ON THE CARDS
Tis the season to be jolly, and with so much upset, mayhem and devastation in the world, embracing the full trappings of Christmas provides something of an uplift – that’s what the nation’s greeting card retailers are hoping, anyway.
There are some things that really are out of our control, certainly the raging wars, famines, and aftermath of natural disasters leave me feeling at a loss, overwhelmingly sad at the plight of millions of innocent people who will be hard pressed to have a merry Christmas.
Sure, all is not rosy on UK shores either, and the increased costs coming down the track will bite businesses in our sector in 2025, but we should not lose sight of what we as a community achieve at this time of year – 180 million human connections with the sending of Christmas cards.
I watched BBC Breakfast this morning with pride as Karen Wilson, owner of Paper Salad enthused the nation to send Christmas cards “because it means so much to receive something that someone has thought about; taken the time and trouble to buy and write.”
Music to my ears was the reaction from the studio presenter, Sally Nugent when she enthusiastically proclaimed: “Right, I’m inspired… I’m going to do all my Christmas cards today.”
Old King Cole (aka Sir Henry Cole) was not only a merry old soul, but in his creation of the Christmas card in 1843, he introduced a very special way of lifting the soul, reinforcing relationships and anchoring our fabulous industry.
May your mantlepieces be festooned with festive missives and retailers’ tills be jingling as we head towards the ‘big day’.
A very Merry Christmas to you all… see you in 2025!
Above: Interviewing Medici’s Tim Reynolds was a joy for PG’s Jakki Brown (see pages 32-33).
Right: PG’s Warren Lomax in elf mode, as part of the Cardmitment Challenge to promote Christmas cards.
Below : Paper Salad’s Karen Wilson (left) with BBC’s Nina Warhurst (2nd left) and GCA’s Amanda Fergusson being filmed for the BBC Breakfast programme.
7-15 News
All the latest happenings and developments in the trade.
16-17 Talking Shop
Glimmers Of Hope
David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi is in the full Christmas spirit.
18-19 Cardsharp
A Titan Of His Time
Cardsharp looks back at the remarkable life of Don Lewin, founder of Clintons and his significant contribution to the UK greeting card industry
21-25 Viewpoints
Copying Crisis
Confronting the sour taste of plagiarism in the greeting card sector.
26-31 Focus on Children’s Cards
Kidding Around
A deep delve into what’s currently capturing youngsters’ hearts on the greeting card front.
21 38
32-33 In Conversation With… Geoff Sanderson Jungle Drums
PG catches with creative maestro, Geoff Sanderson about how he is nurturing the next generation of greeting card designers.
35-37 Innovations
A host of new ranges and designs.
38-39 Retailer Up Close Tim-ely Showmanship
A joyous trip into the wonderland of Medici Gallery in London’s Kensington.
41 Art Source Amy-ing High
Artist and illustrator Amy Hodkin shares her creative story.
43-44 What’s Hot?
A trio of retailers lift the lid on their best-selling ranges.
45-55 Sources of Supply
Tracey Bearton Features Editor
Tracey Arnaud
TOP STORY
Golden Openings
Greetings retail boost for festive season
All out to clinch extra sales in the allimportant Golden Quarter, Utility, Cards Direct, Scribbler, Postmark and Cardfactory, are among the cardies who are going for it, opening 24 fresh new stores between them.
Having doubled the number of locations where Scribbler cards are available over the past year, boosted by its kiosk partnership with FujiFilm, the retailer has opened a store in Chester as well as in London’s Fulham Broadway and Clapham Junction.
The new openings give Scribbler 37 bricks-and-mortar stores plus there are 34 additional locations housing one of its kiosks, offering print-ondemand versions of its own-brand greetings designs.
Greetings retail giant Cardfactory is also forging ahead with the continuing store opening programme as no less than eight have been added to the portfolio over the last two months.
Taking it past the 1,060-store mark, Cardfactory stores can now be found in Aylesford, Bolton, Leeds, Lincoln, Manchester, Paisley and Prestwick as well as expanding in Ireland with a shop in Killarney.
Meanwhile Cards Direct is also pushing ahead with its expansion programme as the privately-owned Hemel Hempstead-based retailer now has 80 shops, thanks to the 11 opened since August.
Two stores in Hull were unveiled within three days of each other in the North Point Shopping Centre and Jameson Street, plus Doncaster, Guildford, Leeds, Newport, Scunthorpe and Telford.
And, just a couple of days after revealing the fresh look of the store at Kings Cross Station in London, Postmark opened the envelope on a brand-new outlet by the capital’s Liverpool Street Station.
The move takes the indie group to 15 stores under the direction of owners Mark and Leona Janson-Smith.
Mark said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have officially opened the doors to our lovely new shop in the Octagon Mall right next to Liverpool Street Station. Customers were happy to get a lungful of that brand new card shop smell – for us, we were just here having a little nap. It’s been a bit full-on!”
Up north, Utility is celebrating its 25th birthday with the 2 December opening of its newest gift store in Manchester’s Cross Street showcasing the best of the group’s gifts, greeting cards, homeware and fashion accessories.
It adds to the current five locations, with The Flint Showroom, Liverpool One, and Utility in Liverpool, as well as the Utility gift stores in Manchester’s University Green and Altrincham.
Glick on the move as Chris Bryan joins the team
Popular greeting card stalwart, Chris Bryan is joining Glick, as the company’s head of UK sales. Chris is to take up his new position in January, marking the start of a new chapter in his career, having spent 24 years working for Second Nature
“I haven’t felt this excited for a very long time,” Chris told PG. “I really can't wait to sink my teeth into my new role and be a part of the company’s next growth phase.”
Commenting, Glick’s managing director Becky Dobson said: “As both our UK sales and international exports have grown over the past two to three years, this appointment comes at a significant time for the company.”
The appointment means that Michelle Airth, who used to juggle UK national accounts with the company’s export customers will be able to concentrate on the international key accounts, with Chris looking after sales on the domestic side of the business.
Of his long tenure with Second Nature, Chris said: “Yes, 24 years is a long time with one company, but I learned so much from all the different roles that I held over the years. I thank Rod and Trevor Schrager [Second Nature’s co-founders] for the opportunities they gave me and business experience I gained. I learned so much from those two men.”
The news coincides with the company’s announced move to a new base in Batley, three times the size of the current Bradford premises.
Pam smashes the #Cardmitment Challenge
The dulcet tones of Pam Shipman, the star character in Gavin & Stacey TV show played by Alison Steadman resounded across social media channels as cardies embraced the #Cardmitment
Challenge, instigated by Heidi Early of Earlybird Designs as part of the GCA’s umbrella #Cardmitment campaign.
Seven days of telling everyone how fabulous greeting cards are, and how wonderful it is to send Christmas missives kicked off on 1 November, with a slew of funny reels from retailers and publishers using the voice of Pam, who loves the festive season so much and can’t see the point of a limited time showing off Christmas cards so sends all of hers at the start of November.
The lengthy list of Challenge participants included Pencil Me In, Earlybird Designs, Stationery Supplies, Austin & Co, Dean Morris Cards, Cards ’N’ Things, Cath Tate Cards, Ohh Deer, Hugs & Kisses, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Sincerely Yours, Grace Jackson Design, Paper Tiger, Letter Arty, Highworth Emporium, Studio Boketto, Holy Mackerel, The Art File, and Two For Joy
And cardie folk followed up with posts on the other challenges, such as sharing the reasons why you love sending cards, fanfaring fave card shops and sharing a keepsake Christmas card.
Above: Chris Bryan with a portrait by Paper Salad’s Karen Wilson that was presented to him at the end of his GCA presidential tenure.
Below left: Michelle Airth is now Glick’s global accounts manager.
Top: Scribbler’s new store in Chester. Above: Cardfactory’s new Preston store. Below left: Cards Direct’s Corby store is its 80th.
Above: Sean Austin of Austin & Co channelled his inner Pam.
Above right: Two for Joy posted a Be More Pam video.
NEW KIDS CARDS
Bright, fun and beautifully illustrated new children’s cards, shortlisted for ‘Best Children’s Range’ in The Henries 2024
‘Use
It Or Lose It’
GCA’s direct action to safeguard our postal service
‘Use it or lose it’ is the mantra of the direct action campaign the GCA launched to make the public, government and media fully aware of the threat to maintaining an affordable and reliable postal service.
The demonstrations at local post boxes by several GCA members followed Cardology co-owner David Falkner’s heavyweight action to ensure parliament got the message by being filmed carrying a three-stone (20kg/44lbs) cast iron post box from the company’s HQ near Croydon on public transport to Westminster.
The GCA’s PR team at Arena PR issued a press release to the media, fanfaring the action backed up by facts and figures, with a link to the video of David’s pilgrimage to parliament with his salient commentary.
As David eloquently states, ensuring that we maintain a reliable and affordable postal service doesn’t just matter to business. “The things we send in our post bind our communities together and keep our high streets intact,” stressed David, while holding the heavy post box in front of the Houses of Parliament.
While highlighting how it still only costs 85p to send a greeting card second class in the UK, the GCA and its members – largely SMEs including High Street retailers, designers, publishers, and printers – have kept up the pressure, vocalising concerns about recent significant first class stamp price rises and proposed reforms to Royal Mail's Universal Service Obligation, that could see second class
Spot the post box
Indie Jerry Brown calls for PO network transformation
Postmasters’ champion Jerry Brown has turned his attention to the network transformation project which caused PO incomes to plummet.
Jerry, who co-owns card and gift shops First Class Greetings (which also includes a post office) and Plum Green in Hadleigh with wife Debbie, believes this “is potentially just as big, if not bigger, than the Horizon scandal”.
deliveries chopped back to three, or even two, days each week.
The genteel direct action from the greeting card sector pre-empted the appearance of the Business Secretary and Post Office Minister at a select committee as well as the announcement from the BBC of how Royal Mail’s takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský’s EP Group was close to being finalised.
GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson said: “Business owners and customers alike need an affordable and reliable postal service across the UK – but Royal Mail and Ofcom’s plans could mean this is taken from them for good. Our members are concerned the planned shake-up of the service, which could happen without any parliamentary scrutiny, could create a further spiral of decline which could ultimately result in Royal Mail calling time on an affordable secondclass stamp.”
The GCA has featured this direct action campaign on a dedicated blog on its website.
Spotting post boxes has gone from a nerdy passion to part of her business for Two For Joy publisher and illustrator Louise Richardson, as she’s now incorporating them into her designs.
The Network Transformation (NT) project changed the way sub-postmasters like Jerry, who has run the Hadleigh post office for 20 years, were paid from a fixed salary to per transaction, slashing their income overnight while trying to move customers to use online services rather than going into the store.
Appearing on BBC’s Look East programme recently, Jerry and fellow sub-postmaster Chris Attridge, from Crick Post Office, told presenter Susie Fowler-Watt that the government had promised to put more work through POs via the NT project, such as speeding fines, and helping with Department Of Work And Pensions forms, but instead started pushing the Digital By Default strapline.
“Not only we didn't get the new work,” Jerry said, “they took all the old work away - things like pensions, the old Post Office card account where benefits were paid into and people had to come into a post office to collect those benefits, that went too. They said one thing and did the exact opposite.”
Calum Greenhow, ceo of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, has written to Secretary of State for Business and Trade the Rt Hon Jonathan Reynolds MP, to request “an immediate and urgent review of ongoing injustices and concerns relating to the treatment of postmasters” over the scheme.
After going viral back in the summer with her social media rant about the “shoddy craftsmanship” of the first Charles III post box to be unveiled, Louise realised she should put her passion to good use.
“Incorporating my love for post boxes, I'm
illustrating some of my favourites and, when they feature on a card, the back of the card will feature a little fact file about that style of post box,” Louise explained.
As she stresses, with over 115,000 post boxes across Britain, “each one quietly holds a piece of our history.”
Above: Cardology’s David Falkner and GCA’s Amanda Fergusson taking the protest to parliament.
Below: Post box protests from (top left clockwise)
Paper Salad’s Karen Wilson, Grace Jackson of Grace Jackson, Thortful’s Pip Heywood, and Bexy Boo’s Bex Hassett.
Above: Susie Fowler-Watt interviewed Jerry Brown on BBC Look East.
Left: Two For Joy’s new designs feature Louise’s post box passion. Above: Louise Richardson and one of her beloved post boxes.
Below: The Mr Bates v The Post Office TV series prompted a proper investigation into the Horizon scandal
Bug Art Beats Counterfeiters
Edwin James wins substantial compensation for publisher
David and Goliath stories do come true as publisher Bug Art has proved by securing a substantial compensation from online marketplace giants Amazon and Walmart for counterfeit products using its stolen images being sold on their respective platforms.
Thanks to UK-based law firm Edwin James IP, Bug Art, the business run by founder and creative director Jane Crowther and her sister Ann Crowther as financial director has been successful in taking on Chinese sellers.
