte Blanche’s talented in-house designers and artists have also been working on a number of home-grown humour brands that was recently launched as a collection to independent retailers.

Comprising 16 new designs across four brands (Cards for Horrible People, Leon, Violent Veg and Say it to my Face), the Carte Blanche Humour collection is available as a quad.

“We definitely saw a space for something different in the market, tapping into the consumers who don’t buy into sentiment or cute but rather want to send a card with a more ironic, sarcastic, cutting or downright rude message to the recipient,” explains Grace Elphinstone, marketing manager for Carte Blanche.

The Humour quad combines a mix of CB’s proven humour card best-sellers from Say It To My Face and Violent Veg, best-selling Leon designs reformatted specifically to suit indies’ customers to a more friendly 5” x 7” format, and designs from its new Cards For Horrible People brand, that taps into the trend in sardonic humour.

“By packaging up strong humour designs across four brands, we make it easier for retailers to add both variety and best selling designs to their displays,” adds Grace.

Left and right: Part of Carte Blanche’s humour quad will be ‘Leon’, the chameleon, a sarcastic lizard underwhelmed with the world, and the cheeky open occasion range, ‘Say It To My Face’.

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

3-5.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:35 Page 3

Focus On Humour News

Making tracks Divine Savages has partnered with US company Snailbox Cards, a carefully curated monthly subscription box jampacked with unique greeting card designs.

“We love the concept behind Snailbox, celebrating quality stationery and greeting card designers, so jumped at the chance to have some of our new humorous cards included. The team at Snailbox loved our cheeky cards and selected, among others, our Love You More Than Cheese and Birthday Cock-or-Two cards!,” says Divine Savages’ founder Jamie Watkins.

Family funny bones Keeping it in the family, Holy Mackerel’s humour section has grown with the launch of its ‘Cock-eyed Octopus’ range – designed by Rachel Hopkins, the daughter of director Sarah Hopkins.

“A gin-fuelled Christmas session of the drawing game ‘Scrawl’ revealed her hidden scribbling talent, and hey presto a new card range was born!”, says Sarah.

Warm and witty, and with the odd llama and unicorn thrown in, this range of over 30 designs makes a brilliant splash on the racks.

Right: Two ‘Cock-eyed Octopus’ Holy Mackerel designs created by Rachel Hopkins.

Above: Divine Savages’ designs are now popular stateside and in the UK.

Star wit & coffee Woodmansterne began working with the hilarious Tim Cordell at the end of 2018, launching a brand new range of 12 designs earlier this year.

The range showcases his quick wit through traditional cartooning, and after 20 years in the cut and thrust world of advertising Tim has certainly learned to see the funny side of each and every situation!

Lee Keeper, art director for Woodmansterne, spotted Tim’s work while reading a popular magazine and sharing a coffee with his wife one Saturday afternoon on a south London heath: “Tim’s straightforward knack for cartooning, and most importantly ability to get me laughing, drove me to email him immediately and arrange a meeting. And after another coffee, this time with Tim and Woody art director Ian Blake, in a coffee bar in Euston, we had him on board.

Sharing his background working over 20 years in an advertising agency we knew he’d be able to deliver at pace with any and every request, and he’s a great guy to have on board the good ship Woodmansterne,” explains Lee. Above: Tim Cordell’s cartoon crackers can now be seen on Woodmansterne cards.

Candy cult The distinctive styling and dry wit commentary on the mundane dreariness of life, Modern Toss (right), featuring the work of the Brighton-based company’s cofounders Jon Link and Mick Bunnage, is now distributed by humour publisher Brainbox Candy.

While initially it will be Modern Toss’ finished products that will be distributed by Brainbox Candy, as time goes on the Modern Toss cards and gifts will be produced under licence by Brainbox.

NIBS l Kiss Me Kwik is now the proud

distributor of fun and flirty range, Life's a Drag! from Lowe and Behold.

“Whether you're 'Sashay away' or 'Shantay you stay' you'll love these sassy and bang on trend card designs!” says Kiss Me Kwik’s Simon Spicer. l Nick Adsett, product director for GBCC

spotted one of its new Avanti birthday designs bears an uncanny resemblance to Jeff Lynne from band ELO. “It makes me snigger every time I look at it!”, says Nick.

Above: Cher-ing is caring – a Lowe and Behold design.

Below: Is this ELO’s Jeff Lynne on a GBCC Avanti design?

l Stuart Caldwell, director of

Splimple, is about to publish his first novel. His book Fart and Toast will be available on Amazon in May. “It's a humorous, slightly surreal, vaguely romantic, faintly satirical, quirky, commercial adult fiction mystery (that’s a genre isn’t it?), and anyone who’s enjoyed reading the rears of my Wordies cards for years, might appreciate the humour,” reveals Stuart. l After great success with its collaborative Rosie Made a Thing mugs launched at Top Drawer in January, Mclaggan Smith has added 10 more designs to its offering.

These will compliment Rosie Made a Thing’s launch of six of its best-selling designs as coasters.

Right: One of Mclaggan Smith’s Rosie Made a Thing mugs – one side of this mug shows a squat… this is the other side.

