Focus on Progressive Humour 2024

Joking around

Greeting cards are well known to boost the recipient’s mental health, and the funny ones give an extra giggle along the way.

The UK public’s seemingly unquenchable appetite for humorous greeting cards, in all their guises has seen the genre yet again top the sales growth charts, endorsed by the findings of the recent PG Retail Barometer with cardies revealing that humorous cards were the card category that showed the largest growth over the last year compared to the year previous. And with the cry ever loud for even more choice of humorous cards, this Focus On…Humour Cards special publication is packed full of new funnies which are chiming with the comedic tastes of today.

Brit laughs earn trophies

British humour triumphed in the US as Rosie Made A Thing and Ohh Deer both picked up awards in the Louies 2024.

Above

And as the publisher on the ground for the ceremony in San Francisco on 16 April, Rosie Harrison got to stride onto the stage twice to collect the trophies.

Organised by the American GCA, it was the 35th annual Louies Awards, which had 87 publishers as nominees across the 57 categories,

WHAT’S INSIDE?

Pages 3-9 News and Snippets

Developments within the humorous card camp.

Pages 12-15 Where Punditry Is At

A look at our love of the puntastic and puns’ prominence on cards.

Page 18-19 Humorous Henries

While publishers are entering this year’s Henries, PG glances back at the top funnies in last year’s industry awards.

Pages 20-21 Retailers’ Reactions

A handful of card retailers share what ranges are tickling their customers’ funny bone.

Pages 23-26 New Launches

Publishers share some of the new humorous cards that are set to bring a smile or two to faces.

trophy in my suitcase for the return journey. There’s a 50/50 chance of it making it home safely!”

Ohh Deer won Birthday Humorous $5.50 & Below category, with Rosie, distributed by Calypso Cards, taking Christmas/Seasonal Humorous $5.50 & Below.

with entries judged by a panel of 78 card publishers, retailers, sales representatives, and stationery industry leaders at seven regional hubs across the US to select 171 cards as finalists.

Ohh Deer co-founder and md Mark Callaby was very pleased with his wake-up call after the ceremony: “Sadly we couldn’t make the awards this year but I woke up to the news as Rosie – you know, the one who made a thing – kindly collected it on our behalf and let me know. She’s also been out celebrating for us!

“We’re very pleased to have won in a humour category again at the Louie Awards. Our laptop cat card from Ken The Cat is currently our bestselling card across the business.”

And from ’Frisco Rosie Made A Thing’s Rosie Harrison ’fessed up: “Lovely night at the Louies – I’m a little bit worse for wear but having a lovely little jolly over here with the UK gang. Made all the more fun with winning!

“I have also been engaged as Mark’s awards mule and will be chucking their

There were five other British winners, Pigeon Loft, Paper Engineering & Production; Roger La Borde, Print & Production; Paper Salad, distributed by Notes & Queries, Birthday General Above $5.50 and Thank You Above $5.50; and The Art File, Blank Card $5.50 & Below.

Today’s Titters

“Middle Mouse HQ is a big advocate for the Elis James & John Robins show on Radio 5 Live. These two comedians bring a fresh look to mental health issues and were a constant companion during lockdown. Talking about mental health in a new way has been a revelation, looking at issues like addiction and anxiety. John Robins is currently on Taskmaster and does have a greetings card link, as he hosted The Henries back in 2017!”

Bec Wright, owner, Middle Mouse

Above: The frustrations of modern technology feature in Lucilla Lavender’s portfolio.

right: Ever reflective of societal changes, of course air fryers star on greeting cards, such as this design by UKG.

Far left: Fun times at the Louies for Rosie and fellow Brit Chris Stanley of Redback Cards. Left and below: Award winning designs from Ohh Deer and Rosie Made a Thing.

The art of the joke

Bewilderbeest is taking its first foray into a licensed range, collaborating with somebody who is both professionally funny and handy with a paintbrush.

Dan Atkinson, of Artijoke, has worked on a new range of 12 designs for the publisher called Renaissance Vandalism, which will be launched on stand 109 on the Village Green at PG Live in June.

Dan, who describes himself as a stand-up comedian, comedy writer and paintmonger, started to make his own prints and cards using old paintings with modern captions which were spotted by Bewilderbeest founder Iain Hamilton “as being hilarious and unusual, and a great fit for my absurdity”.

Ian added: “The best thing about working with someone who has worked in comedy for a living is that even the ideas that don't make the range are still flippin' funny. There’s been a lot of laughter at Bewilderbeest HQ each time a flurry of new ideas is sent through.”

Today’s Titters

“These days laughter often arises from a mix of relatable situations, clever wordplay, and humour that reflects the quirks of modern life. Memes and internet culture play a big role with viral trends and inside jokes, resonating across online communities. Comedy that offers a fresh perspective on familiar topics along with sharp observations about society, politics, and navigating the complexities of modern relationships tends to hit the mark. Additionally, there’s a growing appreciation for diverse voices and inclusive humour that celebrates different experiences and perspectives. Whether it’s a witty one-liner, a hilarious sketch or a heart-warming moment, what makes us laugh today is as diverse and dynamic as the world we live in. Comedians like Joanne McNally, Katherine Ryan and Russell Howard draw inspiration for their material from technology, social media, politics, and from their own experiences of the absurdities of modern life.”

Card fit for a king

King Charles had a right royal laugh amid his health worries courtesy of greeting card publisher Pigment

One of the Harrogatebased company’s humour cards was featured in a new set of pictures and short video released by Buckingham Palace showing the missives the monarch received following his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

The Pigment card featured a dog with the caption: “At least you don’t have to wear a cone!” and was the work of the publisher’s designer Lisa Stalker, sold as a £9.99 large card through online retailer Moonpig

“There was a definite buzz in the office after seeing the press coverage,” designer Lisa said. “Just after the pictures appeared on the news, loads of text messages came flooding in. I still get excited when I see my card designs in a shop, so you can imagine I never expected this.”