Working solely with artists, Kingstonbased Edwin James has already achieved £27.64million ($35m) in compensation for 330 individuals since it started working on these cases, taking 52,000 “bad guys to court” in collaboration with US lawyers. The company specialises in stopping Far East counterfeit and recovering lost earnings on behalf of artists with no upfront costs.
“Edwin James has had great success in seeking compensation for us from Amazon and Walmart,” Jane told PG. “We've just received our first quarter’s payment, a six figure sum, with several hundred cases still pending – Temu’s next and possibly Meta to follow.”
dodgy sites. With no cost to ourselves, EJ said they were able with the help of US lawyers to take on the large marketplaces such as Amazon, Wish, AliExpress, Ebay and more recently Temu. They have started in the US and are planning to extend to the EU in 2025.”
In Bug Art’s case, most of the illegal products using its images “are clothing, cushions and bags –thankfully not cards,” reveals Jane.
The way it works is that, using Amazon US as an example, which has dozens of sellers using stolen Bug Art images, the US lawyers apply to the courts who contact Amazon to place a temporary restraining order on all those sellers.
The Nottingham based publisher is currently going through proceedings for around 1,800 products featuring unlicensed Bug Art images, with around half the cases settled so far.
“All of these products emanate from China and are advertised on Meta, Amazon, Walmart and Temu etc. It was a hopeless situation with seemingly, no way forward until a year ago, when Edwin James IP contacted us and said they’d seen a lot of our images on
Each seller has a positive cash balance in their Amazon account, and the platform has records of how many items were sold.
Jane added: “The seller negotiates an agreed amount of compensation or, if they don’t, all their frozen funds are taking from the Amazon account regardless of the number of products they’ve sold!”
As David Denholm, ceo of Edwin James elaborated: “We not only protect their intellectual property, we recover and return their lost earnings. However, we cannot promise anybody anything. Once we take a ‘bad guy’ to court and win, their account gets frozen, but it depends on how much is in there for us to retrieve. We take on all the costs whatever and then split the damages with the artist.”
Edwin James will work with artists on cases expected to amount to at least a $500 payout (£395).
www.edwinjamesip.com.
(See Viewpoints pages 24-27 for publishers’ copying horror stories)
McDaniels
Law’s download guide to beat Temu
copycats
The widespread blatant copying of publishers’ designs being sold on the Temu online platform shows little signs of abating. A seven-page takedown guide is now available for GCA members to download from the association’s website thanks to IP specialists McDaniels Law
The guide gives all the information in a step-by-step format for publishers and creatives to report infringements to the Chinese-owned online marketplace, and insist their plagiarised works are taken down. As well as drawing up the guide, GCA supplier member McDaniels has also offered a £360 plus VAT fixed price deal if its services are needed to deal with third-party sellers on the platform relisting copied products under different names.
Spreading the bad news
The copycat battle hit the BBC news recently, covering Welsh publisher Draenog’s success at getting Temu to remove owner Anwen Roberts’ copied designs from sale.
Anwen told the BBC it was a “massive shock" to see her work being sold online without her permission, and added: "It just breaks your heart a bit to know someone has used your work, put it out there and is potentially making money from something that I, as a small business, have created. They can just take hundreds of thousands of images, take them off the internet, create some text, do it really quickly and they miss out the bit of weeks and months and hours of working with small businesses like I do and putting a lot of time and energy in.”
Publishers Lola Design and Emily Nash Illustration have each asked their MPs to get involved to put measures in place to stem the IP theft from the likes of Temu and Shein while the GCA has also raised the matter to parliament.
Draenog’s
Above: The win is being plugged on social media.
Below left: Bug Art’s Jane Crowther and studio manager Mike Wright. Below right: Just one the products using stolen Bug Art images.
Above:
Anwen Roberts took the case to the BBC.
Right: Lola Design’s co-owners Frank and (right) Amanda Mountain with their local MP Rachael Maskell.
THE GLOBAL GREETING CARD GATHERING
Tuesday 3 June and Wednesday 4 June 2025 London’s Business Design Centre
An upbeat vibe, newness galore – and free refreshments, lunch and opening night party, PG Live 2025 is not to be missed! Over 170 fabulous companies have already booked their stands… and there are plenty more in the pipeline. PG Live has lots of great retailer fans…
“It’s such a great show, full of such wonderful products and not just from the established publishers. So good to see so many ‘newer’ publishers flourishing.”
Mark Janson-Smith,
managing director of Postmark
“What’s not to like about seeing the best publishers this industry has to offer along with new talent just starting out? There were so many exhibitors that caught my eye; there really was something there for every retailer.”
Andrea Pinder, owner Presentation Cards & Gifts, Barrowford
Don’t Miss Out… Book Your Free Tickets
Registration is now live at: www.progressivegreetingslive.com
Register now and be a part of it!
Call us on: (0) 7734 111633 or email: jimb@max-publishing.co.uk Follow us @PGLiveLondon
#pglive2023
“There was a real air of excitement and a great buzz to PG Live. As we continue to open more stores and cards are doing so well, it is a great opportunity to catch up with current suppliers and to be on the hunt for new.”
Kate Salmon, head of home and gift buying for Oliver Bonas
Want to know about exhibiting at PG Live 2025?
We have stand options available to suit all shapes and sizes, contact: Tracey Arnaud on 07957 212062 traceya@max-publishing.co.uk Warren Lomax on 07977 572086 warrenl@max-publishing.co.uk www.progressivegreetingslive.com
UK Public’s £1.51b Greeting Card Spend
‘Highly engaged’ card-centric consumers GCA’s report reflects
The British public remains “highly engaged” with greeting cards, with 94% of the population buying them, according to the recent-released GCA Market Report, with the positive data showing that sales of single cards are up, with over 80% of cards still being bought in bricks-and-mortar stores.
“The total retail value of single card sales in the UK grew to £1.51billion, up from £1.46bn the year before,” GCA president Darren Cave stated in the Report’s introduction. Highlighting the industry’s strength against many headwinds, Darren reinforced that “despite the economic uncertainty inflation, global conflict, and challenges with Royal Mail, the greeting card market proved resilient.”
The annual GCA Market Report, which provides an invaluable benchmark into the health and the wealth of the UK greeting card sector, covers the last year’s sales of everyday, Christmas, Spring Seasons events as well as relations, occasions and age cards, tracked both by value and volume.
The report certainly brings some welcome Christmas cheer, with Christmas singles holding steady, accounting for 11.7% of total retail value for all cards, while occasions, age and relations cards were up by 4% in value – as were birthday and blank cards, with virtually no change on volume versus the year prior.
The data confirms that the UK still sends significantly more greeting cards per capita than any other nation, showing that there was a 4% increase in the retail value of single card sales in the UK year on year, meaning an incredible 800million cards were bought by the public. While volumes are a smidgeon down (-1.9%), there’s good news for the High Street, with confirmation that online sales volumes fell from 10.9% of the total market to 9.8%.
As Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA highlighted: “The Report’s findings show how, after a slight dip in 2022, the industry is above 2021 levels by value in everyday, Christmas and Spring Seasons.”
The Report has also been expanded to track the sustainability progress from the greeting card publishing community. Some of the highlights of this part of the research shows how 82% have removed or reduced the plastic cellowrap from their cards, with this set to rise by another 5% in the coming two years. Some 84% have now ensured that their cards are entirely recyclable, while 70% have reviewed their supply chain for more sustainable options with another 14% pledging to do this over the next two years. While 50% have reduced their carbon footprint, another 27% see this as a real goal in the coming few years.
The report, which covers the period January to December 2023 is compiled from feedback provided directly by GCA publisher members, which is managed independently, confidentially and securely by awardwinning market data company
Echo Research
The Report is available free to download for the majority of GCA members while non-members can
IG Design Group profits drop
A drop in revenue has led to lower profits at IG Design Group, but revealing its figures for the six months to 30 September, the worldwide greeting card, stationery party and wrap giant is expecting to return to form in the second half of the financial year.
The interim results show that revenue fell from £353.31million ($444.1m) in the first half of the 2024 financial year, to £312.77m ($393.1m) in this period, causing a drop in operating profit from £30.39m ($38.2m) down to £11.69m ($14.7m) – pre-tax profit went down from ££27.69m ($34.8m) to £10.58m ($13.3m). Statutory operating profit, including one-off costs, fell 81% to £5.65m ($7.1m) after taking into account a £5.97m ($7.6m) charge related to the closure of its manufacturing site in China, and restructuring at the DG America business.
Chairman Stewart Gilliland commented: “We have made good progress throughout our turnaround, particularly as we remain on track to return margins to pre-pandemic levels and, although the broader conditions have perhaps become more difficult, our ambition has not abated.”
With its key products under the Celebrate banner including greeting cards, gift wrap, gift bags, Christmas crackers, partyware, stationery, and branded bags, company said the 11% sales drop was on the back of subdued customer demand “predominantly in the US, and somewhat in the UK and Australia”.
The report added that DG International, which contributes over a third of the group’s revenue, had experienced a 6% decline in revenue compared to the prior year, reflecting a continuation of the trends seen last year, “with growth from key customers in continental Europe helping to offset ongoing softness in the UK and Australian markets”. While volume was only slightly lower, pricing came under pressure.
Papier’s in the pink
Papier is in the pink as the stationery and card retailer instigated a guerilla advertising campaign in London. From Soho to Notting Hill, two styles of A3-sized pinkthemed posters have been plastered across the capital.
Papier’s brand marketing manager Matilda Kirwan posted on LinkedIn: “Our Papier posters have taken over London! The team have worked so hard to get everything ready in time for the festive season, but seeing the creativity and collaboration come to life in these iconic locations makes it all worth it.”
Above: The GCA Market Report shows good news on single cards. Below: GCA president Darren Cave at the recent AGM and Conference.
Above: IG Design Group covers every aspect of the celebrations industry. Below: The group’s shares have dropped following the interim results.
Right: The guerilla ad campaign is plastering London with pink poster.
TOP STORY
Charitable Cardies Raise £millions For Causes
Scribbler, Redback Cards, Cardfactory, Post Office and Cards Direct give back
The greeting card community has proven its generosity yet again by raising hundreds of thousands of £pounds for charities across the UK. From supporting research and help for cancer sufferers, tackling homelessness and end of life care, Cardfactory, Scribbler, Cards Direct, Post Office and Redback Cards are among those to have been doing their bit for charity.
Thanks to postmasters and counter collections, the Post Office handed out more than £1million to the recent Children In Need charity call out.
Below
Below
Meanwhile, Scribbler’s head of design, Aisling Crosland has recently returned from India following a five-day trek in the Himalayas where she’s raised £4,735 smashing her £3,600 target for the CoppaFeel! campaign.
Scribbler has been supporting CoppaFeel! (founded in 2009 by Kris Hallenga) for a number of years and Aisling signed up for the trek following Kris’ death in May this year – and the retailer is also donating 6.25% of sales from each Christmas card pack sold this year, with the same amount going to Creating Memories, a charity in Beds,
Bucks and Herts which fulfils the unique wishes of children with a life-limiting or terminal illness, and their families
Cardfactory is once again supported cancer care and support charity Macmillan, with customers and colleagues banding together recently in what the UK’s largest greeting card retailer called “an incredible weekend”. The social media post added: “Thanks to our amazing customers and fantastic colleagues, we’re thrilled to announce that we raised an astonishing £76,042.98 during our in-store Macmillan raffle.”
Helping beat cancer is an aim at Cards Direct, which has just completed the first year of a partnership with Cancer Research UK, as the retailer raising over £50,000 through various initiatives. Over at Redback Cards, the publisher turned the Black Friday sales madness to a good cause, with 10% of all Shine range sales over 29 November to 2 December going to Shekinah
Second anniversary InPress Workshop triumphs
“It is two years to the day that we held our very first InPress event, that have now been attended by over 100 different new publishers,” began Adam Short, managing director of the Imaging Centre digital print and fulfilment business addressing the latest InPress ‘graduates’ at the company’s Kent premises recently. “Our aim is to give you the best possible start as you embark on your respective greeting card publishing journeys – and we’ve had our first InPress Henries’ winner in Little Roglets, which has to be a good sign!”
Set out classroom style, the attendees of would-be and newbie publishers were treated to a series of engaging talks, videos and handson activities which involved insights into the industry’s workings, retailers’ considerations, publishers’ experiences as well as practical advice of key considerations when publishing greeting cards, from the envelope to the board selection to how to set a design up for print. Presentations and videos involved advice from envelope company Enveco, paper company
Speed Dating Dragons on fire for 27 February Bookings for the GCA’s Dragons Speed Dating 2025 event – taking at London’s Business Design Centre – has got off to a roaring start with half the 72 publisher slots already booked. And there’s a bonus this year as each retailer Dragon gets to choose one card company they definitely want to see, meaning the chosen ones will be able to present their designs to four shops.