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

5

ER-FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019 100.indd 2 06-07_10-11_Humour 2019.indd 6

23/04/2019 09:43 23/04/2019 17:46

ER-FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019 100.indd 3 06-07_10-11_Humour 2019.indd 7

23/04/2019 09:43 23/04/2019 17:46

8-9.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:27 Page 2

8

Retailer Feedback

Giggling In The Aisles Indie retailers’ customers are often found chuckling around the humour card section, often in tears from the rib-tickling offering. But what comedic card ranges are currently topping the titters and what are the trends in humour card tastes?

A stand-up of stores reveal all, plus what’s making them laugh in the aisles.

Kristan Madigan-Miller, owner of Cadeaux & Co, Wells and Castle Cary: Top titters: “For comedic cards, we go to Dandelion Stationery – its range is spot on, offering a huge variety of an ever-growing list of titles which are always very current, (including Game of Thrones, Strictly Come Dancing, Peaky Blinders). Some could be deemed a little too risqué for our customers but we’ll avoid them as there’s always so many more to choose from.

We are also planning to order Rosie Made a Thing - we haven’t as yet, as there was a stockist in Wells, but we’ve just been given the go ahead as they haven’t ordered for several months. I love them, but again, for our customers, I think we’ll need to choose carefully!”

Right: A Words of Wisdom design from Dandelion Stationery.

Sarah Holmes, owner of Pencil Me In, Elgin: Top titters: “We stock the entire range from Twin Pines from Ohh Deer... we actually can’t keep enough of them in stock. The cards are colourful, simple typography, are funny without being distasteful or overly rude, making light of topics not covered in cards before.”

Trend setters: “Our customers do love a sweary card... our own brand Happy F*cking Birthday Card is a best seller. We also sell a card promoting/sticking up for a local controversial statue - also one of our best sellers.”

Just for laughs: “Sarcasm is what makes me laugh most. Have I Got News for you is a TV fave. I’m too much of a realist for slapstick comedy!”

Left: Ohh Deer’s Twin Pines range is sky-high in customers’ humour tastes.

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

Right: Redback’s ranges are smashing it for SNAP – a design from its Holy Flaps collection.

Bottom right: Pheasant Plucker is a favourite at Creased.

Helen Fisher, owner of SNAP, Bow, London: Top titters: “Redback is currently smashing it for us - across the Cloud Nine, Good Things, Liz Climo and Holy Flaps ranges. The publisher’s contemporary, clean designs stand out on the shelves and the minimal style suits the shop. The jokes range from sweet to sarcastic (and sometimes sweary). All of them make customers laugh without being downright offensive or mean.”

Trend setters: “A lot of the current artwork out there (Twin Pines by Ohh Deer, Emily McDowell, people I’ve loved by 1973) suit my customers. They like casual, sarcastic humour (with a hint of darkness) that hits the mark without being naff or too stupid.”

Just for laughs: “I love great television that is a little bit dark and funny… from Peter Kay and Victoria Wood through to new stuff like Young Offenders, No Offence and the genius that is Fleabag - which is possibly one of the best comedies ever made!”

Paul Jarman, owner of Creased Cards, Brighton: Top titters: “Pheasant Plucker and Buddy Fernandez are some of our best humour card collections currently.

Both card ranges provide hilariously blunt humour that will certainly get you giggling. Of course, here at Creased, we also like a bit of edgy humour and Cardshit and Sweary Card Company are definitely holding their own. Both ranges include some pretty offensive and rude jokes/themes, so not for the faint-hearted!”

Trend setters: “More offensive and edgier humour continues to grow in

8-9.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:27 Page 3

Retailer Feedback popularity – we’ve noticed more and more suppliers branching out into this area. Even simple jokes which could easily be clean cards are beginning to turn rude - just because people absolutely love the shock factor!”

Just for laughs: “Here at Creased we love a hilariously rude or edgy joke on a mug or coaster. Super popular with us – and with customers!”

Above: A play on words from Cardshit.

Steph Lloyd, retail buyer for Utility, three stores in Liverpool, one in Manchester: Top titters: “Sooshichacha’s ranges are fun, cute and playful looking with a cheeky twist, and with on-trend pastel colours.

Redback Cards’ Holy Flaps range for a ruder sense of humour; the block lettering and bright envelopes help these stand out on our packed card wall.”

Trend setters: “Dean Morris’ tongue-in-cheek ranges continued to sell very well especially the ‘Birthday Kisses from Donald’.

We have recently added a couple of further ranges from Frankie Whistle – Words of Art, Cheese Balls & Bible Stories all of which are strong performers.

Rosie Made a Thing – especially the cards which refer to wine, prosecco or gin do well for women buying for friends, colleague or female relations.”

Just for laughs: “Bad Dad jokes always make us laugh in the office.”

Above: Dean Morris’ ‘The Donald’ design is a hit for Utility.

Above right: A new design from Rosie Made a Thing.