'I'm so glad the king enjoyed it. That card is meant to make people smile and it's clearly succeeded.”

It was one of over 7,000 cards and messages received at the palace and shown in the video released on the official royal social media channels, which explained His Majesty was given a selection in his official daily red box of paperwork.

And the short video also had a message from the king thanking everyone who has taken the time to write, and adding: “Such kind thoughts are the greatest comfort and encouragement.”

With the picture of King Charles having a giggle at the card on the front pages of newspapers, including The Times as well as being featured on TV news programmes, the coverage also earned Pigment its own news story in the Daily Mail, explaining the background to the company run from studios in a converted stables, with 45 employees.

Pigment’s creative director Martin Powderly said the team were “absolutely delighted” at cheering up His Royal Highness and added: “Seeing the king holding one of our cards on the front pages of the national newspapers was certainly unexpected.

“This is a lovely story which really epitomises all that’s special about our industry – it’s genuinely our mission to help spread a bit of happiness with thoughtful, gentle humour. As card writers and designers we see ourselves as moment catchers and this moment is a particularly memorable one!”

Below: Designer Lisa Stalker was happy to make King Charles laugh.

Sarah Boddy, artist and Camilla & Rose creator

Top and above: Dan Atkinson’s cards are an absurd fit.

No objection to this move!

A shop move has given humour maestros Objectables a boost for 2024, with owners Tim and Annie Gould celebrating their third retailing home in Folkestone.

“When this unit became available we didn’t hesitate even though it was so much bigger than the shop and office we had,” Tim said. “We’ve been so lucky to have not only survived our first six years but to have flourished, and we were in no doubt that a bigger shop would work for us.”

It’s the publisher cum retailer’s third home in the pedestrianised cobbled creative quarter of the town’s Old High Street and four times the size of the last one, fully accessible and more visible, with good-sized office space to accommodate the publishing arm of the business so everything is back in one place.

With footfall in the town having “definitely increased post pandemic” Tim and Annie realised their old shop was just too small to take advantage of this, and he added: “Now our customer base has grown and, even though we’ve only moved 150 feet from our old shop, so many new people have discovered us.

“The response has been overwhelmingly amazing. We’re just blown away and in constant shock at how well things have gone and how busy we’ve been.”

The building used to be a restaurant and the couple plan to utilise the large outdoor area come the warmer weather, for now the adults and kids’ stationery, party games, funky accessories, colourful and silly gifts have been joined by Asian snacks and takeaway sushi.

“We started our shop absolutely without a plan.” Tim laughed, “the shop was a glorified studio to begin with but it has grown simply because people have liked what we’ve been offering. Obviously with more space we’ve changed what we sell but the core value is we buy things we like and try and keep it at an affordable price point.

“The most important skill we’ve learned as a retailer is just to be nice and helpful. Shopping in real shops is now a choice not a necessity, so make it a nice thing to do and a nice place to be and that’s half the battle won.”

Above: Dancing around the shop is now possible for Tim and Annie

Dead exciting

A brand-new range of Deadpool cards has been created by Hallmark which head of writing Ruth Turner-Blood said she’s “dead excited about”! Coming off the back of the muchanticipated Deadpool & Wolverine movie set to drop in July, they’re all editable on the Hallmark website so can be personalised with names to make them perfect for any Deadpool fan just in time for the new film’s release.

Above: Personalised fun for Deadpool fans.

A model hit

Sally Hunter is well known for her cute Humphrey’s Corner brand of children’s clothes in Mothercare which also featured on greeting cards range, but she’s now gone for something completely different with her new licensing deal with Emotional Rescue

“Model Family is the best-selling humour range we’ve done in the past couple of years, the retailers are struggling to keep it in stock,” Emo’s creative director Jennie Rutter explained.

“We like it because it offers something completely different to we’ve got in our portfolio and it’s an interesting way to present humour with the Plasticine models.”

Above: Jennie Rutter (right) loves Sally Hunter’s new range.

Today’s Titters

“For a humour publisher I’m actually quite a tough cookie on comedy and it can take a lot to make me laugh. Most of the things I find funny are random memes I stumble across when I’m scrolling X or Instagram first thing in the morning. One comedian I’ve discovered fairly recently is Nina Conti (pictured above) who does great things with ventriloquist dummy masks and unsuspecting members of the audience.”

Dean Morris, founder, Dean Morris Cards

NEW designs!

Laugh lots, live longer

Laughing really is the best medicine as a large study has shown women with a strong sense of humour do live longer despite illness – while mirthful men seem to be protected against infection.

The 15-year study looked at the link between sense of humour and mortality among 53,556 women and men in Norway, assessing the cognitive, social and affective components of humour using a validated questionnaire.

Examining death from specific conditions – heart disease, infection, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – the findings show that women with high scores on humour cognitive component were associated with 48% less risk of death from all causes, a 73% lower risk of death from heart disease and an 83% reduced risk of death from infection.

In men, a link was found only for the risk of death from infection, as those with high humour scores had a 74% reduced risk. The gender differences could be due to a slight decline in humour scores as the men aged, the authors suggest. No association was found for the social and affective components of humour.

Study co-author Sven Svebak, a professor emeritus of neuromedicine at the Norwegian University Of Science & Technology, said the cognitive component is a fairly stable aspect of personality and may influence the way individuals attribute meaning to everyday experiences.

He added that it may buffer against conflict in social interactions and overall stress, preventing the escalation of stress hormones, such as cortisol, which suppress immune functions when chronically elevated.

Although there is a genetic component that determines sense of humour, it is also developed through socialisation, with Sven stating: “I expect that children who lack adult models for the use of humour as a coping resource in the face of challenges are less likely to activate their sense of humour to cope with everyday life when they grow up,”

But the studies show that it doesn’t really matter if you had humourless childhood as people can learn to embrace the absurdity of life at any age.