“Our Dragons will be retailers ranging from large multiples, through to small groups and independents,” explained GCA marketing manager Adriana Lovesy, “and they come prepared with a cabin-sized suitcase to take home all the participating publishers’ samples!”
Things are already hotting up in the Den with Waterstones, Oliver Bonas, Lark, House of Cards and Utility, along with George’s of Whitstable, Highworth Emporium and Chirpy already confirmed as participating in the 2025 event with other retailers to be revealed shortly. And on the sponsors front, Loxleys and Envevo have stepped up as generous sponsors for the event.
There is a special earlybird price of £175 plus VAT until December 16, after which the regular ticket price is £195 plus VAT.
Above: House of Cards’ Miles Robinson imparting retailing advice and feedback this year – and he’s already signed up for DSD 2025.
Below: The Dragons of 2024.
GF Smith, the GCA, PG, retailers Scribbler and &Quirky; publishers Deckled Edge, Poet & Painter, Toasted Crumpet and Lanther Black, as well as from the Imaging Centre team.
As Dominique Miranda of Lanther Black stated, as a new publisher, when starting out: “You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but you can choose the best tyres!”
The grand finale took place in the factory, joyful amazement as the attendees’ uploaded designs magically appeared from one of the digital print presses.
Above: Pudsey’s pockets were bulging with the Post Office donation.
left: Scribbler’s Aisling Crosland and fellow CoppaFeel! trekkers in the Himalayas.
right: Cardfactory colleagues had a lot of fun at the Macmillan raffle event.
Above left: The InPress class of November 2024 with the Imaging Centre’s managing director Adam Short (centre).
Above right: Former Liberty card buyer, Sally Kelly with her design fresh from the Imaging Centre Press.
BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.
The Golden Quarter is well underway and many small retailers are hoping that sales from now until Santa arrives will see us through what are expected to be the long, difficult months of January and February. The full effects of the latest Budget have not been felt as yet, but they hang in the air over us with both increases in NI and wages looming, but right now we are surrounded by Christmas products, sparkling lights and a feeling that many of the trends of previous years will come true.
Deliveries have been late, charity and boxed Christmas cards are a hard sell, postage is killing us, the spend on gifts is more modest and as I write this people have not quite reached the F*C% IT stage where they throw caution to the wind and buy what they like to enjoy the festive period.
However, when I look at our stores right now, the immediate word that comes to mind is pride. Now that may sound arrogant, but I really like our mix of products, including the quirky different things we have bought in as well as the displays in our stores.
I have visited Selfridges, Liberty and lots of other stores in big cities to check out their Christmas offer and while their displays are large, I didn’t see anything that excitingly different or, which is not the case in our and many other indies’ stores.
Our Christmas card selection this year encompasses both tried and tested publishers as well as some that are new to us, such as Alljoy Design. Sitting alongside the cards are gifting lines from companies, large and small and we go to town as to how we display them.
And for good reason. This Golden Quarter can account for as much as a third of companies’ sales and up to half of the annual profits of retailers of discretionary products, which includes jewellery, toys and gifts. The British Retail
Consortium goes on to say that around a third of consumers plan to take advantage of Black Friday.
Personally, BF doesn’t do it for me. Neither does the souless sugar rush of shopping online. I like to go and visit a store, be spoken to, and thankfully so do our customers.
This year, as with last, our emphasis is still on cards and gifting, but we also incorporate decorated trees so that our shops feel festive without being over burdened with pure Christmas ornaments.
It is always a worry at this stage though as we wait to see if the sales stack up in the final
few weeks. As one big retailer said to me recently, “December is crucial as it makes or breaks the year”.
So how do we entice the customer to spend their hard-earned pennies with us?
As smaller retailers our marketing encompasses many elements, from fun evenings to silly social media posts. By contrast the big supermarkets and other multiples, such as John Lewis create their much awaited Christmas adverts. The ads have become a big part of the Christmas Countdown and as a sucker for all things pop culture, I enjoy watching them all.
This year emotion, humour and the physical act of actually visiting a store all feature.
Both the Tesco and John Lewis adverts aim straight for the heart with ads that show families missing those around the table.
The strong sense of sentiment is being reflected in our stores’ sales. We have seen the continual shift to specialist Christmas cards with more time and money being placed on getting the right message for family and close friends. By the third week in November we had sold out of some specific titles and were running low on others. Words and sentiments and letting people know that you love them and are thinking about them is nothing new, but it is still deemed important.
Above: A display of mainly Talking Tables products in one of David’s shops. Above right: Just a small part of David’s Christmas card display.
We are also seeing that reflected in gifting where ‘wee mindings’ as we call them in Scotland are more and more popular, so those £20-£30 gift products are crucial.
As indies we are perfectly placed to maximise sales in this type of shopping. As owner operators we have chosen our stock, crafted our displays and will have a passion, perhaps about the particular candle company or specific publisher that will translate when we speak to our customers about them.
Personal service in store and a personal touch with the gifting is crucial. This is what the internet or Amazon just can’t provide. All they offer is a purely transactional purchase based on price or cold convenience.
So far the early signs suggest some optimism. That said, BDO has said that comparatives from an exceptionally poor Golden Quarter in 2023 “mask the true performance” of the sector. In other words, this year is better, but against a low annual comparison.
Our gift and card shops have traded well all year with both good seasonal and everyday product, but this has been bolstered by Jellycat which has been crucial to the sector. To see one brand encourage a whole new generation of shopper into store who then spend on other products has been fantastic.
In the same way Lego moved a whole genre of building toys, Jellycat is redefining plush with its characters and quality.
Staying with redefining, I think that we can learn and appreciate what John Lewis has done this year with its ads and plans.
In September it revised and renewed its Never Knowingly Undersold tag line and introduced the Living Knowingly ad campaign, created by Saatchi & Saatchi.
This initial charge drove more than 300,000 customers through its shops, website and app. And in all its PR and phrasing, the physical store was put first.
Stage 2 of the campaign highlighted specific gifts - from a toy rainbow giraffe
gifted by a fun aunt, to a jumper that becomes a favourite to a brooch to remember a grandparent and finally a teapot which is passed between generations. Each gift is linked with a memory and this is when items mean more.
The activity then concluded with the launch of its traditional Christmas advert which tugs at the heart strings while promoting family and thoughtful gifting.
While JL is able to commission commercials we can only dream of, the principles that it has applied over the last few months ring very true.
John Lewis has always been very much about its partners (its workers) and small indie businesses will all tell you that their strength too ultimately lies with their team.
We are very lucky to have had a consistency of staff for many years, whose experience and customer knowledge is invaluable. Added to this, due to maternity we have a new starter in one of the gift shops and it has been lovely to see the enthusiasm with which she is approaching learning about all the products and layouts.
Sometimes, because we are close to the buying and in these shops six days out of seven we almost become blind to what we have created, those fresh eyes can reignite that passion.
Now, with all of the behind the scenes work largely down, this period is all about selling, paying bills and keeping everyone well enough to work. Hot drinks, chocolates and a laugh or two go a long way as it is crucial that staff in our stores look like they are engaged and enjoying themselves. This all serves to create that final lasting impression that it is a lovely and fun place to shop.
Belief and hard work are key to any indie’s mindset at the moment and we should not let the challenges that lie in wait in 2025 distract us from having a great Christmas businesswise and personally.
Next month I will tackle NI, wages and the ever steeper hill that running a small business has become, but for now can I wish you all a happy healthy and prosperous Christmas and as the great Dave Allen used to say, “May your God go with you.”
l To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com
Above left: David enjoying a rest from his recent comparative shopping trip to London.
Above right: The Liberty displays did not blow David away this year.
Below left: A tartan-themed tree in one of David’s shops.
Below right: Jellycat has been a gamechanger for many indies.
Right and below: John Lewis’ adverts have underlined the emotional value of real shopping.
A Titan Of His Time
Cardsharp looks back at the remarkable life and legacy of ‘The Don, The Godfather’, of greeting card high street retailing and his significant contribution to the UK greeting card industry.
Born to poverty in Stepney in East London, the son of a chimney sweep, Don left school at 14, imbued with tunnel vision, drive and a phenomenal work ethic. After completing his National Service, he undertook a succession of jobs, before hitting on the potential of greeting cards at the age of 26 when he became a freelance greeting card salesman selling them from the back of his car. Then, nine years later, in 1968 Don opened his first card store in Epping, Essex, naming it Clinton Cards, after his then young son. Through sheer drive, determination, hard work as well as an understanding of the importance of premium store position, by 1988 he had built up a chain of 87 Clinton Cards shops.
It was then that Don made the move that took him and Clinton Cards into the big league. He floated half of the family’s shares in the business on the stock exchange with the card retailing business becoming a PLC, a move which grossed him £20 million.
This shone the light on Don’s
opportunist skills, as well as being a great trader and retailer. Converting Clinton Cards to a plc gave him the ability to fund further expansion, but at the same time he kept enough shares to ensure his family had ultimate control. He saw that the big US greeting card publishers had inherited big retail chains that they did not have the retail expertise to run and which were also damaging their respective core wholesale businesses. Don could see more opportunity. As long as he could offer Hallmark and American Greetings cast iron distribution deals, he could take over
these chains and as a natural retail trader make them work as Clinton Cards stores.
He was aided by the fact that the 1990s was the period of huge growth in the popularity of quality greeting cards and by a buoyant pre-internet retail economy. Don and his property team would snap up all the best positions in the high street and the shopping malls. It became an open secret among landlords in those heady days that Clinton Cards would pay a premium price to obtain the best positions.
As well as popularising the specialist high street card shop and maintaining the greeting card industry’s enviable margins, one of Don’s other great achievements was expanding Spring Seasons as card sending events. Clintons was the first retailer to have huge displays, sometimes 40’, for Valentine’s and Mother’s Day alone as well as backing niche occasions, such as Secretaries’ Day, Nurses’ Day and Teachers’ Day.
In those days, Don would not countenance any competition and he would purchase any new emerging specialist chains before they became a real threat, which further accelerated the PLC’s growth. In the early noughties, Clintons’ star was probably at its highest. Clintons’ window
displays even featured Don’s autobiography, entitled ’Think of a Card’ regaling his remarkable rise to riches, and his unique personal philosophy.
No doubt, many of the today’s generation would be horrified by some of Don’s views, but as Ricky Gervais opined: “If you cancel somebody for what they said ten years ago, you might be cancelled yourself in ten years”. As a keen student of history, Cardsharp gets irritated when people judge past attitudes by present ones.
Even in the 1990s though, Don’s views were a throwback to a previous age. As a proud cockney boy, Don had very forthright and traditional views. Giant portraits of the Queen and Margaret Thatcher adorned Clintons’ Loughton offices. Fiercely patriotic, Don went all out to make St George’s Day in April, a greeting card sending event, however it never caught on.
Like many great men, Don had a huge ego. Having been presented with an OBE for his services, he longed for, but was never awarded a knighthood, which was a shame as he would have been our first greeting card ‘Sir’. He delighted in his Rolls Royces and his swimming pools, as the by-products of being a self-made millionaire like Alan Sugar.
And like Lord Sugar, Don demanded deference. He had some old-fashioned rules. “You come into my offices [which was romantically named the ‘Crystal Building’], you don’t wear jeans, you don’t swear, and as a man you wear a tie and as a woman you dress smartly and conservatively”. Don also had a rather old-fashioned attitude to the female sex. Always courteous and respectful, he nevertheless did not really necessarily think they should hold senior business positions.
But Don was fiercely loyal to his friends, and to suppliers that played the game. Many publishers thrived and several made their fortunes on the back of Clintons’ success. You just needed to obey a few of Don’s cardinal rules. Keep your nose clean, don’t supply Clintons’ competitors and don’t flaunt your success. Suppliers’ cars in the Clinton head office car park were regularly checked for flashiness. Too costly and you were obviously making too much from supplying the group and needed your prices renegotiated.
But another of Don’s rules was that greeting cards should not be a low value product. “You can’t sell sentiment cheap” was one of his favourite sayings. And
Below:
because Clintons dominated the market (at its peak it was estimated that it accounted for nearly 30% of total UK card sales) other retailers followed suit in maintaining higher prices, which meant healthy margins for everyone, higher than in almost any other retail product category. The 1990s and early noughties really were the boom years, with many towns and cities having two, and sometimes even three Clintons branches. The shops had such prominence that Clintons became a generic for greeting card retailing. In the early noughties, the Lewin family’s shares were estimated to be worth £140 million. But as the noughties progressed the stage started to change. A new aggressive value orientated competitor started to emerge in Card Factory. Its vertically integrated business model meant that it could achieve low consumer prices for its cards, but still with great profitability. Card Factory’s rise seemed to catch Don like a rabbit in the headlights, unable to know how to move or respond to the threat.