Nigel Hamilton-Evans, owner of The Well Good Card Shop (within Boroughbridge Post Office), Boroughbridge: Top titters: “Humour can be a funny category! What I find funny you might not. I do like a good pun or play on words. I stock a lot of different ranges from lots of different companies. The choice is key. Just a few of the ranges I stock are: retro – Danilo’s Enid Blyton range including The Famous Five, and Pigment’s Fleet Street (a really good general stock card range).

For contemporary worded cards – Redback’s Cloud Nine, Good Things and Holy Flaps ranges are all very strong, as is Really Good’s Stuff and Nonsense range.

For ‘make you smile ranges’Icon’s Life is Sweet and Every Picture, and Jelly n Bean’s Silly Zoo. For just bonkers ranges Tracks’ Fluff and Googlies. Tracks Above: One of Lanther Black’s Get Well designs.

Below left: The Famous Five range from Danilo have gone down a storm! has a great range across the board Below right: Furry and funny, a design from Track’s Fluff range. at very good prices.

For cartoon/ traditional ranges – Rainbow Cards’ (Ling Design) The Funny Side of Life range; Country Cards’ humour designs (not my personal taste, but they sell well).

Sweary/close to the knuckle - Do Something David and Lanther Black’s Sad Stickman. Swear Cards are, for obvious reasons, controversial. We do get some people objecting to them but they are always displayed near the top out of sight and reach of children. The fact is they sell.

If they didn't I wouldn't stock them.

Lanther Black has some great Christmas and occasions swear cards too.

Trying to get that perfect card for that one person can sometimes be a challenge.

Lanther Black's Get Well cards are brilliant.

Its ‘Well that was silly you clumsy twat!’ card was sent to a man who damaged his ribs falling onto a concrete gnome. Laughing with sore ribs is very painful... I think he went through a lot of pain that day!

Woodmansterne is my biggest and best humour supplier. Such variety - Genius, Spike Milligan, Loose Leashes and Truth Facts are just a few named ranges.

I recently created a dedicated ‘Wall of Humour’ in our new ‘Chuckle Room’ and sales have increased dramatically. I could also add about how to mix safe ranges with the more acquired taste ranges; why some humour publishers might be in my ‘Guest Beer’ category (a range that is only ordered once); the relevance of moving stock and the importance of knowing your stock inside out so as to match a card to your customers’ needs.”

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

9

ER-FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019 100.indd 4 06-07_10-11_Humour 2019.indd 10

23/04/2019 09:43 23/04/2019 17:47

ER-FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019 100.indd 5 06-07_10-11_Humour 2019.indd 11

23/04/2019 09:44 23/04/2019 17:47

12-13.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:21 Page 2

12

Cartoonists Spotlight

I n Comical Relief Funny life observations, ‘sculpted’ with pen, paper or tablet, is the craft of cartoonists, and often humour greeting cards are the comic carrier in which these imaginative perceptions are raised.

Focus On Humour asks a funny bunch of cartoonists published on cards what road they travelled to become a cartoonist, how they ‘draw’ inspiration for those eureka mirthful moments, and what makes them laugh.

Denise Dorrance, cartoonist of yummy mummy character Mimi, that appears in the Daily Mail’s YOU magazine, and recently published on cards by Mint Publishing: An illustrated path: “After a long career in magazines, I had a baby and started writing and illustrating little funny stories for him – a friend suggested I try doing cartoons...and Mimi was born. A modern mum with the world's cutest baby... nothing like me of course!

When I was about to publish my first book (It's All About Mimi) we did a lot of PR and the editor from YOU magazine got in touch; she loved Mimi so much that she wanted an exclusive cartoon just for them. Mimi was very popular, gathering an audience of fans on social media. Recently Mint Publishing has produced a big range of Mimi cards, which is very exciting!”

Comic discovery: “Oh I love eavesdropping on life around me. My local cafe is filled with yummy mummies who provide a lot of material. The funniest is when the Mum orders a babyccino just like she'd order one for herself - "Skimmed milk, not too much froth, no chocolate". And I actually overheard one mum say, "I'm looking for a pushchair that I don't have to push." I stole that line immediately!”

What tickles you?: “This is going to sound odd but Mimi really makes me laugh - she's so outrageous and I have such fun writing and drawing her.”

Above: Creator of Mimi, Denise Dorrance.

Left and above left: Yummy mummy observations on two of Denise’s Mimi designs published by Mint.

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

Chris McCoy, the illustrator behind Safely Endangered, with whom Ohh Deer has collaborated this year: An illustrated path: “My path has been an unusual one. I dropped out of university one year into an engineering course. After struggling to find a job, I spent more of my time doodling and eventually laid the foundations to my online comic series.

I always enjoyed drawing but had never pursued it as a potential career path. After I began publishing my comics online I received positive feedback, especially from the Tumblr community. Seeing other people enjoy my comics gave me all the enthusiasm I needed to carry on drawing!”

Comic discovery: “Most of my ideas are sketched out in my pad while relaxing at home. I draw just as many bad ideas as I do good Above left: Chris McCoy. ideas. Other times, an idea will Above: The Ohh Deer team, who publishes Chris’ simply click in my head following a artwork, says: "From a simple expression illustrated on a character's face, to witty oneconversation, event or while liners, Chris from Safely Endangered has us in stitches with his range of greeting cards. Chris' consuming any kind of media. My secret to a winning comic is to "include a dog"." girlfriend and I have a silly sense of humour and some of the best ideas occur from us trying to make each other laugh.”