Above and below: A laugh a day keeps the doctor away

Lucy Maggie licences to Greeti

Lucy Maggie has been working to licence out some of its designs, with the publisher’s founder Lucy Nicholson “really enjoying” working on a collection of humour-based leaving cards.

She’s now collaborating with Greeti, an online platform which facilitates virtual greeting cards that can be passed around a group such as an office for all colleagues to sign.

“I reached out to them directly asking if they ever worked with independent designers and they did, which was great,” Lucy explained. “They specifically asked for humorous leaving cards and I’ve always loved drawing animal characters so the ideas came to

Today’s Titters

“Thankfully the UK seems to retain its sense of humour despite all the codswallop that’s going on in the world. Impressively, the increasing roster at Edinburgh Fringe means we have a continual influx of comedy talent. I think, as nation, we need to laugh at the situations we’re in and good comedians always have way of highlighting the everyday in their various styles. At Brainbox Candy, we have many favourite comedians across broad styles. Olaf Falafel's Super Stupid Show (pictured above) is hilarious, Jimeoin, James Acaster, Joe Wilkinson, Jazz Emu – the list goes on but we also still absolutely adore the national treasure that is Bob Mortimer and miss deeply the genius that was Sean Lock.”

Ben Hickman, co-owner, Brainbox Candy

Punny Stuff

Puns are not rubbish as it’s definitely bin fun checking out all the puntastic stuff going on in the greeting card world as word play secures its place as a staple of greeting card humour. Here, PG hears from some publisher pundits.

Body parts, farts, poo and puns might be basic but they still make people laugh, and that means publishers are onto a winner with designs that mean these needs.

well. We’ve definitely hit a sweet spot and expanded them quite quickly.

“I drive Heidi, my wife and business partner mad with some really bad puns but at least it makes us laugh!”

For Bewilderbeest’s Iain Hamilton “puns are a major food group in the greeting card humour diet” even though he knows some people are put off by them and many are overused.

imagery to great effect, and it’s very popular with those who remember Cassio calculators, shellsuits, Space Invaders and the original Rubik’s Cube.

And Emotional Rescue’s creative director Jennie Rutter admitted: “Puns have always done well for us, we always think we’ve exhausted them until one of our writers does it again with a new one – my favourite new one is ‘Old cod-ger, it’s just a fish-ous rumour’!”

“It still tickles me, after 20 years, when customers stand in the shop and go from gentle tittering to full-on belly laughing at the cards,” commented Dominic Early, who sees things from both sides as Earlybird Designs is a publisher with its own retail shop in Stoke Newington. With that in mind, he’s just revisited one of his early pun card ranges and came up with a new neon Super Fab range featuring word play – and when the design featuring a “hap-penis” joke was picked by his 17-year-old son Oliver as one he’d send to his pals, Dom knew he was onto a winner.

“They’re pretty much on every order now,” he added, “not just birthday either but all the relations and occasions are as

However, Iain added: “Even if a pun only makes us groan, there’s still something about it that engages our brain in putting two and two together. My best argument for this is that we know the Christmas cracker joke is going to be a terrible pun, but we still read it out to the group, and everyone groans along together.

“I expect an early caveman made a poor pun about having a club sandwich, but whether there’ll still be puns 3,026 years from today remains to be seen. It’ll be 5050!”

At The Grey Earl, Jon Bishop definitely loves a pun with his Old Skool collection mixing the word play and 80s retro

The pun-ishment must fit the crime at Hallmark where head of brand marketing Jess Lovelace entered fully into the spirit: “Puns will always have a place in greeting card humour, they’re just so easy to send and so accessible for everyone! The key, of course, is making sure the pun is perfectly in sync with the purpose of the card.

Our Googly Grub range is all about food puns and, as far as we’re concerned, there’s

Left: Retro humour from The Grey Earl. Below left: Hallmark grubs up punny business. Below: One pun grew a whole Lucilla Lavender range.

Above: Bewilderbeest’s Iain Hamilton is a great punster. Above right: Lucy Nicholson has room for more at Lucy Maggie.

never bean a butter thyme for raisin a toast to a little punny business!”

Puns are still huge at Lucilla Lavender where Sam Fosbury explained: “Greeting cards work best when you get the joke quickly, and puns work incredibly well in this scenario. Just by changing the spelling of a word, or by taking it into a different context, you can open a whole new world of humour.”

The publisher even has a whole range based on a single pun, Human Bean features characters which are beans and bean-themed jokes like “Have the best birthday there's ever bean!”

“I believe puns continue to hold a special place in the realm of greetings humour, adding a playful twist to everyday interactions”, is artist and Camilla & Rose creator Sarah Boddy’s thinking on the subject, as she says puns often serve as the cornerstone to many designs, providing a humorous twist to traditional messages.

Sarah says puns have the “unique ability to create a shared moment of

laughter and connection” between the sender and recipient, adding: “When done well, they can evoke genuine amusement and warmth, making them an enduring feature of greetings humour.

“I don’t really work in puns, it’s more humorous analogy or metaphors so, as it’s a subject close to my heart and many women of my age, how about this one ‘menopause is like a roller coaster ride –except the roller coaster goes through a heatwave, then a blizzard, and occasionally stops for a snack break...or a nap’!”

a good pun and topical joke herself, on the card front she “loves nothing more than designing funny and quirky characters” using the expressions, illustration styles and playful scenes to make people laugh.

Poet And Painter usually has humour involved in its designs along with hand-drawn illustration and off-beat

There aren’t many puns at Middle Mouse but Flappy Birthday is a bestseller in its Roarsome – pardon the pun! –range, and founder Bec Wright admitted: “I really admire people that can think up funny puns that aren’t toe curling, and there’s so many great avocado and cat-based ones that work so well.”

colour, and director Lucy Creed isn’t averse to dropping in the odd bit of word play with her “I willy love you” card going straight on the bestsellers list after only being launched in January.