Clintons’ acquisition of Birthdays, a failing value chain, could have provided some protection against Card Factory and its low-price model. Its acquisition was a pyrrhic victory in that it enabled the chain to reach the magic 1,000 store mark, but having acquired Birthdays, Don and his team seemed unable to know what to do with it. Fearful of going down the value route in case this cannibalised Clintons’ sales, Birthdays staggered on as a kind of poor man’s Clintons, dragging the main chain down and making Card Factory’s expansion easier. The financial crisis and subsequent recession were the writing on the wall for Clintons. Birthdays underwent a financial restructuring in 2009, diminishing the reputation of the group and making major suppliers twitchy. And in the end in 2012, in what was seen as the ultimate act of betrayal, American Greetings, its largest creditor, pushed Clintons into administration and acquired the PLC in order to safeguard the massive debt it was owed. Don’s amazing career in greeting cards was effectively over.
To cut a long story short, American Greetings’ ownership failed to halt Clintons’ decline, despite a red fascia rebrand and a new look interior layout. A programme of shop closures, that accelerated during Covid, took Clintons down to a core of a couple of hundred stores, and left the specialist multiple vulnerable.
And indeed, Paul Taylor of Cardzone bought what was left of the chain in March this year, meaning that the Clintons brand which is Don’s legacy lives on in safer hands,
But although Don’s career ended in disappointment, no one could take away his immense achievements. He made the UK specialist greeting card shop what it is today. And Clintons is still fondly remembered as being synonymous with greeting cards by two generations of mainly female Boomers and Generation Xers. Without Don, would our industry be worth £1.5 billion today? wonders Cardsharp.
The ‘Don’ was a true Titan and bestrode the industry like a colossus. We shall not see his like again, believes Cardsharp.
Above: Even when it passed into AG’s hands, Clintons, as it became known, was always a champion of Spring Seasons.
Don Lewin was known to read PG, and never held back in his comments if he didn’t agree with what had been written.
Jo Wilson, founder of Dandelion Stationery
“It’s very, very sad to see this happening – it’s just so disheartening.”
Copying Crisis
The extent of the blatant copying of so many card publishers’ designs on the Temu online platform is truly shocking. Despite legal pressure from McDaniels Law and Thortful, and with the BBC and Government also alerted to the issue, the widespread design theft rages on. However, Temu is not the only guilty party on the copying front.
PG confronts the sour taste of plagiarism in our greeting card sector.
Dean Morris, founder of Dean Morris Cards
Your suffering: “We were copied quite a few years ago by another small company in Derbyshire, literally just down the road from us – we sent a Cease and Desist letter and it stopped.
More recently we have found hundreds of our cards for sale on Temu – these designs have been lifted from images online, directly copied and resold. We have gone through the process to report these issues to Temu, and the designs do get taken down – but only to pop up 24 hours later with another seller. We were lucky enough to be given some free initial help from a solicitor, but to be honest this was no more effective than us reporting the issue ourselves, as those designs reported by the solicitor also appeared back on sale within 48 hours.”
Any signs of hope? “At the moment it doesn’t feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is an incredibly time-consuming issue to be trawling through Temu almost daily, reporting 50+ designs at a time, see them get taken down, and then do the same thing a day later because the designs have reappeared. It is soul destroying. There seems to be simply no morals in the way Temu operates and simply no regulation.”
“Copying in the card sector is definitely more prevalent than it was even ten years ago. Is this because we’re all posting on social media now and the wonderful products our industry produces have large audiences and anybody thinks they can do the same? In the greeting card industry there are always going to be established themes and even phrases that are fair game for anyone to use because they are so ubiquitous. Show me a publisher that hasn’t done a card with ‘old enough to know better, young enough to xxx’ What is becoming more commonplace though is simply copying the exact design of the card (but always in a much less considered way) or as is the case with Temu, just copying and pasting our designs onto theirs. There’s a special place in hell for people that do that.”
Your suffering: “I have had my designs copied several times, from outfits in the UK and on Temu and Shein. If it’s a one off and especially if their interpretation of my design is so embarrassingly bad, I will do my best to take appropriate action to stop them. Sometimes it works, but sometimes I simply don’t have the time, energy or the need for that much negativity in my life. Many publishers are very small businesses and we simply don’t have the people or resources to counteract all these. This is especially the case with Temu and Shein where often as you stop one copy another will pop up straight after.”
Any signs of hope? “Sadly, I don’t think there is. I’d be very surprised if Temu and Shein really care. They’ll just deny responsibility claiming they are unaware of what Hello GUIGUI (clearly a fan of Dean Morris Cards) in Haikou is doing.”
Right: Jo Wilson enjoying happy times with Card Centre’s John Barratt (left) and Andrew Reid at PG Live in June.
Top: Dean Morris’ smile belies his contempt for copiers. Above left: A fake card Dean Morris created to exercise some Temu demons. Above right: Just one example of a Temu ripped off Dean Morris card.
Top: Emotional Rescue acknowledges the copying issue on its front cover advert on this edition of PG.
Inset: The amount of plagiarism in our industry just has to stop.
Above: Jo Wilson was able to provide McDaniels Law with lots of examples of copied Dandelion designs on Temu for them to take action.
Matt Genower, managing director of Five Dollar Shake
“I blame Oscar Wilde and his bloody imitation is a compliment quote! There’s a fine line between influenced by and copied. We wouldn’t be human if our creations weren’t influenced from somewhere. But it’s from where we are influenced that bothers me. The reason for this is particularly prevalent in our industry because so many of us occupy the same retail selling space. I’d love to know what the designer/s of the catwalk Prada dresses that (a version of) ends up seven weeks later in a Zara store think. Does it dent the sales of the high fashion item? Does Zara so desperately really need that bloody print?! The massive difference is the two brands occupy totally different retail spaces and completely different consumers. I’d love to say it’s the same in greeting cards, but it’s just not. One way or another we’re mostly challenging for similar space in high streets around the country where consumers are just looking for a pretty/funny/ inspirational card.”
Your suffering: “Years ago we found our illustrations all over a collection of Primark knickers! Why on earth a designer somewhere on the planet thought our birthday card illustrations suited a range of underwear, God only knows. In truth we were too busy to take the matter further. We should have because it’s not okay to imitate, let
Jo O’Brien, co-owner of Paper Shed
“I was first made aware of Temu earlier this year when the lovely Klara Hawkins contacted me in March to let me know she had spotted a number of our Easter designs listed. It made me feel unwell at the time, I couldn't believe it. When I reported this first batch, and they were removed, I naively thought that would be the end of it. But in recent months this has become more and more of a problem. We now regularly report designs only to see them reappear a few weeks later. It's hard to believe that there are no consequences for this clear and deliberate breach of our copyright, let alone the royalties owed to us! It's theft of our property.
My husband Dan O'Brien creates all the beautiful artworks used on our cards, these charming Illustrations are lovingly hand-drawn artworks that come from his wonderful imagination. Like all the artists affected by this, for someone to steal them without consequence is really upsetting.”
Any signs of hope? “This week I have reported another 15 stolen Christmas designs. It's really hard to find the time and energy for it as the whole situation can be demoralising, but it's important that we keep up the fight. We have been so touched by how many artists and publishers from our fabulous cardie community have been in contact over the last few months alerting us to listings on Temu, Shein and other sites. I have also found the shared guidance on PG Buzz really helpful. I think it's wonderful how everyone has come together on this and I have hope that together we will find a long-term solution.”
alone blatantly lift an illustration. Closer to home, yes we have often thought our designs have been mimicked on other greeting cards. They are always inferior in so many ways and anyhow, does a fellow publisher know the designs will be anything like a bestseller?! In other words, don’t bother. You’ll sleep better at night if you don’t! Lastly, in an ideal world, buyers would firstly recognise the blatant copies and secondly, take a stand and not buy them. Fortunately, there are retailers who are really ‘on it’ and this is what they do. But if the last 25 years (of our experience) is anything to go by, then this is not the majority.”
Any signs of hope? “In the early noughties, there seemed to be much more industry chat about plagiarism, calling out the guilty publishers. I’m not sure why we’re not having the same conversations again. I think if this chatter became louder, maybe just maybe there’d be less blatant stealing, cos that’s what it is!”
Thea Musselwhite, founder of Bold & Bright
“It is incredibly frustrating as a designer to see your designs ripped off and put on such cheap sites such as Temu and Shein. I couldn’t believe how many of my cards I found on Temu after a very short search. It is soul destroying as you feel like there’s not much you can do against such big companies. So, I feel very grateful that McDaniels Law was keen to take us on as a case study, to help other designers with this issue. Any time I see my designs ripped off is frustrating, but particularly so when such a global organisation is doing it!”
Below
Your suffering: “I have had other smaller companies copy or be ‘inspired’ by my designs. Thankfully in cases when they are on sites such as Thortful I’ve notified them, and they’ve taken the designs down from the copycats. I’m very grateful to Thortful for acting so promptly on these rare occasions. I guess as my cards have a unique style it’s harder for companies to copy - but they do, they just do it in their own style.”
Any signs of hope? “It’s been brilliant how much PG/PG Buzz have covered this topic, it will make a big difference to the industry if more people try and do something about it. I do sadly feel these copying issues are going to keep happening. There are always going to be companies like Temu coming on the scene, who will probably do all this again. I think all that designers can do is complain to them loudly, and not make it easy for them to get away with it. And templates created by law firms (such as McDaniels Law) are really helpful, as it will give designers the confidence to feel that someone legal has their back, and they aren’t just doing it on their own.”
Right: Five Dollar Shake’s Matt Genower calls for more open chat on copying.
Above right: Just one example of a Paper Shed design on the Temu platform. Right: Jo and Dan O’Brien.
Above: An adapted Jeffrey & Janice design from Bold & Bright to reinforce Thea’s determination to take Temu to task over the copying.
right: Thea has been a leading figure in highlighting Temu’s mass copying.
VIEWPOINTS
Karen Wilson, owner of Paper Salad
Your suffering: “Unfortunately, our sector seems to have an abundant amount of copying and ever since we set up Paper Salad, it has been around. However, in recent years it has become a massive problem and it is very hard to deal with.
It distracts, causes unnecessary stress and is very costly to go down the legal route. Temu and several other Chinese companies have taken it to a new level with their downright shameless copying, of which we are among the many victims.
Iain Hamilton, chief nitwit
of Bewilderbeest
Your suffering: “I’ve had my designs copied for years now. The majority of the copying has been done online in other countries, predominantly China, though ‘close imitation’ is common in the UK too (*cough* Central23 *cough*). I’ve sought legal advice from Briffa on more than one occasion, but the consensus has usually been that it would be very difficult, and very costly, to get a company in China to do anything more than just take the designs down. Even when we manage this, we’ve found the designs are usually listed again within days.
A two minute search on Temu this morning revealed a direct exact copy of our ‘We Heard There Was Cake’ design, plus several inspired copies.”
Any signs of hope? “I’m glad to see that the infringement by Temu and Shein etc is receiving greater exposure, however, I’ve adopted a more stoic view about copyright infringement. The fact is, there has been, and always will be, copying of designs (famous Ancient Greek ‘knock-off’ vases are an early example). The internet has just made it even easier.
We really feel for small companies trying to get a foothold in our industry and having their designs stolen in this way. I can’t see it getting much better either, unless we can change some of the laws concerning plagiarism. Last year we issued legal proceedings against a company and ultimately the offending range was discontinued. We were willing to take it all the way to court if need be, and were willing to spend a substantial amount of money to do so, not just for us but for all the other companies that have suffered in the way that we have. We were told by an IP barrister that we had a really good case of ‘passing off’ but even so the law is really not that clear and the amount of evidence you have to produce is staggering.
Personally, at Paper Salad we have other problems that are even harder to deal with. Some companies feel that it is perfectly okay to produce ranges in the ‘style, colour palette, finish and size’ as award winning ranges that we currently publish, but at a lower trade price, to try to take customers from us. We pride ourselves on continuing to bring newness to the market, not only in the designs of our cards, but in the way we push finishes up to the next level. We really don’t understand why some publishers do this as they are fully aware what is already in the market and there is absolutely no point in being ‘influenced’ in this way as retailers know too. In the past this has caused unmeasurable stress, but we have a new approach to just design new stuff and move on. This isn’t easy, but trying to deal with it is harder.
We have however been inundated by phone calls and emails from people from within our industry including independents, multiples and distributors and have even had the ‘influenced by’ cards sent to us in the post by a retailer making us aware of it. This we feel as been the best result we could have hoped for, I am sure the offending publishers are aware too. It must be very damaging to their businesses to be seen as the imitators and not the innovators and we are happy with that!”