What tickles you?: “Basically anything that Creed says in The Office.''

Corrina Rothwell, published on cards by Really Good: An illustrated path: “One of my favourite books as a child was A Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear. Maybe because of this, and the fact that I was an only child with an active imagination, I've always had daft things popping into my head. In my twenties, I started Above: Corrina Rothwell says she always has daft things popping into her head. embroidering pictures with funny captions. Over time these evolved into card designs.”

Comic discovery: “Some of my designs have been around in my head for a really long time. 'Coarse Fishing' was conceived as a joke I made about 25 years ago! I only turned it into a card design recently. Occasionally I will have an idea just

12-13.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:21 Page 3

Cartoonists Spotlight pop into my head that makes me laugh out loud.

A lot of designs are born from noticing things about my own life and behaviour, or observing other people. There are definitely periods of time where my mind is more 'fertile' and produces lots of ideas.”

What tickles you?: “Since I heard Ivor Cutler on John Peel as a teenager, I have never ceased to find him deeply funny. I love daft, irreverent, dark humour – Smack The Pony, Green Wing, Father Ted. Modern Toss made me cry when I first read it, standing in a book shop!”

Above and left: ‘Cat rage’ and Course Fishing’ are just two of Corrina’s illustrations published by Really Good.

Michael Hirstwood, published on cards by The Great British Card Company (GBCC): An illustrated path: “As a boy I spent countless hours copying cartoons from comics such as Whizzer And Chips, my constant doodling often led to a rap on the knuckle from my math teacher who tried in vain to teach me algebra, which just made my brain fizz.

After leaving school I was lucky enough to get on a YTS scheme in a little cartoon studio, which gave me great experience and also led to a job in a greeting card studio. After a few years I eventually went freelance and I am still plugging away 25 years on.”

Comic discovery: “As well as experimenting with different looks and styles, I love coming up with a germ of an idea and taking it from the initial sketch stage to the final artwork. The ideas normally come when I’m away from my desk, and quite a lot of them when I’m out on my bike in the middle of nowhere!”

What tickles you?: “Everyday situations are my inspiration and I’ve always been a fan of the great British sitcom, such as Steptoe And Son, up to recent ones like Motherland and Bad Move.

These days however, I get my biggest laughs from my two little boys and the things they come out with.”

Top: Mick Hirstwood finding inspiration.

Left and above left: Two designs created by Mick, published by GBCC.

13

The Surreal McCoy, published on cards by Cath Tate Cards: An illustrated path: “I became an accidental cartoonist while doodling away the hours on a long bus journey on tour across America (I’m also a musician). People seemed to find the results funny so when I got back home I started sending a portfolio of my work around. I was lucky enough to have my first cartoon published by the Independent newspaper and was given a regular feature in the Fortean Times. Since then my work has been published in a wide variety of places from the New Yorker to the Spectator to the Sunday Times, and my first graphic memoir The Wolf of Baghdad will be published in early 2020

by Myriad Editions.

Having my cartoons turned into Cath Tate greeting cards was a major ambition fulfilled.”

Comic discovery: “Taking a sideways look at the normal; the absurd is around us all the time. Also eavesdropping and then mishearing the conversations.”

Top: The Surreal McCoy. What tickles you?: “The Marx Above left and above: Funny observations from The Surreal McCoy on cards by Cath Tate.

Brothers, yodelling, Twiglets.”

Katie Cullen, director and doodler for Kate Abey Design: An illustrated path: “I started doing an illustration every day to build up my confidence. I found this helped me massively with getting quicker and taking the pressure out of what I was drawing as it just felt like fun.

I found that animals were my favourite thing to draw, I especially love making them look perturbed or like they are a bit awkward and don't really want to be there.”

Comic discovery: “I find that I usually the most ideas come to me whenever I make an effort to step away from work to recharge for a bit. It’s like my brain needs the break to re-function.”

What tickles you?: “My weirdo friends and family always make me laugh more than anything. And my cat, just trying to be a cat can sometimes be the most hilarious thing to witness.

He is the clumsiest cat in existence and often misjudges the height of where he wants to jump to or stares at nothingness bless him!”

Top: Katie Cullen, doodler of Kate Abey.

Above left and right: Animals in out of context situations are one of the main themes of Kate Abey Designs’ cards.

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

NFERW OM

rinks... d y a d h t r i b rning af ter

The mo

to be a g in o g s y a was alw 14-15_Humour 2019.indd 1

struggle!