Today’s Titters

While we’re all still laughing at the same sort of scenarios, like forgetting things as we get older, the onslaught of new tech is providing a rich seam of new comedy. The rise of smart TVs is giving the baby boomers all sorts of issues with the TV remote controls! Which control is for which box? Which box do I need to switch on? Why isn't the light on the box coming on? Not to mention all the issues around online accounts and trying to remember passwords! These scenarios are ripe for humour and we expect to see this area of humour grow in the coming years. Samantha Fosbury, marketing and PR, Lucilla Lavender

At Abacus, there’s a slightly different viewpoint with studio manager Liz Ellis commenting: “We’ve moved away from puns, the market seemed saturated. Observing the world around us is key, taking everyday situations and injecting them with humour and wit is a great way to introduce laughter and lighten the mood.”

It’s the same at Type And Story where Niccy Iseman has released her Keepsakes collection as a love story to those joyful, nostalgic memories from the past – and slipped in a Nice Jugs tittersome Valentine’s design.

And Hotchpotch head of design Anna Price thinks the same even though she loves

“Keepsakes is very much inspired by cherished trinkets and relics you might discover in granny’s attic,” Niccy said, “Nice Jugs nods to the playful yet

Above: Sarah Boddy loves a playful twist.

Above right: A very flappy birthday from Middle Mouse.

Right: The dafter the better for UKG’s Hugh Raine.

Below: Gentle puns from Pink Pig.

Above: Poet And Painter’s willy good card. Left: An Earlybird design. Right: Sam Fosbury.

“Right now, I’m really into Taskmaster and am enjoying the Ted Lasso TV series (pictured above); it's simple and formulaic but it's always uplifting and has some silly jokes which always make me smile. I'm also laughing at the comedy that my nearly two-year-old daughter brings to the table. She comes out with some corkers! He's not new, but I am loving Joe Lycett's show Late Night Lycett – he cracks me up.”

sophisticated woman – who wouldn't want to receive a classy card like this on Valentine’s Day!”

“We’re finding our new cards featuring puns are popular,” Pink Pig’s founder Mabel Forsyth said “the humour is very gentle which we find works well for our customers – no rude cards here lol!

“And, coupled with the images of

reusable peel-off patches featuring animals, fun foods, or cute characters to add an extra layer of playfulness.”

The genre is definitely still strong at Stormy Knight where director Sarah Jackson said: “The classic ones are the best but we have some new very silly ones such as 'soil mates' featuring a pair of loved-up worms!”

Those wigglers are part of a new range ready for launch at PG Live, 11 years on from her original line up of cards which consisted of a lot of puns.

explained: “There are over 100 cards in the range now and, from a mix up over Chippendales to Yorick’s low-carb diet, they’re perfect for anyone who likes a dash of humour with their history.”

popular pastimes, hobbies and sports featuring fun female and male designs the Oneupmanship pun cards are doing well.”

They’re all about finding the fun in life at Redback where rigorous testing methods are employed or, as senior designer Luka Thorp explained: “Also known as ‘Hey, what do you think of this? I nearly wet myself’!

“Puns are our secret weapon when it comes to cards. Short, sharp, and downright hilarious, they pack a punch in just a few words. We especially love sneaking them into our Shine and Moji ranges, where they’re paired with our

“Puns on humour cards never get old and, as far as I’m concerned, the dafter and more convoluted they are, the better.” chuckled Hugh Raine, who’s on the UK Greetings humour team. “The parakeetamols design from our Comedy Wildlife range is a perfect example.”

Lucy Nicholson thinks there will always be room for a clever pun in the card industry – and has just dreamed up a series of new milestone age cards, with a few naughty ones in there, for her Lucy Maggie brand which have had a great reception in the trials.

There’s a grate set of cheesy puns and plenty of cracking Easter ones in Whale & Bird’s Don’t Quote Me On It collection, as coowner Jamie Macdonald asserted: “Everyone loves puns – you’ll probably even find some that you’ve never actually seen on a card before!”

Puns galore are mixed with national treasures from across the ages of science and literature in Holy Mackerel’s Funny Olde Worlde collection as co-owner Katie Meeke

Known for giving everyone the giggles, Brainbox Candy’s Ben Hickman is convinced puns are sewn into the fabric of British society: “Even when they’re a tad groany, they don’t seem to lose their charm with the general public. It’s always refreshing to see how different publishers approach puns and continually refresh and subvert them.”

And to prove that, while puns are as old as language itself, the art of great word play is not only alive but thriving, Ben added: “I heard a new one the other day which made me laugh – 'I've got two, maybe three Motown puns left in me, four tops’!”

What's so funny?

“I watch Live At The Apollo on TV but most of the comedians featured are established, they aren’t necessarily new. However, for many including millennials and Gen Z terrestrial television is no longer the mainstay, we have access to on-demand services such as Netflix and social media channels like TikTok and YouTube, therefore this opens opportunities and provides different sources of material. We have a local comedy club in our town which I go to occasionally, there are some great acts but there are also some that aren’t so good –I’m always the one panicking at the back, hoping that I’m not going to get picked on!”

Liz Ellis, studio manager, Abacus Cards and Clare Maddicott

Lucy Nicholson, owner, Lucy Maggie Designs

Above: Gentle puns from Pink Pig.

Above: Sophisticated yet playful at Type And Story. Left: Abi with Redback’s jawsome cards.

THE HENRIES HUMORISTS

Hear it from The Henries

The Best Humour Range is one of the most coveted of The Henries awards and as entries are being submitted for the 2024 awards, PG takes a look at the ranges that hit the funny bone in the 2023 awards. Due to a tie in votes, there were seven finalists in last year’s category from six publishers – Redback took the trophy with Holy Flaps, from Bewilderbeest’s Heard They’re Absurd, Piña Colada by Cath Tate Cards, Emotional Rescue’s Brushed Images, Gin & Frolics and Stroke Me from Rosie Made A Thing, and Woodmansterne’s They Can Talk.