Constantly chasing and fretting about sellers in China ripping off my designs is a distraction, and a poor use of my time and energy. The customers I want are typically not those shopping for cards on Temu, and it’s my job as a designer to always be one step ahead with new designs and better ideas.
As they say, ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’… but what their mothers would say.”
Georgi Doig, director of happiness of Lil Wabbit
“I can’t help but feel that the sites selling our stolen designs are functioning unethically and producing a substandard product that does no good!
When you buy a card from Lil Wabbit, you buy a design hand-painted using my grandmother’s watercolour paints, one that’s been designed and printed in the UK, involving at least three other ethically-sound, British businesses. The card you’ve bought may even be in our charity collection and contribute to the £thousands we donate every year; the card will allow us to continue to donate stock to food banks and care homes, and each one also results in another bee being sponsored through our cards for bee’s scheme. All this good happens! Cards purchased from authentic UK sellers contributed £1.5 billion to the economy last year. When you purchase from online sites like Shein and Temu you don’t add to this incredible figure, you take away from it.”
Your suffering: “I’ve had dozens, if not hundreds of designs replicated on Temu. Each time I go on I find another handful. Although Temu has put the protocols in place for us to report the products and have them taken down, they don’t ban the sellers who repeatedly offend, so more listings pop up each time.”
Any signs of hope? “I think the only outcome is for the Government to step in to prevent the issues. Sure, we can’t attribute every sale on these sites to a missed sale for a UK based business, but the Government must see that there is no doubt that these sites are taking away legitimate business from both online businesses like us, and also the wonderful bricks and mortar shops.”
Above left: Karen Wilson. Above: Paper Salad continues to push boundaries on its designs and finishes.
Above: Iain Hamilton.
Below: An original Bewilderbeest design with one of the copies below.
Above left: Georgi Doig is keen for the Govt to get its arms around stopping the copiers.
Below: One of the many handpainted designs from Lil Wabbit.
Jack Thorpe, co-owner of Paper Plane.
“The Temu version of copying is different from the issues we see from within the UK card industry.
While the cards on Temu are direct lifts of our artwork, most likely badly reproduced using a low-res image, it's more common to see our words 'repurposed' by other card brands.
There are three ways this can happen: 1. Someone thinks of exactly the same idea as you (very possible if we're talking about topical cards). 2. Someone has seen your card, but has forgotten, and genuinely thinks they've thought of it themself (this happens a lot - I do it myself - but a quick Google can soon put you right) 3. Someone sees your card and decides to copy either the words, the design or both. It's a generally friendly industry, so we've had other designers approach us apologetically when they've realised they were subconsciously inspired by one of our ranges. We were able to laugh about it and resolve it. But we've also had exact, precise, unique wording that has subsequently been used by established and successful card brands with no contact made.
In one case we have called them out and they doubleddown and blocked us on social media. In another more recent case, we haven't said anything as we just don't know where it would get us.
How do we stop it? At the moment we rely on the good nature of our fellow designers. When it comes to enforcing trademarks or filing complaints about copyright, it's an expensive business. Although we have engaged the free advice of solicitors, the cost just to write an initial letter is mind-boggling (we definitely chose the wrong career!) and means we have to be certain of a good result before moving forward.”
Any signs of hope? “I'd like to see more done by the card industry's advocates to call out the big chains that regularly steal ideas from indie brands.
And with regards to Temu, the Government has to find a way of stopping so much cheap, dangerous tat flooding into the UK completely unregulated and tariff-free. Temu has been found to be selling products that were in all probability created with forced labour. It sells counterfeit, untested products and it is directly costing UK businesses - of all sizes - sales.
It can't be a coincidence that one of our strongest selling cards on Etsy, which we had sold multiple of every day for years, has almost ground to a halt since dozens of copies of it became available on Temu for half the price.”
Klara Hawkins, founder of Klara Hawkins
Your suffering: “Just this morning a follower notified me that she’d seen some of my work on Shutterstock and knew it was stolen. Then a few months ago I came across one of my patterns available on packing cubes, make-up and toiletry bags on Amazon! Upon contacting the company they said they wanted to license my design as it had already been printed on thousands items. And of course Temu has been a constant pain in the backside! It has taken at least 40 of my card designs which seem to reappear for sale as quickly as I have them removed! It’s like a big black hole.
Over the last few years, my work has been used without my permission so many times that I’ve lost count.
While these infringements may not directly impact your day to day business I strongly feel you have to take action otherwise the floodgates will open and it will just happen more and more. We have to be as strong and persistent as they are.
The first thing I do when I hear about an infringement is send them a stern Cease and Desist letter/email. I always give them a deadline to respond by and threaten further action if they don’t comply. So far this has always worked for me and the work is removed or the company want to enter a license agreement.
It does make me angry when companies/people just waltz along like a kid in a sweet shop and take what they want without a care. If you sell on platforms such as Thortful, Cardly, Moonpig etc then you’re a target as this seems to be where most of the work is stolen from, especially by companies like Temu. Also, print on demand websites such as Spoonflower and Redbubble also leave you vulnerable.”
Any signs of hope? “I think copyright infringement will always be an issue within the creative industries. There are things you can do to help protect yourself. These include always photographing artwork or a product at an angle rather than face on, always have your signature on your work, watermark it, only share low res images and don’t show the whole thing. That’s all well and good, but is impossible to do when you’re selling something, especially through third party platforms.”
Emily Nash, founder of Emily Nash Illustration
“I am angry and sad about the amount of copying in our sector. I spend hours illustrating my products, just for Temu to ‘copy and paste’. Everything seems a little lawless and insecure at the moment when it comes to the online world, AI and the regulations around it. I feel that much more has to be done to hold these huge and seemingly impenetrable companies to account for what is blatant, outright theft.”
Your suffering: “I have so far reported over 30 copies of my artwork on Temu alone, but unfortunately the actual number is much, much higher.”
Any signs of hope? “BBC Breakfast did a short piece on this issue (a huge well done to Draenog for bringing it to the BBC), and while it was a great start, I was disappointed that it made it sound like the issue was resolved because one artist had their designs taken down. I really hope that more regulations can be put in place and we’ll see some accountability for this outright theft.”
Above: An original Klara Hawkins card and one of the main items that features the copied design. Below left: Klara Hawkins takes action against copiers.
Above: Jack Thorpe. Below right: Paper Plane is producing tote bags and t shirts that it is selling to get the message out about Temu’s mass copying.
Above right: Klara Hawkins takes action against copiers.
Above: Above: An original Emily Nash design and how it appears on Temu.
Kidding Around
Children are rarely serious unless it’s about having fun and that’s what kids’ card designs reflect with their bright colours, imaginative characters and artwork.
PG takes a look at what’s currently capturing youngsters’ hearts on the greeting card front.
A sense of fun is the theme linking most kids’ card designs as publishers aim to appeal to youngsters’ imagination and sense of adventure.
At IC&G, this year’s popular children’s cards have been “those full of fun, joy and colour with quirky animals like the llama and panda in our Funhouse range,” sums up design team member Kathryn Coyle. “For younger children, bright and playful designs take centre stage. Age cards featuring robots and aliens are a big hit, appealing to their sense of imagination and adventure. Meanwhile, our cuddly and adorable Barley Bear steals the show for the youngest recipients.”
It’s all about animals at Stormy Knight where owner Sarah Jackson said: “Personally, we've had a flurry
Out of the mouths of babes
of third birthday parties in the last few months. Most kids that age love tigers/lions/cats, etc, and they don't feel like they’re pandering to the gender stereotypes that can be a bit divisive at this age.”
But Sarah admitted that, despite preferring to design gender-neutral cards and ones that break from traditional boy-girl likes, her daughter Phoebe “has hit
Above: The Caroline Gardner youngsters include Brae, aged five, who said: “I like this Bumblebee card as I’m in Bumblebee class at school so I like giving it to my friends.” Three-year-old Penny said: “I love unicorns and like this one’s hair. My favourite colour is pink,” and five-year-old Raffy added: “I like the lion, grrrr!”
that age where her brain is filled with hearts, rainbows, unicorns and ballet dancers and I've witnessed firsthand just how much most girls gravitate towards these things so can understand why there’s a demand for these subject matters on cards!”
For Kali Stileman, dancers and dinosaurs are always popular themes, and director of operations
Jemima Stileman said:
“These can often be categorised as girl and boy themes, but one of our most popular designs is our girl on a dinosaur card – both girls and boys just love dinosaurs! From our Multicultural range, it features lots children of different ethnicities and hobbies, including a spaceman, superwoman and mermaid.”
Right: Scary favourites at Redback.
Below: Space is timeless for Wendy Jones-Blackett.
Below right: Ricicle has taken a gender neutral approach.
Above right: Quirky animals work for IC&G.
Right: Animals magic at Stormy Knight.
Trendspot: Self-identity art
Heather Williams, trends strategist at Hallmark Cards highlights a growing trend for enabling children to express themselves as unique individuals: “How they identify, how they show their emotions, how they dress and even how they play and learn. We see lots of the licences adapting and evolving to be more inclusive in their characters and storytelling.”
Embracing this trend led Hallmark to create its Dopplegang kids’ collection, each card showing a relatable and fun persona of a child. Captioned as Chatter Box, Thoughtful Thinker, Cuddler and even Stinky Bum, each of the cards comes with a QR code linking to an exclusive interactive AR feature where children can bring their own unique character to digital life.
“Last year, Pinterest Predicts reported a 75% increase in searches for kid-related self-identity art, highlighting selfexpression as an important factor in creative projects for children and, powered by play, curiosity and the creative eccentricity of kids being kids, The Custard Crew range launching in early 2025 really taps into that need,” explained Heather. “Children’s creative play is a magical window into their personalities and imaginations and the age cards have relatable and real-life play scenarios that youngsters will recognise.”
Launching later next year is another Custard Crew product that unleashes the creative potential of kids as this project’s development enlisted the help of a group of mini-Hallmarkers.
“An excitable bunch of fabulous kids came into our design studio and spent a morning giving the illustrators, designers and writers some really fun ideas as active co-creators, followed by them testing out some of the product ideas,” revealed Heather.
Trendspot: Gaming
“In a world where digital adventures and pixelated heroes reign supreme, gaming continues to be a top theme driving excitement in kids’ greeting cards. From nostalgic classics to the latest trending titles, these cards celebrate the universes that children (and plenty of adults!) adore,” states Dan Grant, Danilo’s licensing director. Reflecting this trend, Danilo’s portfolio boasts a diverse range of officially licensed cards, including Xbox, Minecraft, Pokémon and Super Mario among others.
Life’s always bright at Paper Salad, where a top kids’ seller has a happy sunshine on, which designer Ashley Rowe said: “It probably works for both boy and girl, as well as the Sunshine ages, funky flowers and quirky monster
designs coming up tops too.”
Redback sees three central themes, passions or hobbies such as football, gaming or tractors; magic and makebelieve with rainbows, unicorns, dragons and superheroes; and cute characters and animals, the bestsellers being dinosaurs, crocodiles and sharks – senior designer Luka Thorpe laughed: “Vicious little things, aren't they?!”
Animals are big at Ling Design where head of design Clare Twigger loves the wide choice and that younger concepts can be educational too, but children’s increasingly changing tastes are a challenge.
She added: “An icon, such as a unicorn, might have suited a nine-year-old a few years ago but isn’t something that would work now and is better placed on a card for a four or five-year-old.
“It’s so important to get this right – luckily lots of our team have kids so we’ve got the advantage to do a bit of research and testing before finalising designs.”
Penguin Ink’s Lizzie Parker has used her own kids to come up with a whole range: “Our children tend to pick their friends' favourite animal to send and then often draw party hats on them which is what inspired our Party Hats birthday cards collection.”
Its Alien cards are also really popular, assures Lizzie: “People love the neons and the kids giggle at them as they're a bit silly.”
That daftness works at Great British Card Company where head of creative Lucy Ledger
And those themes work for many publishers, as Wendy Jones-Blackett said: “You can’t go wrong with space imagery as it’s timeless and can be as grown-up or childlike as you please – smiley faces always add some cuteness warmth to a design. We’ve also got dinosaurs and unicorns, it seems the magical and aspirational are still proving popular and they’re classic too.”
Above: The bouncy castle card is a favourite with Hotchpotch head of design Anna Price’s little boy and his pals. Above middle: Copying Dinosaurs Doing Stuff mum Charlotte Najdecki is a favourite for five-year-old Mia. Above right: At just two, Phoebe is already paying great attention to what mum Sarah Jackson, founder of Stormy Knight, creates.
Above: A happy sunshine by Paper Salad. Above right: A design from Holy Mackerel’s Ferdie & Friends collection.
Above: A Minecraft design from Danilo.
Top: Heather Williams. Above: Inclusive characters from Dopplegang.
Out of the mouths of babes
Right: Kali Stileman knows girls love dinos too. Below right: Ling loves animals.