23/04/2019 18:01

: H G U A L E LY MAKE M

L A E R T A H T S G N I H T O “TW

S D R A C R U O M U H T N i E h d n M a G G I p ” S E T O U Q E K A and F 098 423 520 1 0 N O A L LY PHONE S K C A M P I O N S .C O SAMPLE T C E U E D R F O R FOR A GMENTP W W W .P I

14-15_Humour 2019.indd 2

23/04/2019 18:01

16_Humour 2019.indd 1

24/04/2019 13:32

17-19.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:01 Page 1

New Humour Card Launches

17

Wise Cracks With a giggle and a grin, Focus On Humour showcases a cracking bunch of tickling humour card launches. l Pigment’s B is for Badass range

has arrived to lead the laugh parade with equal parts sarcasm, silliness and sass. This hullaballoo collection of shimmering flitter and misfit toys creates a world of pure madness, perfect for your sassy pants to send exactly what you want to say. With original sends including, ‘Better grab my dumbrella, it’s really stupid out there today’ and ‘Hakuna ma’vodka’, have a laugh – but more importantly, share a laugh – with B is for Badass, adult greetings for your inner child… because nothing says Happy Birthday like a parade of fruity, smartass, misfit toys. l Punt Ass Stick is a brand new

range of funny punny Birthday cards from Objectables. Maybe they’re the punniest cards ever made. Most cards settle for one or two puns but Objectables’ most puntastic card contains a massive 28 puns! That’s a lot of puns per pound. There are nine cards in the initial range, covering birthday and milestone birthday. And if it’s just too punny for some to figure out, there’s a translation on the back. They come in a cellobag with a lovely lemon-yellow envelope. l The Buddy Fernandez team state

that they can’t draw, and yet they’ve now done some illustration cards. The range is called Bad Drawings, which is appropriate: ‘But we’ve sold quite a few and they’re a bit different, sometimes cheeky, and occasionally just random.’ The cards are 155mm square, including the recycled envelope, and they’re printed on lovely uncoated paper and cellowrapped. There are 18 cards in the range so far, with some specific to romance and Valentine’s Day. l New from Holy Mackerel is its ‘Frankly my dear’ range

featuring warm, witty, (but not necessarily wise!) words. You’ll find cards for wine drinkers, gin lovers and knitters in the

collection, and a host of birthday cards perfect for anyone growing old disgracefully. Printed in the UK, on a beautiful hammered board, the 24 designs are 150mm square, and come cellowrapped with a metallic silver envelope. l Inspired by the popular party game

‘Cards Against Humanity’, Carte Blanche’s Cards For Horrible People range is unashamedly rude, crude and socially unacceptable! In both its sentiment and its appearance, these cards are blunt and to the point. Be honest, say how it is, and actually share a proper laugh with a card that holds a completely different appeal to anything else in the market.

Guaranteed to be adored by some, despised by others, but don’t be sorry, these cards are for horrible people. l London-based print house, Divine

Savages, has released its new collection of humour cards. In its trademark decadent style, you can expect more sass and more glamour across its intricately illustrated greeting cards. With many cards featuring hot gold foiling, these latest additions evoke a sense of ornate design but on closer inspection provide a cheeky greeting card, perfect for birthdays and everyday.

Choose from Wine Vultures, Love You More Than Cheese and Bad Influence for that perfect, yet bold card choice. l Frankie Whistle’s Post Age

range features eight postage stamp parodies for all the big birthdays, from 18 to 80. The humble stamp was just begging for a make-over to bring a smile to everyone’s face, from the sulkiest teenager to the most glamorous gran, with ages instead of prices and our gracious Majesty getting up to all sorts of hat and party related antics. The cards are printed on lovely textured white board and come with brown eco kraft envelopes.

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

17-19.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:02 Page 2

18

New Humour Card Launches l Cheeky Chops Cards claim to be

l Oliver Preston is bringing out new

‘The cheekiest cards ever!’ With over 500 designs in its ranges covering birthday, anniversary, new baby, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter and divorce. There are two size formats available, all come cellowrapped with a brightly coloured envelope. Available for trade: www.cheekychopstrade.co.uk. l Graphic Humour has just launched

two new ranges - Just Joking and Mixed Nuts. Just Joking is an exciting new 3-fold range of 12 designs which fold together into a code 50 size. All created in-house using a modern vector-style look, which is very popular now across many media platforms. And Mixed Nuts is also a modern looking code 50 range of 48 designs, each individually wrapped and again the use of vector-style artwork is prevalent along with a mixture of retro-style looks. These new ranges are available from April at your local greeting card distributor. l idonotcareds’ new Sport range is based around the gentle mockery of sporting pastimes, and features digital collages of ostensibly normal but actually ridiculous sporting scenes. The range was inspired in part by cards the founder of idonotcareds received as a child that had, for example, a drawing of a football on them, accompanied by the word ‘football’. “In 2019, we have to strive for something better,” he says.