Winning ways

Redback's bold and funny collection Holy Flaps has continued to thrive since clinching the Best Humour Range award at The Henries 2023 –the second year running the publisher came out top after its Zeppelinmoon took the honours in 2022.

Packed with clever quips and laugh-out-loud sentiments, the Holy Flaps designs sport sleek black thermography and eye-catching neon envelopes that scream “pick me!” from the shelf.

Senior designer Luka Thorp said: “Back in 2018, when Redback first teamed up with the mischievously hilarious Holy

Racing for the absurd

Bewilderbeest’s chief nitwit and founder Iain Hamilton uses his Heard They’re Absurd range as his creative outlet for all the things that he thinks are funny – even if not everyone else does!

Flaps crew, we knew we were on to something special. Fast forward to today, and the collab has not just won The Henries once, but twice!”

As Holy Flaps has fast become one of Redback's bestsellers, the team continually works on new ideas to keep the offering fresh. You can expect a bunch of hilarious new additions to hit the shelves this summer.

“There’s a lot of demand to continuously design cards for specific occasions like birthdays or Mother’s Day, and so on,” Iain explained, “but sometimes an idea is so stupid, daft, and absurd that I just have to draw it.

“Submarine Racing Finals is a perfect example. It’s clearly not for any particular occasion but, since The Henries last year, it seems to have hit the spot because it’s gone straight into our bestsellers.

I’m always having new ideas to add to the range, but I tend to add a couple every few months, rather than in large batches, so it’s a bit of an evolving beast. Some publishers are very organised with impressive range launches at specific times of the year, but I claim I take a measured approach and firmly prod new designs into the Heard They’re Absurd range throughout the year –basically, I’m slow at painting!

“If I’m honest, the Heard They’re Absurd cards are nearly always my favourite designs. I’d rather the joke be totally daft and funny, than be forced to fit the theme of a particular occasion.”

Above: Luka Thorp knew Holy Flaps was a winner.

Above: Redback’s md Chris Stanley (centre) with The Henries 2023 Best Humorous Range trophy (for its Holy Flaps range) which was presented to him by Chris Sharman of Herbert Walkers, the sponsor of this award category and host Pippa Evans.

Above: The dafter the joke the better for Iain Hamilton.

What’s so funny?

“For our laughs we go to Folkestone Comedy Club, especially to see resident compere Dan Atkinson! One (or more) of the Objectables team may (or may not) be married to Dan. What a small world it is.”

Joy Thomas, designer and admin, Objectables

If you like piña colada…

The Piña Colada range was born of Cath Tate Cards’ director Rosie Tate’s keenness to produce a new 70s-inspired humour range, with a retro colour palette and type face, the designs are brought very much into the 21st century by the humorous modern captions.

And she laughed: “When trying to think of a range name, we all agreed on Piña Colada as what’s more emblematic of the 70s than this classic cocktail! We also then had an ‘If you like piña coladas...’ earworm ringing in our ears for the whole day!”

The range that was launched at the start of 2023 comprises 23 birthday and occasions cards featuring embossed text, all printed in the UK on high quality 100% recycled board.

Rosie added: “The bestselling birthday card in the range is ‘In banana years you’re bread’, a great one for those of us feeling a little over ripe in the age department!

“The range has continued in popularity and we’re currently designing the next hilarious batch which will be ready for PG Live.”

Talk of the town

If you’ve ever wondered what animals would say if they could talk, Woodmansterne’s collaboration with US cartoonist Jimmy Craig gives an idea. His illustrations reflect what conversations Jimmy believes animals may have, with brilliant and hilarious results that have earned the range a Henries nomination for the second year running.

Taken from his popular internet comic They Can Talk, the greeting cards run from anarchic cats to cute but dim dogs as Jimmy Craig's fantastic comics show what pets and the creatures around are really thinking – probably!

The art of humour

Brushed Issues takes classic paintings and subverts them with modern humour, and Emotional Rescue’s creative director Jennie Rutter said: “We came up with the idea in the office while looking for an image to illustrate a joke.

“We found there were some great fine art images out that were screaming out to have a joke added, some of them were just naturally funny. We had so much fun writing for it, it was a real laugh out loud range, some simple, some clever.

One customer described it as ‘intelligent humour’, and Brushed Issues is doing really well in our independent customer base, so we’ve now started developing captions in the range.”

Double bubble daftness

Known for its on the button humour, Rosie Made A Thing was a double finalist, with both its classic Gin & Frolics collection as well as the newer Stoke Me range making the grade.

“Gin & Frolics range has been with us since time began,” founder and chief creative Rosie Harrison explained. “We keep it up to date with what’s going on in our racy, middleaged world.

“Most of us girls are now using phone torches to read menus, we grow the odd tomato and enjoy a scatter cushion or two. Wild swimming is cool now – who knew? – so we just pop it all on a card.

“Our Stroke Me range came about as a variation of some of my first cards which were simple black and white ink drawings. The Stroke Me humour is sillier than our normal stuff and it allows me to unleash my puerile side which I’m sure we all enjoy.”

Above: Rosie Tate took a retro vibe with Piña Colada.

Below: Jimmy Craig delves into the animal world.

Above: Modern meets classic with Emo’s Brushed Images.

Above and below: Rosie’s model old person agent Andy Fletcher with a Stroke Me bestseller and updated Ginn & Frolics humour.

Talk off the frown

Retailers are well positioned to know what’s hitting the funny bone for today’s consumers. PG asked a selection about what humour ranges are turning that frown upside down.

Winning ways

Carl Dunne, co-owner, Cards & Gifts Dronfield

“I’ve noticed a huge increase in this area and therefore have increased the space dedicated to it, to 10 feet of racking.

“Our highest sales are more on the naughty side with Dean Morris Cards, and we did get some from Brainbox Candy –our customers like The Cheeky Box and so do we!