Right: Roarsome fun at Paper Shed.
TheDaniloteamhavesignificantlygrownthegreetingcardand giftwrapportfolioinrecentyearstoincludetheleadingchildren’s TV,gamingandliterarybrandssuchasBluey,PeppaPig,Gabby’s Dollhouse,PawPatrol,Barbie,Peanuts,Sonic,Minecraft,Dr.Seuss, Squishmallows,andSuperMarioplusmany,manymore. Ourproductsaredesignedinavarietyofsizes,stylesandfinishes tosuitallcustomers,plusweareworkinghardtocreateproducts thataremoresustainableandkindertotheplanet. Tofindoutmoreinformationonourrange,pleasecontactour salesteamviaemailinfo@danilo.comorcall01992702900
Your Number’s Up
“Specific age cards are always more popular than open birthday cards for children aged one to nine,” highlights Rachel Ellen’s creative artworker Helen O’Hanlon celebrating ageism among youngsters.
Age cards are certainly still big business with Dinosaurs Doing Stuff, who find that ages three to five, and 10 are the most popular – though the bestseller is 40!
At Rosie Made A Thing, age cards are consistent top sellers for kids' birthdays, according to marketing manager Emily Snelson “proving the timeless appeal of celebrating milestones”.
She added: “While we try to avoid overly clichéd characters, classics remain popular for a reason – they resonate! Our Cheeky Chops Star card, featuring a girl in a tutu belting out karaoke, and our boy superhero card have been particular hits.”
The launch of Mini-Neons at PG Live in June hit the spot for Earlybird, with co-owner Dom Early saying “the younger numbers have been so popular – making it to The Henries finals was the icing on the cake.”
And it’s a move Ohh Deer is about to make following the success of its Suzy Ultman range, targeted at a younger audience, with brand and marketing executive Philippa Brown explaining: “We don't currently have children's age cards, but have decided to jump into that world.”
Jonny Javelin’s Jonny Spears commented: “The size and price point of juvenile general age cards is extremely important. These cards are usually placed at the lower part of retailers’ display, thus need to be smaller with a price point to suit the customer who’s probably having to buy numerous age birthday cards for kids’ pals.”
At Caroline Gardner, head of marketing Kyra White said: “Cards featuring children’s ages sell better than generic children’s birthday cards. Our newer age one cards are currently the best, featuring a bear and a koala. Other good characters are lions, tigers, dogs, and a butterfly.”
Ages are the bestsellers at Kali Stileman too, and the latest number collection has proved really popular with its gold foil and colourful rainbows, as Jemima Stileman added: “Ages seven to 10 are consistently the most sought after – we’ve been told because number ranges often only go up to six!”
Lil Wabbit’s founder Georgi Doig launched a new children’s age range earlier this year which has since taken on a life of its own: “Originally launched as nothing more than a birthday age card, our customers have very resourcefully found an alternative use for them as art for nurseries and children’s bedrooms! Some have chosen to frame just one card, marking the age of their child, others have bought all 12 and framed them as counting aids, helping children learn one to 12. This has made us so happy!”
is thrilled at the way the licensed World Of Walliams range, based on David Walliams’ books, has taken off.
“We love the lively, colourful style of the range and the fact that it’s a little bit disgusting –something young children find funny!” Lucy added.
Licensing is also big at UK Greetings where the Moana 2 cinema release is backed by a greeting card range featuring new
hard to compete with, Paper Shed’s founder Jo O’Brien was pleased to catch up with younger family members recently, and said: “We were delighted to see dinosaurs are still as popular now as they were 20 years ago when our boys were growing up. This inspired the launch of Totally Roarsome and we followed up with Party Time as children and grandmas still love a classic picture book-style illustration.”
When the company name is Dinosaurs Doing Stuff, it’s not surprising Charlotte Najdecki’s dino puns are always a favourite, and the sillier the better: “When I do markets, kids always love the silly cards and often start laughing at the fact the dinosaurs are doing “people things”, or at the jokes, particularly the fart ones.”
Earlybird is roaring into 2025 with a dinosaur refresh as “anything dinosaurrelated sells well for us,” explained joint
Out of the mouths of babes
CG artwork, plus a collaboration with Smiley will be kicked off by a juvenile range launch to spread positivity through smiles, and unique pop-up Sonic The Hedgehog designs are in the works too, where innovative paper engineering combined with slick graphics will see the character leap right out of the card.
While finding wellknown licensed ranges
Below: Little Olivia, whose mum Katie is a designer at Redback, said receiving cards “make me feel happy, and I like looking at them when we hang them up in my room,” and she especially likes this Moji design because “it’s so soft and has a super cute unicorn on it”!
Below right: Flo and Olly may have helped mum Lizzie Parker design her kids’ cards range but, as Harry Potter fans, their favourites come from Cardology as they love 3D cards the most and keep them up in their rooms for years”!
Top: Age cards from Rachel Ellen. Above: Earlybird’s Mini-Neons are proving popular.
Above left: A numbers game for Ohh Deer.
Above right: Ages sell at Caroline Gardner, Left: Lil Wabbit’s cards are being framed.
Right: Penguin Ink’s neon Aliens sell well.
Below: Essence of David Walliams from GBCC.
Upping the extras
From activities to patches, incorporating extra elements into children’s cards goes down a storm with the exacting recipients.
Danilo has introduced an interactive twist to its portfolio with activity cards and bags that offer more than just a message – they’re a creative experience! From sticker cards featuring fan-favourite characters (alongside classic personalisation options like letters and numbers) to jigsaw cards and lenticular cards that bring movement and depth to designs, these innovative formats are perfect for sparking joy and creativity.
Paperlink’s colourful new range Popsicle covers ages one to six with everything from astronauts to mermaids and dinosaurs to unicorns, and each card features a colouring page inside so children can get creative and show off their artistic skills.
Apple & Clover is launching new eco wooden badge cards for 2025, and Stormy Knight’s Holey Moley cards have fun cut-out holes and openings inspired by interactive children's books, while Dinosaurs Doing Stuff has scratch cards, where a message written on the front can be covered with a sticker that the recipient scratches off to reveal.
For Hotchpotch, several designs in the new Pistachio range focus more on the paper engineering to add a fun touch to a birthday send. “We love how the characters interact with the die-cuts,” says Emily.
As Disney’s cute alien Stitch continues to grow in popularity and with a new live action movie due, UKG is introducing 13 options for spring including a Stitch button badge, a “weird but cute” ironon patch card and a collectable keepsake lenticular design featuring metaverse-inspired 3D artwork. Redback knows the worth of extras with its Shine and Moji patches collections and Pinata badges, As Luka Thorp explained: “Bright, eye-catching colour combos
owner Dominic Early, so it has expanded artist Elena Essex’s design into a thank you pack and wrap.
“The eye-popping multi-coloured dinos are on a midnight blue background, giving the kids’ favourite imagery a gorgeous modern twist that really stands out – plus, we’re so confident of the design we’re using it to brand this year’s trade shows, you won’t be able to miss us!”
Dancing glitter-balls, radical roller-boots and a slice of happy pizza are among the characters in Laura Darrington’s soon-tobe-launched juvenile range Allsorts as business development manager Ross Harrison said: “Top themes for us have always been rockets, cats, dinosaurs and sharks but, recently, we have seen a surge in food-related designs such as fruit, burgers, and pizza.”
Jonny Javelin co-owner
Jonny Spears reckons cowboys and spacemen, dinosaurs and dancers, fairgrounds and firemen are just a few themes that appeal, and all are covered in the successful Twingles and Fudge & Friends ranges that have led to the upcoming
are still a must, but we find the textures really important too –the plushie finish on our Moji characters is a favourite with the younger crowd, adding an extra tactile dimension to the birthday card fun. The reusability of the patches is a big draw too, as kids are becoming environmentally aware and responsible at increasingly younger ages.”
And finally, more than just card has always been the concept at Yoojoo, where Julie Ashworth’s perforated designs brings together the old and new by allowing the card to be transformed into a bookmark with info that encourages recycling the rest.
“It’s been great at recent craft fairs to see children’s reactions to the cards,” Julie said, “highlights being a mother returning to my stand to buy the card her daughter told her she wanted for her birthday and a boy explaining how they worked to his friend, with the delightful response of a long drawnout “coool!”
launch of Poppets, with cute characters in actionpacked scenes against pretty pastel backgrounds. Characters, animals, dinosaurs and dancers are perpetually popular at Rachel Ellen too, where Helen O’Hanlon, creative artworker said they go for fun and bright while always looking for new formats, colours, and details.
Out of the mouths of babes
Left: As designer mum Helena works for Paper Salad, 11-year-old Pippa likes these cards for her pals: “I like to send these cards because they can be sent to both my boy and girl mates – and they’re really shiny and colourful!” And receiving cards is a joy “because cards have fun characters and colours on and it’s nice to read messages from everyone”.
Right: Six-year-old Ella is the youngest member of the Kali Stileman Publishing team, helping fulfilment manager mum Tara. She chosen the fab flamingos card as her favourite to send “because it’s pink, it has flamingos on it and because they’re having a birthday party with their party hats on”! Ella likes receiving cards because she likes the pretty colours and because they’re from her friends.
Above : A jigsaw is an added extra on a Danilo Peppa Pig card.
Above right: Paperlink adds activity to cards.
Right: Added fun from Hotchpotch. Below: Eco badges from Apple & Clover. Below right: Something extra with Yoojoo.
Above: Rosie Made A Thing’s classics.
Below: Moana from UKG. Below right: All action from Jonny Javelin.
JUNGLE DRUMS
cards at Crown Greetings, being group design director of Hallmark and later Moonpig, plus stints in multiple retailing as well as being a successful developer of his own brands. Now though, Geoff has turned his attentions to facilitating youngsters’ creative careers into the greeting card world, heading up the GCA’s New Creative Talent initiative, as well as through the formation of Jungle Studio, a new talent spotting and nurturing service that he is running with his two daughters Maisy and Bibi.
PG was all ears to hear all about it from this quietly spoken creative maestro.
Championing the greeting card sector as a meaningful and rewarding avenue for creative graduates is nothing new for Geoff Sanderson, he’s being doing it for decades. It was during his Tigerprint/Hallmark days that he forged a sponsorship collaboration with the New Designers show that continues to this day. It was not just sponsorship of awards which recognise the talents of the youngsters that have given many a step-up in their respective careers, but also the paid work placements with the publisher, which served to give graduates a real taste of the industry and the potential fruits it offered.
If Geoff’s longstanding connection with New Designers was his first ‘degree’ in nurturing creative talent, his ‘masters’ has been the New Creative Talent project he instigated under the auspices of the GCA last year that is now gaining considerable ground, while the recent formation of Jungle Studio could be viewed as his ‘phd’.
creatives in the UK that either don’t know anything about the greeting card industry or cannot see a way in.”
He quite rightly points out that few art colleges and unis are in a position to offer mentoring about the card industry “with the result that so much of this talent either never sees the light of day or are diverted into other sectors,” said Geoff.
Sharing the details on a dedicated blog on the GCA website entitled ‘Graduate Showcase 2024 and GCA progress in bridging the gap into industry’, on the back of the success of last year’s graduate project, Geoff first shouts loudly about ‘the class of 24’, a motivated group of six recent graduates who have each expressed an interest in working in the greeting card industry.
“It has been such a joy to work with this group,” said Geoff who as well as explaining the rudiments of
the industry, set them a brief of designing a ‘calling card’ to demonstrate their creative penchant which have now been uploaded to the GCA site in the hope that publishers will get in touch.
Another strand takes Geoff right to his own creative roots, something which he hopes will inspire other art directors in our sector to do the same.
“Last year I moved back to the North East coast and settled in the centre of the cultural, creative regeneration zone in North Shields. Not only do I enjoy a thriving creative community, amazing walks along sandy beaches and the best fish n chips in the UK, as one of the 1978 alumni I also rekindled my relationship with Newcastle College of Art,” revealed Geoff, who has wandered down his own memory lane by going into the college to set live briefs and projects.
“I pitched a greeting card range development brief to over 60 final year degree students across a diverse array of courses, from fashion to interiors to illustration, which also harnesses the full teaching power and
with the final concepts going on sale, benefitting the graduates as well as the buying public” believes Geoff. As he adds, the Newcastle project as “an example of what can be achieved by working with your local uni or college and a group of engaged and motivated students. For our industry to continue to thrive, we need to harness and direct this new creative talent.
facilities of the faculty,” explained Geoff. The project ran over three months and involved a series of creative critiques.