Inside: ‘My absolute pet hate is people who feed their dogs at the table.’

cards for his humour range, which he will be launching at PG Live. His distinctive stylish drawings cover town and country themes and have a popular following - from tennis, skiing, the seaside, and drink, to Brexit, dogs, grandparents and commuting. They are very funny, and a range of cards that show off the best of British humour - a must for shops that want a reliable staple for their humour range!

l Ohh Deer is super excited to have

launched over 100 new greeting cards this year, including 'Say Cheese' - available in square or A6 format, the photographic collection features Instagram famous faces such as Mr Pokee the hedgehog; 'You've Earned It' is a woven iron-on patch card collection reminiscent of our Scout or Brownie days, with a split of eight naughty and eight nice cards; And Technically Ron is a bold and bright range of eight A6 size cards that guarantee laughter and relatability. l Twizler has launched 12 new

additional cards to its ever-popular Canine Humour range! Now with over 100 cards to choose from in this range, there really is something for everyone. Each card comes with a matching red envelope and is individually cellowrapped. l La la land is a place we all end up

l Kiss Me Kwik’s Reece

Wetherspoons design and its Ladybird Coffee or Tea? design are just two of the new additions just launched into its current and ever-popular Ladybird and kissmekwik ranges. And there will be loads more in the pipeline for PG Live in June when KMK will be celebrating its 21st birthday! l Slice of

Life is a series of light-hearted greetings from Saffron Cards (Ling Design), each one offering a cheeky bread-based pun. This new release offers a topical new avocado toast design and adds a donut or two, for a fresh take on the wheat-friendly theme. Also new from Saffron is Pun-tastic, a range of ingenious pun-based illustrations which you can’t help but smile at.

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

sometimes. Paperlink’s brand new La La Land humour range features bright neon, glossy spot UV and strong graphics.

Focusing on the subjects that we all identify with in the modern world; work, drink, food, kids and friends, there are nine designs with a white envelope. l For Camilla & Rose it was time to give

the girls a facelift, a boob job would have helped but we had to keep costs down! Instead, Peartree Heybridge opted for a more contemporary square shape, black and white drawings, black and gold text and a dark grey spotty envelope style. The end result is a fresher more youth look! Peartree has also expanded and strengthened it humour selection within its Sarah Boddy, Hareington’s, Fowl & Wacky and Snapshots collections.

17-19.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 16:02 Page 3

New Humour Card Launches l Really Good’s Animalyser

range features 28 popping party animals that definitely stand out from the crowd with quirky animals and enhanced with gold foil captions.

Meanwhile, The Stuff & Nonsense range is 22 hilarious illustrated cards by Corrina Rothwell laughing at everyday activities. Whilst ‘Evolution’ is a new humour range from Soul by illustrator David Luff, a collection with lots to giggle about.

Tate Cards. Veronica’s Terrific Humans range covers everything from pyjama wearing to Christmas with kids and everything in-between! There are seven new everyday designs in the range as well as six new Christmas designs. l Fun and fabulous are the

watchwords of UK Greetings’ Bird & Quill, a stylish new contemporary humour range of nine designs. An endearingly naïve illustration style is combined with cheery, witty edit to create a simple yet sophisticated look that’s just perfect for today’s market.

l Redback’s bold humour range Holy

Flaps has got everybody talking! The range has been thriving since its Best Humour Award win at The Henries last year. With that in mind, Redback has just launched a flurry of new designs.

‘Do not Blink’ and ‘Exhausted’ are great examples of Holy Flaps’ witty observations. A striking neon envelope and straight-talking thermography really make them pop on the shelf!

There are now over 50 designs in this range with more launching at PG Live.

19

l David Black was one half of the

Daily Mirror’s successful cartoon pairing Kerber & Black. He launched Do Something David in June 2018 when after leaving the Mirror and living off the memories David’s wife made it quite clear; ‘Do something David or I’m f*****g leaving you!’. Do Something David offers a range of edgy humour cards and giftware. View the full range at www.dosomethingdavid.com.

l Tillovision is moving on from its

bestselling Mungo And Shoddy range with A Bit More Mungo And Shoddy.

This time they’re a bit more rude, a bit more experimental and hopefully even funnier! There are about 30 cards in the range at the moment, and new ones are added all the time.

The cards are 120mm x 170mm in size and come with a rather nice lemon yellow envelope. l This year marks the 20th

Anniversary of Tracks and what better way to celebrate than launch a fantastic humour range! ‘HUMOURus’ is a collection of 48 designs. These blank cards give you something to titter about when reading them and we know they are what people are really thinking. They are wrapped and come with a gunpowder grey envelope. l Cath Tate Cards has launched more

designs from the mind of illustrator Veronica Dearly. Veronica’s understated sense of humour and real life observation is a perfect match for Cath

l The Great British Card

Company’s forthcoming humour range, Glow, is a topical slice of sarcasm beautifully presented in glowing neon inks. “Your Head Says Gym But Your Heart Says Gin!” is a great example in a range that strives to stretch GBCC’s current company humour boundaries to provide relevance in today’s world. Simple but effective design, Glow features 16 5”x 7” designs featuring neon inks printed on a Veltique art board at code HH, unwrapped with a white envelope. Glow should really ping off the shelves! l Made by Shannon

is a small independent business run by Shannon Murphy in her boutique studio in West Yorkshire.

She aims to create products that are sustainable, ethical produced and also bring joy and laughter to the people who buy and receive them. All the cards are A6, blank on the inside, accompanied with a recycled envelope, in a compostable cellophane bag.

FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

Please Contact us for product samples, a brochure or to arrange a visit from one of our wonderful sales team!