Then a huge part is Words ’N’ Wishes and Emotional Rescue. These sell very fast, and recently we have the revamped collection from UK Greetings, again selling fast.

We stock also Second Nature, Cherry Orchard’s new Camilla & Rose collection, and Ling Design’s Rainbow. We have recently added a humour collection from Noel Tatt which is starting to sell well.

“Customers, we’ve noticed, are changing. It’s more so with cards for men, instead of buying an open card they’re going for humour.”

Flapping about heritage

Sandra Jervis, owner, Creative Cove, Lampeter

“Nothing makes my customers laugh more than the Holy Flaps range by Redback Cards! I have a whole stand of them positioned for people to see as they come in the shop, grabbing everyone's attention. Surprisingly, it's ladies in their 60s+ who let out more laughs than anyone else – I thought I'd get a few frowns! Everyone comments that they're funny because they're accurate!

Own brand hits the mark

Alan Auld, Comedy Card Company online retailer

“Rosie Made A Thing has always been popular with our customers, Woodmansterne also has a superb humorous selection at the moment as do Pigment, Redback, Paperlink, Cath Tate and Kiss Me Kwik to name a few.

“We stock approximately 50 different publishers, with different styles and types of humour. From cheeky captions to classic cartoons there’s such a lovely mix of humour available from the UK card publishers.

“After years of selling other publishers’ offerings, we have also starting designing some of our own cards. After a shaky start, our own range is now our bestseller, which has been a lovely surprise.

“The extra margin from the sales of our own cards has helped keep our business afloat during these turbulent times but it has also been huge fun and given us an extra interest in this wonderful industry.”

Above: Alan Auld has expanded its portfolio.

Today’s Titters

“Young comedians such as Mo Gilligan and Rosie Jones (pictured left) are on the rise and in the TV world new shows such as Avoidance and Boarders are set to be at the cutting edge of what’s funny. The summer will be a busy one in the sporting world, with the Paris Olympics and also Euro 2024 taking place in Germany, so expect plenty of football banter with both England and Scotland taking part.

Elections at home and abroad are likely to dominate the news.

Acknowledging that the news cycle seems to be very gloomy at present is the inspiration behind the following design from our Like & Share range.”

Dave Best, UK Greetings

“Brainbox Candy’s Heritage range is fab, featuring famous blue plaques. These are hilarious, customers like them, especially for the men. The ones on display are the tamer ones, birthdays, getting old and farts. There are other ones which can't be on display and go in their famous Cheeky Box.”

Left: Redback and a rude Brainbox Candy card make it for Sandra Jervis.

Above: Ling’s Rainbow (right) and Cherry Orchard’s Camilla & Rose cards make Carl Dunne smile.

Cheeky solution

Caroline Ranwell, owner, Hugs & Kisses, Tettenhall

“Our customers absolutely love humorous cards. We buy most of ours from just four companies.

Rosie Made A Thing sells so well for us they just seem to come up with such hilarious cards that we all can totally relate to, mainly aimed at drinking and getting old!

“For sauciness, our customers love the naughty and risqué cards that we buy from Dean Morris and Brainbox Candy. If I put these naughty cards on the shelf we get complaints but when Brainbox launched its Cheeky Box, it totally solved the problem!

“Dean Morris lives local to my shop so I know him quite well, the other day a couple of ladies were screaming with laughter at his cards so I sent him a video of them!

“I’ve stocked Paperlink since we opened and its cards sell consistently well for us, mostly Bottomline, Bestie and Wrinklies! Pigment is another winner for us, our bestselling ranges from them are Rib Ticklers, Riff Raff and Midget Gems.”

Loving a bit of whimsy

Sarah Holmes, owner, Pencil Me In, Elgin

“It may be controversial but I don't like puns. We have a few pun cards that slip through but I just don't find them funny.

“Funny ones for us are absolutely Objectablescustomers are standing laughing in front of the card wall while they read through them. Ohh Deer’s Ken The Cat is popular and gives customers a laugh while they also love the Whimsical text range from Ricicle Cards

“One of our own cards that we print in store is Happy F*cking birthday, rude but very, very popular.”

Below: Whimsical goes down well with customers but Sarah Holmes is not partial to puns.

Walk on the mild side

Heidi Hopkinson, Serendipity House, Kirkham

“It’s a difficult one with humour cards as it depends on the purchaser, so we have avoided humour too much – there are cards with profanities that I know we couldn’t have in our shop.

We love Rosie Made A Thing and some of the milder Brainbox Candy cards as our customers are definitely more sensitive.

“It’s nice to have lighthearted cards, but we worry about offending people, so we don’t take that risk.”

Today’s Titters

“Like everyone else, we’re loving the current series of Taskmaster (pictured below)! It’s good-natured, silly, humour and diverse cast of hilarious comedians never fail to entertain, and the bleeped version means it’s fun for all ages! Can’t wait for Junior Taskmaster later this year!”

Jess Lovelace, head of brand marketing, Hallmark

Taking the biscuit

Aga Marsden, co-owner, Highworth Emporium

“Definitely humour cards is a growing sector, and we can see it across the captions as well, including for mums, dads, husbands, etc.

“And it isn't a particular style that people go for, naughty humour, fun humour, they like it all. Rosie Made A Thing is selling well but for us Redback is the biggest one, especially for the younger generations - Zeppelinmoon is the one that is flying out. The design that features a tiger in the kitchen drinking all the wine is a real winner.

“We also do well Dandelion’s gentle humour as well as Traces Of Nuts and New Yorker from UK Greetings

“From what I’ve noticed, people aren’t sensitive to drinkingrelated designs at all – I have read about the young generation not drinking as much but I don't think we have those younger people here because everything alcohol-related seems to be actually still flying out!”

Above: No diet for Aga and Lorraine with Zeppelinmoon.