Geoff selected a shortlist of eight who were then able to pitch their ideas to Moonpig in an off-site boardroom. “This was a great opportunity for them to receive commercial as well as creative feedback. With final designs being further developed and finessed postgraduation as part of my mentoring scheme,
Feedback from the front line
Explaining that some of the 2023 Creative Talents graduates have gone on to take an MA or find jobs, Geoff added: “Most are juggling the demands of a job to pay the rent and balancing that with finding freelance work, self-publishing/selling on Etsy and keeping the candle burning on ambitions to work in the industry. I’m happy to report that many have had some of their work published with Moonpig among others.”
Some of the graduates from this year and last year’s Creative Talents projects shared their thoughts…
Chloe Tebbutt: “I would say that the mentoring project has been a really big lifeline after finishing uni, I felt quite overwhelmed by the idea of suddenly needing to find work and project an image of professionalism when I understand how to create good work for a brief but don’t really understand how any real creative industries work or how to interact with them. Having someone mentor me who supports my ideas but also completely understands the parts of the process that I don’t is a really significant bridge over the huge gap between university and real work as an illustrator.”
Cerys Howells: “The greeting card industry offers illustration graduates a chance to learn how their work will resonate with people through their designs. Opportunities like this help graduates network, while
I have enjoyed a great many years in the greeting card community and hopefully through Jungle Studio and New Creative Talent will be able to pay forward some of what I have learned over the years.” The man deserves some letters after his name, that’s for sure!
mentoring has helped… With this guidance, new artists like me can build a path towards a successful career.”
Ben Thompson: “I’ve always been drawn to greeting cards because they combine creativity, humour, and connection in a simple yet powerful way. I love how a quick, witty phrase or a fun illustration can instantly bring a smile to someone’s face. Greeting cards are a perfect outlet for my passion for cartoons and comedy. Mentoring has provided me with invaluable opportunities for growth and development, along with real industry feedback. It pushes my creative boundaries and helps me become the best designer I can be.”
Sophie Moran: “As an illustrator, I love designing greeting cards as it’s one of the best ways to spread joy, knowing that your card will be given to someone to brighten their day makes designing it so much more fun as I try to make it as bright and cheerful as possible. I think the biggest difficulty of finding work after Uni is contacts, knowing the right people to contact and what to say is hard. Pathways like work placement and mentoring schemes helped that as it offers guidance and opportunities along with a helping hand, so it takes that sense of unknown and stress away. Seeing my designs go live on Moonpig was really surreal. My friends sent me pictures of the cards they’ve bought from my collection, and it still hasn’t sunk in that they exist!”
Below: Some of the cards published this year by mentored students.
Below left: Newcastle College of Art students pitching to Moonpig.
Above and right: Geoff with his two daughters Maisy and Bibi, an illustrator and graphic designer respectively, who are both involved in the new Jungle Studio which offers a talent spotting, mentoring and licensing service to young creatives.
Above left: An example of one of the calling cards which graduates have created to showcase their talents to publishers.
Below: (left-right) graduates Chloe Tebbutt, Grace Fiteni, Cerys Howells.
Say ‘hello’ to Spring Fair’s unmissable greetings cards collections. Join our 75th anniversary event this February.
Scan to register or visit springfair.com
A selection of fabulous new products to pep up retailers’ displays.
Beating Hearts
Love Hearts is Megan Claire's brand new contemporary Valentine's Day range for 2025. Consisting of 12 designs, in a rich red, pink and white colour palette, all cards are finished with a luxury gold foil deboss and matched with a luxury red or cream envelope.
Megan Claire 01536 560345 www.meganclairetrade.co.uk
Gardening Tips
A Juicier Crop
Happy Street Cards has swelled its popular Apple Tree Lane range with the addition of 14 new relations cards as well as new everyday and occasions designs joining the line-up. The contemporary designs feature cute icons in fabulously vibrant colours. All 105x150mm, each card comes with a kraft envelope.
Happy Street Cards 07956680935
www.happystreetcards.co.uk
Pennychoo’s owner Sue Lee is an avid gardener, which is wonderfully reflected in the publisher’s new Cottage Garden Quotations collection. The designs feature pretty illustrated borders of old-fashioned, cottage garden blooms framing a gardeninspired quotation. The 150mm square cards are printed on premium matte board and come with colourful envelopes.
Pennychoo contact@pennychoo.com www.pennychoo.com
Reflections Of Love
Roses are red at Apple & Clover as reflected in the publisher’s launch of its Valentine's range. Forming part of its Reflections collection, the 133mmx184mm cards are printed on FSC-accredited board and feature red foil and embossing. Apple & Clover 07790 900976
www.appleandclover.com
Fluff And Feathers
New from Dandelion Stationery is the Oodles of Doodles range. Fluffy and feathery friends are brought to life by the publisher’s designer Meg. Combining watercolour washes with ink, white space and digital manipulation magic, Meg has created cute and playful characters that channel the essence of their real-life counterparts. In a larger size of 133mmx184mm, each card is supplied with a co-ordinating yellow envelope, available naked or cello-wrapped.
Dandelion Stationery 01332 504940 ww.dandelionstationery.co.uk
A Bum Salute
Stormy Knight’s best-selling Bottom's Up card is now available in adult age versions! The original Bottom's Up design has proved so popular since it launched in 2020, that artist Eleonora Arosio has created designs featuring new ladies, complete with celebratory beverages to mark a host of adult milestone ages.
Stormy Knight 0117 9098684
www.stormyknight.co.uk
A selection of fabulous new products to pep up retailers’ displays.
Shine On
Zingy vivid patterns and gorgeous foil elements in silver and gold feature in Ohsoshiny, a brand new range from Pink Pig. Including over 50 designs for birthdays and occasions, all 127x177mm in size, the cards are printed on 300gsm FSC-accredited board, using recyclable foil and come with a recycled ekokraft envelope.
Pink Pig 07795574548 www.pinkpigcards.co.uk
Cutie Pies
Nature’s Calling
Alice’s Garden is one of a trio of ranges Cinnamon Aitch is all set to launch. The 12 designs celebrate nature with sensitively hand-painted illustrations that travel across concertina cards, navigating intricately die-cut shapes and apertures. There are also complementary little card packs, notebooks, eco soaps and lip balms.
Cinnamon Aitch 0121 773 6833 ww.cinnamonaitch.co.uk
The Aww! So Cute new children’s card range from Alljoy Design is… so cute! Suitable for kids of all ages each of these playful cards feature an interactive part to add to the fun. The collection of 125mmx175mm cards includes designs that are suitable for birthdays as well as general celebration. They will be available for delivery from mid January.
Alljoy Design +(0)1 630 1213 www.alljoydesign.com
Blooming Lovely
Rose Garden is the latest range from Heather Trefusis Art. The 18 new handpainted everyday cards all have elements of foliage woven into the designs. All 150mm square, the cards are accompanied by recycled kraft envelopes. They are available nested or cellowrapped.
Heather Trefusis Art 07946 605564 www.heathertrefusisart.com
The Velvet Touch
Jonny Javelin is releasing its biggest ever package for January 2025. As part of this, are 63 new designs joining its ever popular Velvet collection. These designs are inspired by suggestions from the whole JJ crew, from its retail customers to its sales force, office team and designers. The new additions span three different price points and include a mix of finishes. The higher price codes also include colour printed inserts.
The Jonny Javelin Card Company 01423 563740 www.jonnyjavelin.co.uk
Feline Groovy
Animals Café is a new collection of blank art cards that is set to debut from ArtPress featuring the art of Natalia Shaloshvili. After starting her career as a fashion and editorial illustrator, Natalia found her true creative passion in children’s books and paintings. Her animal characters, from cats to frogs, dogs to chickens, look out at the world with wideeyed curiosity.
ArtPress Publishing 020 7231 2923
www.art-press.co.uk
London’s South Kensington is famed for being the home of the V&A, Natural History Museum and Science Museum, but it also has another much-loved historic treasure trove - the awardwinning, Medici Gallery shop.
Having delighted Londoners as well as tourists with its phenomenal greeting card selection and exuberant window displays since the 1930s, fingers and toes are currently crossed that TfL’s redevelopment plans which would force the quirky card retailing landmark to move, do not come to fruition any time soon.
PG enjoyed a behind the scenes catch up with Tim Reynolds, retail manager and Charlie Wheatley, assistant manager.
How do you get the contents of Mr McGregor’s garden, Peter Rabbit and chums, outsize cut outs of Van Gogh, a harvest of sunflowers and/or a feast of Frida Kahlo accoutrements into a London taxi? Just ask Tim Reynolds and Charlie Wheatley, the frontmen of Medici Gallery as they know no
fear, such is their passion to re-purpose any props from The Retas greeting card retailing awards, or anywhere else for that matter that can be put to good use to add to the theatre of the store.
“We don’t have a budget for props so anything interesting that we can salvage from skips or items people throw away are potential treasures for Medici Gallery,” says Tim Reynolds, whose creative mastery encompasses calligraphy, the ability to pimp up his many PG Live Golden/Silver and Sunshine tickets as well as curating a showstopping array of greeting cards from hundreds of different publishers.
It comes as no surprise to learn that Tim’s thesis for his graphic design degree, several moons ago, was on Christmas cards. “It does very much feel like I was meant to join Medici,” says Tim, with a knowing chuckle.
A wedding favour
Wedding cards are a big part of greeting card stores, but Medici Gallery took it to the next level a few months ago by hosting the wedding photos!
“That was a first for us,” said Charlie, still unable to quite believe what happened. “A couple getting married using our ‘back garden’ as a backdrop – it was absolutely fabulous!”
It all came about as Charlie happened to go out of the shop to see a wedding couple being posed by their photographer using the shop as the background.
“So, I invited them in, mentioning we had a courtyard, which would make a great backdrop.”
So, the wedding party trooped through the store and downstairs to the small, but perfectly formed courtyard where its vibrant blue paint, lush green plants and colourful decorations contrasted nicely with the traditional white dress and cream suit.
“It’s not an unusual thing for people to have a photo taken outside our shop, but to have a wedding couple was a first for us, but I did miss a trick as I completely forgot to give them a wedding card and we stock so many lovely ones!” said Charlie.
Above: Medici’s courtyard oasis was the perfect backdrop for the wedding couple.
Left: The Advents festooned Medici window.
Below: The whole of the back room of the shop was a haven to Advents in the run up to December 1.
Tattersfield’s great Medicine
Medici Gallery has been the best Medicine for designer and publisher Jane Tattersfield as the indie retailer’s championing of the brand led to a fashion tie-up.
And it all came about because of PG Live and the South Kensington indie store’s proximity to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum!
“This is very much Tim’s shop. He doesn’t own it, but he ‘owns it’. It is like he lives here!” states Charlie from what must be one of the most memorable ‘staff rooms’; littered with found objects which leads out to the unexpected bijou courtyard garden.
Charlie joined the store team in 2008, from its sibling Cork Street Gallery. “I was also running an artists’ agency at the time. I effectively started as a handyman, but as I also have a love for product, so my role has developed,” Charlie sums up.
A man of many talents, indeed on the day of PG’s visit, Charlie had worked his magic with a paintbrush titivating the stairway and then donned his grand administration ‘cloak’ to check off the many orders in readiness of them joining the Christmas wonderland upstairs that has been in full flow for months.
“We do have a lot of regular customers, but half of our customer base are tourists, many of whom come to us every year from the summer onwards to stock up for Christmas –hence the reason we dedicate our whole back room to Advents and Christmas cards while the sun is still high in the sky,” explains Tim.
The shop itself dates back to 1870, as the mouldings in the ‘back room’ testify. It came into the Medici ownership in the 1930s as a retailer of art supplies, counting many famous artists (including Frances Bacon) among its customers and has evolved into the greeting card and gift cornucopia it is today. Cards and prints featuring treats from Medici’s own artistic archive, such as those based on art by Molly Brett and Racey Helps snuggle into the selection alongside modern day masters, such as Jane Tattersall Designs (see breakout) and Special Delivery’s depictions of the Royal family – “that we order 70 cards at a time,” quantifies Charlie of the latter.
Sadly, the quaint blue fronted shop which has meant so much to so many, and must be
Medici has stocked Tattersfield Designs since Tim fell in love with Jane’s cards at PG Live 2018 and immediately spent the shop’s Golden Ticket with the publisher, saying: “My first impression of her artwork was of how strikingly bold they were, using full-on colours, mostly of animals, birds and flowers. Her artwork stands out from the rest.”
The retailer has stocked Jane’s cards and matching tea towels ever since, with the strikingly vibrant cards continuing to attract the eyes of many of its loyal customers as well as those who walk past on their way to and from the major museums nearby. One of these passersby happened to be the project coordinator from Polish fashion brand Medicine, which has over 100 stores, who spotted the cards in Medici on their way from visiting the V&A.
They made contact with Jane and a collaboration ensued, the first collection of clothing and accessories having been a great success with more to follow.