20_Humour 2019.indd 1

24/04/2019 13:37

21-23.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 15:47 Page 1

Topical Humour

21

Topical Tastes There has recently been a wave of current social, cultural and edible changes and trends washing the shores of our lives. Vegetarianism and veganism, #metoo, environmental issues, streaming TV, Brexit and the witter feed of Donald Trump, but how are humour cards engaging with and reflecting these topical tastes?

Straight from the hilarity hot-desk, a ‘source’ of humour card publishers report in on some of the funny changes afoot.

“One of the most brilliant things about the greeting card industry is just how responsive we can be to cultural and social trends, and these days you need to be!” observes Capella Andrean, designer for Redback Cards. “Cards that reflect customers’ interests and the world around them are hugely popular, whether it be food intolerances, active wear, Love Island or Trump!”

Since the internet appeared in 1997, social media has grown and evolved, with currently over 3 billion users worldwide, so it’s easy to perceive how quickly trends can go viral and make a societal bearing, and reflected via an amusing and warped mirror on to humour designs.

“Redback strives to be socially aware and love that its humour ranges reflect this. There is definitely a sense of empowerment among its latest humour ranges; cards that poke fun at themselves, modern life and our many, many, many human failings!” says Capella.

And with humour cards manifesting the current world we live in, Divine Savages is finding that it is catering more to the demand of niche groups or ‘tribes’.

“With the impact of social media on all of our lives it’s so easy to seek out people with similar/opposing interests, hobbies, lifestyles, dare we say it, political allegiances. We’ve seen

a rise in popular culture references, and obviously Brexit and Trump are easy to poke fun at,” noted the publisher’s founder, Jamie Watkins.

One of Jamie’s most popular humour cards is its ‘Gluten Regrets’ card, “Which has really surprised us; designing a card that speaks to just one part of the market seemed risky, but that smaller group have really embraced and shared it within their online communities. It’s really got us thinking what other so-called niche groups could we design for? Watch this space!”

With advancing technology, graphic software and digital printing it’s quicker than ever to reflect these niche trends in the humour greeting card market.

Stuart Caldwell, managing director for Splimple, recognises that the increasing cost-effectiveness of short-run digital printing is giving card publishers more scope to be topical with humour.

Top: The current Van Gogh exhibition at the Tate “We can speculate on a small Britain is spotlighted by Rumble Cards. print run relating to something that’s Above: Feeling bloated – the Gluten Regrets design from Divine Savages. in the news without the risk of being Below left: Picking up and poking at the health-kick on a Holy Flaps from Redback. stuck with obsolete stock when the Below right: A new Note To Self card from Splimple.

Bottom: For Brexity mums and dads, the Vote Leave news agenda moves on. Hence we card from Buddy Fernandez. released our ‘Donald Trump/Boris Johnson’ card last autumn (which we’ve already reprinted twice), as well as our new Jeremy Corbyn card,” says Stuart.

Stuart also highlights how the digital printing option also allows him to be hyper-specific in creating designs for individual locations too, “such as our ‘Shakespeare’s lost birthday’ card that we produced for two customers in Stratford-on-Avon, but which has now gone national.”

And Michael Finker, founder of Frankie Whistle agrees: “With digital print allowing us to respond quickly to what’s in the news, we can take more risks on images that might be on trend for a slightly shorter period of time than usual. As a small publisher, there’s no commitment involved. We can think of something on a Monday and have it online the next day, and printed and in the shops in a week.”

Presently there a whole heap of hot topics to turn into something funny on humour greeting cards, particularly when it comes to Brexit and FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

21-23.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 15:47 Page 2

22

Topical Humour

Trump, but sometimes these things just write themselves!

“The current political situation is quite hard to parody, as nothing is more ridiculous than the actual news, or the fake news, depending on whether you’re a mentalist or not. But we’ve incorporated a few bits of relevant lunacy into some of our cards”, states Lee Rowlett, co-founder of Buddy Fernandez. “Our ‘Fake News’ birthday cards have gone down really well, as has the ‘Voted Leave’ card, which is handy for sending to the more Brexity parents! We also have a niche one based on Donald Trump saying ‘when he said he would, he meant he wouldn’t’. That orange bellend provides rich fodder for loads of comedy card companies. I’m convinced he has actually been created by one of us in the industry as part of an elaborate marketing campaign,” Lee jokes.

Top: A design from Dean Morris.

The unhinged ranting of US Above: One of Trump’s eloquent phrases is enshrined on a Holy Mackerel card.

President Trump on his witter feed are a Below right: Frankie Whistle ponders Donald Trumps’ sexist remarks and questionable IQ. humorous resource for card publishers, Below: A retro inspired design from Danilo’s after all he may be an offensive US Ladybird Books for Grown Ups range. leader who runs one of the biggest Western countries in the world but he is comedy gold for a treasure trove of jokes and bants for cards.

“With his eloquent speeches and profound comments on life, when it comes to humour cards Donald Trump is the president who keeps on giving. His “Highest level of special” remark has made it onto a Holy Mackerel anniversary card – who wouldn’t want to mark their

special occasion with it?” teases Katie Meeke, codirector for Holy Mackerel.