Above and right:

Caroline’s customers love Dean Morris, Rosie Made A Thing and Brainbox’s Cheeky Box.

Above and left: Heidi’s happier with the milder Rosie Made A Thing and Brainbox Candy offer.

Fresh funnies

While they do say ‘the old ones are the best ones’, people are always after a fresh giggle, whether it’s a completely new joke or an updated take on an old one. PG shares the spills of some of the latest releases.

Going big!

Dandelion Stationery is going big with its Crazy Cretaceous dinosaur designs in a larger format than any of the publisher’s existing cards.

Keeping with Dandelion’s gentle humour vibe these are perfect for dinosaur lovers of all ages with cards for birthdays, someone special, well done, and more – and all designed and printed in the UK.

Founder Jo Wilson has also released Kaboom, witty cards perfectly designed for those *eyeroll* teenage birthdays.

Birds fly high

Revealing a glimpse into the You’ve Got Pen On Your Face marriage, Frankie and Tom Nicholls’ latest Love Bird range was really popular for Valentine’s Day, as the two birds’ designs are great for any couple.

“Couples everywhere can relate to the amusingly honest messages,” Frankie laughed, with comments about stealing the duvet, pinching food off the plate, always being late, stacking the dishwasher, leaving the toilet seat up, and dropping clothes on the floor.

Classic cartoons

Original cartoons from Charles M Schulz feature on the latest release expanding Hype Associates’ Snoopy range from the publisher known for its licensed characters.

The characters from the perennially-popular Peanuts cartoons include the main man Charlie Brown and his best friend Linus, Lucy and her unrequited love interest Schroeder, and, of course then very intelligent beagle Snoopy and his little bird pal Woodstock.

Today’s Titters

I love going to see live comedy –it's one of my favourite evenings out! I’ve recently discovered George Lewis (pictured right) on Instagram and have booked tickets to see him in Bristol later this year – a lot of his comedy is aimed at parents with young kids so a lot of it is very relatable! I'm also a big fan of John Robbins who is on the new series of Taskmaster. He's a Bristolian comedian so I've seen him lots!

Sarah Jackson, director, Stormy Knight

Animal magic

Peanut is Hotchpotch’s new animal range. Head of design Anna Price is convinced “you’ll be clutching your belly in laughter with these hilarious characters”!

Finished with neon pink and red accents, along with kraft envelopes, the humour isn’t the only thing that stands out with this new range!

Just Your Type

Cath Tate Cards’ inaugural Betiobca range comprises 12 wry humour, quirky designs using playful typography and bold colours, with more promised for PG Live.

Working in collaboration with Betiobca Designs, the range features funny birthday and occasions cards all of which are printed in the UK on 100% recycled paper.

Words for the wise?

Warm, witty but not necessarily wise words make the latest Frankly My Dear… humour range from Holy Mackerel

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.

Co-owner Katie Meeke said: “Our current favourite is the Cold Water Swimming card – I think we all know someone it would be just perfect for!”

Keeping the fun coming

The humorists have been busy at UK Greetings, turning out no less than four new ranges to keep the funnies coming.

Believe The Type has a fresh new typography look, with a vivid colour palette and bold typeface showcasing sharp and witty editorial with a contemporary voice.

Today’s Titters

We love any kind of humour and love to see what’s emerging from the comedy scene. Comedy seems to be evolving, lots more variety in the types of comedy, which is fantastic. New subjects come and go, cost-of-living crisis, news articles, etc, but the golden oldies always continue to be at the top of our league tables.

Jennie Rutter, creative director, Emotional Rescue

The range includes references to the 90s nostalgia trend, as well as new takes on classic subject matters such as wine and gin.

All The Beast takes animal photo humour to a new dimension with eyecatching funny Photoshopped visuals that place zany animal characters in colourful surroundings.

The editorial is on point with bestselling themes including age gags and birthday references as well as some edgier content.

Like And Share features Risograph-inspired contemporary artwork on a white background which makes the range a real eye-magnet. As the name suggests, the humour in this look is very much up-to-the-minute and includes references to smartphones, air fryers and energy bills.

Finally, Sazzle is a fabulous new range with an emphasis on female-to-female humour, making it ideal to send to female friends or relations.

The designs feature fun and sassy illustrated characters with just the right amount of attitude, and relatable funnies about modern life on popular themes.

Flapping about

The Eleonora Arosio collection has been popular since Stormy Knight launched it in 2020, so director Sarah Jackson just keeps adding to it.

“We've learned that people like jokes involving bums and boobs,” Sarah said, “so have added some extra cards to appeal to those who share this cheeky sense of humour!

“Flappy birthday in particular made us snort when we first received the artwork, and we hope our stockists and their customers will have the same response.”

Giggles from Harold

The light-hearted Kicks And Giggles range from Clare Maddicott pokes fun at everyday life, portraying even the dullest situations in an amusing light-hearted way, with bold edgy illustrations of quirky animal characters.

It’s relatable humour, embracing the funny side of mundane tasks such as household chores, the natural aging process, life’s mishaps and even must have cooking appliances such as air fryers with satire.

Created using a minimal palette, bright pops of colour introduced by the character and caption speech bubbles are offset by the contrasting pale grey background which are used throughout.

And Clare Maddicott has also extended the long-running Harold’s Planet occasion and everyday designs from the talented Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar.

Known to millions through cards, books and mailouts, Harold has touched the lives and hearts of people all over the world and his antics continue to delight audiences as his life is played out through a wonderful and often bizarre set of scenarios.

Fauna funnies

Abacus Cards’ Rapture collection showcases an array of eclectic subjects including quirky animals teamed with gentle humour.

The captions work in partnership with amusing and playful photographic images, teasing about old age, class, partying and living life to the full, and the now extended range includes birthdays, blanks and milestone ages.

Minimal in design but heavyweight in philosophy, you can’t help but smile as you see how Harold views life, and reflects upon its ups and downs, obsessions, frustrations, and his love of red wine.