As Tim says: “It goes to show, anything might come yourv way if you’re able to produce something unique and appealing like Jane’s cards.”
in the running for England capital’s oldest greeting card store has a proverbial sword of Damocles hanging over its head as TfL has published plans for the South Kensington tube station that is immediately adjacent to accommodate step-free access, which would force Medici and the other businesses in its parade to close.
“Yes, it would be incredibly sad, as this is a lovely building and we have been here for so
many years, but we would find somewhere nearby and carry on, so you don’t need to find a home for future years Retas’ props quite yet!” said Tim, with a positive glint in his eye.
Above: Jane Tattersall has enjoyed the wonderful collaboration with Medicine. Below right: Tim Reynolds loved Jane’s designs at PG Live in 2018.
Above: Medici’s Tim Reynolds (centre) with The Art File’s Ged (right) and James Mace at the 2023 Van Goghthemed Retas event, with many of the props now residing at the Kensington store.
Right: What other card shop would have a toilet like this?! Below: Charlie Wheatley in his full ordering/sorting cloak and hat.
Art Source
Amy-ing High
Watching horror movies, visiting antique shops, collecting picture books, playing video games, listening to obscure lo-fi mixes and daydreaming about adopting a pup, are just some of the ways artist and illustrator Amy Hodkin spends her time when she is not in creative mode, all of which add to the colour and diversity of her designs.
PG checks in with Yorkshire-based Amy to find out more about her creative journey.
“I’ve been excited by creativity for as long as I can remember as it has always provided me with a sense of escapism. When I was younger I went through various different creative hobbies including playing the violin for a few years until it felt uncool, creating graphics on the family computer after discovering Paintshop Pro and organising photoshoots for my blog that I updated regularly. I think I only had about five people read it including my family, but I did it out of joy!
When I left school I went on to study Fashion and Clothing at college. My tutor knew how much I loved drawing and image making, so instead of going on to study fashion design at a higher level she recommended that I look into surface pattern design instead. I’m so grateful to her for pushing me in this direction, as I never would have known about it otherwise.
Following an Art Foundation year, I went on to study Printed Textiles and Surface Pattern Design at Leeds Arts University. I can never fully express how much I loved this course and how inspiring it was to be a part of. The importance of drawing was instilled into me by the tutors from the very beginning and I never stopped. They taught me so many things that I can’t even list all of them: colour theory, trend research, and most importantly how to be a professional designer working in the creative industries. I feel lucky that throughout my childhood and time in education I was always encouraged to pursue a creative career, and it was instilled into me that there is a huge market for art and design in the world.
WANT TO BE FEATURED?
In 2019 I started my Masters in Illustration through Falmouth University. At the time I was struggling to find where I wanted to exist in the world as an artist, and it didn’t help that I was battling with my mental health too. I was trying to force myself into boxes that I thought I needed to fit into. By the end of the course I realised that staying true to myself was the key to happiness all along, and I embraced my love of drawing cute and colourful decorative artwork.
I’m so thankful that I embraced my true self, because in 2022 I gained representation with my dream agency: Advocate Art! I think it’s true when they say draw what you love, as your passion really does shine through. This is when my career in art licensing really began, and I’m so grateful for the encouragement and opportunities it has given me so far. My champion agent Amanda really understands my style and my strengths, and she is always briefing me on a variety of greeting card projects which are my favourite to work on.
I love being able to transform a blank page into something colourful, beautiful and unique. Currently I enjoy working on my iPad as it’s so easy to play with colour which is an integral part of my work. I still like to bring a hand-drawn feeling to my style so I tend to use textural digital brushes and mimic analogue techniques. I’m inspired by naive art, intricate ceramics, beautiful textiles, vintage picture books and the magic of nature.
I feel like I’m only at the beginning of my long (and hopefully fruitful!) career in art licensing, but the best part about my job is not knowing what project will pop up in my inbox tomorrow – it can be so exciting! I’m looking forward to continually working with Advocate Art, and I will hopefully see my artwork on lots more products in the future.”
l Amy Hodkin is represented by Advocate Art for licensing and commissions.
Left: Although originally from the Midlands, Amy now lives and works from her studio in Yorkshire.
Right: A fun approach to an occasions card design. Below right: Amy weaves text into many of her designs.
Above right: Some festive magic from Amy. Middle right: Colour mixes have always been a strong point of Amy’s.
Right: A quirky take on a traditional subject matter.
PG ASKED A GROUP OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS
Michelle Kingsnorth, owner of Card Shack in Bristol. Pun fun is big at the indie, which is tucked into an historic shopping arcade along Bristol Broadmead.
“Our bestselling card this year so far is the Fleece Navidad design –we feature prominently in our window display!”
ASKED A TRIO OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS
“Our next bestseller is Mistletoad and Merry Christmoose – also a window feature.”
“Oldermort is the top seller here. If it makes me laugh, I order it.”
“Happy Birthday Old Bean – our customer base just love a good pun!”
Martyna Zoltaszek
“Her studio is based in Bristol, all her colourful cards sell well – she does puns too!”
Caroline Ranwell, owner of Hugs & Kisses in Tettenhall. Christmas cards are going down a storm at the attractive card and gift shop in a Midlands village.
Category
Christmas singles
Name of Publisher
Five Dollar Shake
Wendy Jones-Blackett
Rush Design
Woodmansterne
Great British Card
Company
Christmas boxes and packs
Relations & Occasions
Humour Children’s
Photographic
Gift Wrappings
Product/Name Range Comments
General Christmas
Quicksilver
General Christmas
General Christmas General Christmas
Ling Design
Abacus Cards
The Art File
Woodmansterne
Paperlink
Cinnamon Aitch
Wendy Jones-Blackett
Paperlink
Brainbox Candy
Dean Morris Cards
Rachel Ellen
Abacus Cards
Glick
Primrose Hill
Quicksilver
Bottomline
Wrinklies
General naughty
Cookie Cutters
Star Jumps
Rapture
All products.
“The open Christmas cards and female relation cards just fly out as they are so,so beautiful.
Customers wait for them to be put out.”
“Beautiful foiled cards with bright happy colours at a great price.”
“Christmas relations are really strong, in both normal size and large.”
“The relations cards sell really well too.”
“We’ve had some lovely designs from GBCC this year, all of which are selling well.”
“Ling is always our bestseller. The Art File’s designs are beautiful and very different.
Charity packs from Woodmansterne, Paperlink and The Art File are selling well.”
“Really pretty designs with tiny little crystals.”
“This fantastic range has been a best seller for years!”
“General humour for us has to be Paperlink, and these ranges sell so well for us.”
“We have a Cheeky Box for our more risqué cards which is full of designs from Brainbox Candy and Dean Morris, both of which sell well.”
“Beautiful colourful die-cut designs which really stand out.”
“Lovely photographic images of animals with a humorous caption or beautiful scenic cards.”
“Their designs are so very strong and beautiful quality.”
Right: Five Dollar Shake’s Stargazing.
Right: Martyna Zoltaszek’s bright designs.
Right: Citrus Bunn’s Christmoose.
Right: A sheepish window feature for the Studio Boketto bestseller.
Right: Foiled festive fun from Wendy Jones-Blackett.
Right: Cinnamon Aitch’s pretty crystals.
Below: Glick’s great giftwrap.
Category
Name of Publisher
GBCC Ling Design
Tracks Publishing
Jonny Javelin
Wishing Well
Product/Name
Darkroom
General
Charity boxes
Velvet
Boxed relations
Range Comments
Victoria Nicholson, co-owner of Wishes Of Cockermouth, Cockermouth. Victoria runs the Cumbrian-based shop with mum Fiona Robinson. Christmas Packs & Boxes Christmas Singles
Heyyy Cards
Paperlink
Words ’N’ Wishes IC&G
Hallmark
Hallmark
Jonny Javelin
White Cotton Cards
Lucilla Lavender
Pigment
Cherry Orchard
Second Nature
IC&G
Cherry Orchard
Tracks
Five Dollar Shake
UK Greetings IC&G
Abacus Bug Art
The Gifted Stationery Company
Ziggle
Rachel Ellen
“Always a top choice and beautiful imagery.”
“By far our biggest and bestselling range of Christmas boxes and packs come from Ling, across all its ranges.”
“These have flown off the shelves this year!”
“A classic and firm favourite. Customers come looking specifically for this range.”
“Selling really well this year, and particularly early for boxed cards. Lovely designs and good price point.”
Mistle Towns
General
Serenade
Most Especially For You
Lucy Cromwell
Maurice Moore
Horizons
Diamond hand-painted
wedding cards
Human Bean
General
Moments Of Wonder
Za-zoo Tattoo
Hoo Rae!
Memory Lane
Fluff
Mimosa Moon
Moonlight & Martinis
Boofle
Big Little Love
BBC Countryfile
General
General
Dribble Bibs
General
“Excellent quality and printed with Cockermouth and Cumbria so they're especially popular early sellers for sending away.”
“Beautiful… ticks all the boxes. The colours and finishes stand out so well on the racks.”
“Gorgeous new designs with strong colours and such lovely verses.”
“Popular for the verses. So many of our customers look for words and these hit the spot.”
“A new update on a classic. The new designs are just lovely and fall into that modern traditional category where you can't go wrong.”
“Stunning colours and beautiful verses, just that bit different and so eye-catching.”
“Traditional male cards which are often so hard to find, these are classy and traditional without looking old hat.”
“The option to have any caption printed in these beautiful cards is fantastic. From Parents Of The Bride to From The Dog, all the special captions for weddings have pleased so many customers.”
“Such fun light-hearted cards, customers have become fans of these. We're asked ‘have you got a bean card for....?”
“Pigment is our bestselling humour publisher. Frequent refreshers in all ranges maintains customers’ interest.”
“Beautiful illustrations. The age captions especially are extremely popular.”
“The inclusion of a temporary tattoo adds to the interest of the card - and such a great price point!”
“The design updates on the kids’ age captions have been warmly welcomed, selling the day they arrived!”
“Always!”
“Brings some fun and colour to the age cards.”
“Of all our Five Dollar cards, these are by far the bestsellers. A special send.”
“Still our bestselling cute!”
“Something a little different from the usual cute, and the sweetest designs. The size of the card is popular too.”
“Reordered again and again and again!”
“My current favourite range, stunning cards, customers don't just buy one. The Christmas designs are beautiful too.”
“The price points are spot on and the designs strong and popular.”
“They're just so cute. Great price point, quality and a useful gift.”
“New items have added to the popularity of these fun colourful gifts.”
Right: Differently cute from IC&G.
Right: White Cotton Cards has Victoria’s favourite occasion designs.
Right: Bug Art’s blanks and Christmas offer is a winner.
PRODUCT
CHARITY GREETING CARDS
PRODUCT DIRECTORY l PRODUCT DIRECTORY l PRODUCT DIRECTORY
To
6 Heron Trading Estate Alliance Road, Park Royal, London W3 0RA T: 0208 385 4474 F: 0208 385 4471 E: info@Xpressyourselfcards.co.uk
WWW.XXPRESSYOURSELFCARDS.CO.UK
PRODUCTS: World’s leading publisher of high quality plastic greeting cards. Also an extensive range of quality greeting cards covering Everyday, Occasions, Christmas and Spring seasons.
Products: Greetings Cards, Gift Wrap, Gift Bags, Social Stationery, Partyware Brands: Blossom & Bows Card Essentials Greetings Impressions In Touch
Isabel s Garden Planet Happy Sentiments With You In Mind Word Play Method of sale: Wholesale Distributors
Simon Elvin Limited
Wooburn Industrial Park, Wooburn Green, Bucks HP10 0PE
Tel: 01628 526711 Fax: 01628 531483 www.simonelvin.com mail@simonelvin.com
To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk
BRANDS: Cherished Thoughts, Sweet Sentiments, Buddies Always, Symphony, Thinking of You, Style, Special Wishes, Special Times, Young Editions, Groove Sensations, Forever Blessed, Grey Skies, Classics. METHOD OF SALE: SENSATIONS –Direct to retail XPRESS YOURSELF –Now one of the leading wholesale publisher suppliers in the UK Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk
To appear in the Product Directories contact
Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk
Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact
Tel:01274531828
Email: info@herbertwalkers.co.uk
www.herbertwalkers.co.uk
ading WPL Gifts is a Le equired gents r A
ands includ selling br
aqu ds Pl Woor More than W
aq in Pl Hang Ups T
ants e Pl Lov
acancy 1 Va V
armers Gifts, artw es, He ing Inside Out Mugs, Gift supplier with best Teerritories w Tw in T o T
w and Ne ues and Br
ots. er P Flow
efo ands, Her est Midl We W Woorcestershire, rdshire, W
acancy 2 Va V
Hertfordshire
DESIGNER CARDS WITH DISTINCTIVE STYLE
Matthew Williamson is a British design house renowned for its use of kaleidoscopic colour, intricate patterns and designs inspired by nature and travel.
Please contact us or visit our website for more information.