However, card comedians don't even have to look afar afield as the USA for daft politicians, with the TV box-set that is the ongoing bizarre Brexit turn of events.

“Following the huge success of our official Ladybird Books for Grown Ups FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

greeting card range, Danilo is publishing additional fun captions, including ‘The Story of Brexit’ design. Inspired by recent political events, it shows how retro style imagery can be effectively combined with modern day issues to create popular and amusing greeting card captions that we all can relate to,” highlights Claire Bates, Danilo’s marketing manger.

And from retro to new wave, Frankie Whistle’s Stuff and Nonsense range has some topical and satirical themes, but founder Michael Finker perceives these current trends as a way of enticing younger generations to send cards: “Jezza (Corbyn) in particular has sold incredibly well, particularly in urban areas like Liverpool and London. I think it’s a way of engaging better with the younger market with an offering that is topical, relevant, irreverent, funny, and links in with celebrity culture.”

As Generation Z-ers (born from 1995 onwards) are the main creative custodians Top: Sleep is the new partying – a Cath Tate design.

Above: One of KissMeKwik’s Ladybird cards. of online funny memes, at the Below: Topical titters on a GBCC vegan card. frontline of new social media, and with a healthy living and enlightened social view on the world, increasingly Gen Z notions are popping up on humour card designs.

“One trend we’ve noticed at Cath Tate Cards in the last few months is the rise of the ‘clean living’ humour card. Jokes about veganism, being gluten-free, going to bed early and not drinking! The anti-party card seems to be on the rise, with Millennials and Gen-Z-ers opting to stay home to watch Netflix, swapping the all night rave for a nice cuppa and early bedtime!” says company director Rosie Tate.

One of the recent trends which ‘smashed it’ both online, in restaurants and on humour cards, was the avocado. Picking up on puns, the avocado trend has come and stayed at Nocturnal Paper, who are all about putting what is #trending on a paper card.

“And now with Queen B (Beyonce) following a vegan lifestyle, it is only a matter of minutes before the rest of us join. In the meantime, to keep us all entertained we created some punny vegan inspired cards

21-23.qxp_Grid 18/04/2019 15:47 Page 3

Topical Humour for those friends that have already jumped on or those trying to jump on to the vegan trend. Cute food illustrations and puns make anyone chuckle and that is all we are trying to do!” says Meghna Jhuremalani, director of Nocturnal Paper.

And it’s not just Beyonce who is tapping into the phenomenal trend in all things vegetarian and vegan, Carte Blanche’s Violent Veg will enjoy a relaunch later in the year, ready to hit stores early 2020.

“Ahead of its meat-free facelift we’re delighted to offer a range of designs with brand new captions and best-selling images we’re sure fans will love.

Featuring risqué humour, a unique visual identity and a cast of anarchic vegetables, Violent Veg has timeless appeal,” reveals Carte Blanche’s marketing manager, Grace Elphinstone.

From anarchic carrots to inclusive legumes, when Richard Tillotson, founder of Tillovision Top: An avo-card-o card from Nocturnal Paper.

Right: Raising a vegan smile, a Tillovision design.

Left: Veg puns galore from Carte Blanche’s newly revamped Violent Veg range.

23

looked at creating a vegan card “a lot of the humour out there was either ridiculing or just downright hostile towards vegans, and I wanted to do something a bit more positive. And it’s printed using vegetable-based ink too!”

Richard insightfully adds, “We are in the social expression industry, so cards, and particularly humour cards, will inevitably reflect and comment on what’s happening in our society.

I try to feature an issue but not take sides, as I don’t want to alienate potential customers, and there’s too much divisiveness out there anyway.”

So with an infinite and everevolving hoard of topical and trending titters and word play to rummage through, diverse or new ‘tribes’ and with swift printing abilities, the humour card fraternity has never had such a wealth of comedic material to take to the greeting card stage… deliciously helped along by probiotic-enriched cornflakes and a tasty jackfruit curry.

orders@cathtatecar s ds.com ǦǨǦɊǮǬǭǧ ǨǧǬǬ

www w.trade.cathtatecarrds.com FOCUS ON HUMOUR 2019

Taking place on Tuesday 4 June and Wednesday 5 June 2019, the two-day show brings more than 230 exhibitors together in one place, letting you browse the big names, explore the rising talent and embrace your passion for cards.

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD “The best greeting card show!

I always really enjoy my day at PG Live and I feel very lucky to be part of such a wonderful industry. Everyone is so kind and welcoming and it is great seeing lots of new product and having the chance to chat with fellow cardies.”

Jo Sorrell, owner, CardieS

SHOW PREVIEW

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD RETURNS FOR 2019

Book Now To Be Sent

Your Free Show Preview www.progressivegreetingslive.com

OBC_Humour 2019.indd 1

PG Live 2019 Tuesday 4 - Wednesday 5 June Business Design Centre, London +44 (0) 1635 297070 www.progressivegreetingslive.com @PGLiveLondon

23/04/2019 17:53