Quill Funny Business is a humorous, typographical range featuring relatable cheeky captions that focus on current trends, including miscommunication, difficulty of using social media, lifestyle changes and all the wonderful things that us people have to look forward to when ageing.

This range uses complementary colours with cleverly positioned captions for maximum effect, and each is finished with foiled and embossed captions, coupled with a fun, vibrant colour palette

Abacus also has the Happy As Larry rip-roaring, colourful creations with funny gags complementing images the quirky and often bizarre vintage photography.

The range uses comical satire to poke fun at overindulgence, online dating, alcohol consumption and the aging process.

Hysterical historical

Brainbox Candy launched its new humour range Heritage at Spring Fair, which is a twist on the beloved historical blue plaques, and it’s proved so popular new designs are already coming through.

“We had a lot of fun with these,” coowner Ben Hickman said, “and the range is beautifully embossed and varnished for a very tactile 3D effect. ”

“We have also collaborated with the amazing Hazel Bee, launching new illustrations in that collection and revamping the print processes, to feature a gorgeous new colour palette and an embossed finish.”

Love a cheeky chuckle

Everyday relatability is at the heart of Hallmark’s latest Funny Ha Ha collection, where hilarious illustrations bring witty observations about everyday situations to life.

Whether it’s the frustrations of putting up a tent, the dangers of being attacked by seagulls or the perils of misunderstanding the term ‘bottomless brunch’, you’re sure to find something you can relate to.

Hallmark’s been a big fan of furry friends for years, seeing a steady growth in popularity of cards to, from and featuring pets. And, with pet ownership rising significantly since the pandemic, pet cards have never been more important so Pet Real is a collection all about the joys of life with our favourite four-legged friends/begrudging cohabitants.

But the biggest source of humour in most people’s lives is everyday interactions with families and friends.

In the Couldn’t Make It Up collection, relationships and the strange quirks of the people we know and love – or tolerate! –are front and centre, gently poking fun at the daft foibles we all share.

As a nation, we seem to love all things naughty, with the thrill of the rude and risqué continuing to appeal to the silly side of us all.

A well-placed cheeky word can have audiences rolling in the aisles, but sometimes it’s even funnier to expect something rude and discover maybe it was you who was rude all along! Hallmark’s take is Rhyme Crime, a collection of funny verse cards that set you up to expect a very rude punchline only to swerve the other way at the last second and just about end up being perfectly pure and innocent instead.

When shoppers are browsing the card aisle for that perfect design, black and white photography is always a surefire hit, and Hallmark’s new Burn The Negatives is a laugh-out-loud collection of classic photo humour cards for someone who’s guaranteed to love a cheeky chuckle.

Strong characters

Middle Mouse’s Characterful range goes from strength to strength, now with over 90 famous faces in the range.

Latest designs include Captain Picard, Catherine Cawood from Happy Valley, Miss Marple and Magnum PI which join bestsellers including Blackadder, Han Solo, Basil Fawlty and Lady Viola from Downton Abbey – if you can’t find someone you’d like to see, get in touch with Bec Wright and she’ll add it to the to-do list!

Fab-u-lous!

Dean Morris Cards is welcoming over 20 new designs for PG Live in its popular Fabulous, Bubbles and Randoms ranges with one classic design brought back from retirement with an updated look.

Known for his naughty humour paired with retro photos, Dean has been doing his own thing very successfully for 25 years now.

It’s bin ages

Objectables launched its silly bin age cards earlier in the year and has had a fantastic response to the 12-strong range featuring pictures of, you guessed it, wheelie bins, so now the publisher is adding captions such as New Home.

“We’re so delighted with the name of the range too – It’s Bin Ages,” said staff member Joy, “one of our members of staff is from Manchester and it works best when she says it.

“The range has been really popular in our Folkestone shop, as well as with our wholesale customers all over the country. People called Sandra, Bert and Pauline really like them. We’re rather hoping people called Henry might be into them too – I mean we haven’t ever won a Henries award so we would be overjoyed if it was a load of crappy bins that got us closer to the dream!”

Ceramic silliness

Check out the newest range from Redback Cards, in the shape of Nosey Mungo. Featuring charming ceramic characters and puns from the talented Helen Burgess, these characters have got personality to spare.

With exaggerated features and animated expressions, the result is a playful menagerie, affectionately termed by Helen as “handmade ceramic silliness teamed with witty wordplay”.

Trio of extensions

There are brand-new additions to for three of Lucilla Lavender’s most popular humour ranges.

Birdiculous, Human Bean, and Pencil Me In have all been extended as the LL team continues to increase the number and range of artists the publisher works with to enable to creation of a wide choice of collections for retailers.

“PG Live was SO very good and we came away completely inspired. Everyone we saw brought their A game to the show. There was lots of inspiration, newness and clear points of difference between the stands. We came en masse as it’s such a great show and we see it as important for everyone to come along to see the publishers and all the new product they have been developing and are on working on.”

Sam Ody,

lead buying manager of everyday cards  for Tesco

absolutely the heart of our industry. It’s our absolute favourite show from both a publisher and retailer perspective. There’s everyone there who I love and want to talk to. We really feel looked after - the free tea and coffee, the free lunch, the drinks in the evening - all of these really make it stand out as a show. This kind of connection and community is absolutely priceless.”

Heidi Early, co-owner of Earlybird Designs in Stoke Newington

Tuesday 4 June – Wednesday 5 June Business Design Centre, London +44 (0) 7734 111633 www.progressivegreetingslive.com @PGLiveLondon #pglive2024

PG Live, as it always has such a great atmosphere – and this year’s event felt particularly inspiring and there really seemed to be excitement in the air! It was lovely to see so many card publishers under one roof, existing suppliers, as well as discovering some new ones. We came away excited and inspired, with a very long list of highlights – the product standard was so high!”

Hazel Walker, senior buyer of Waterstones