New Products

Just for a laugh

There’s always something new happening and that’s definitely true on the humour card front – so check out these fab fresh funny releases!

High in fibre

To whet your appetite this spring, Bewilderbeest is releasing its new Wild Bites range, featuring eight recipe and foodthemed daft cards, from Beef Wellington to Crab Cakes. They look good enough to eat – don’t actually eat them, although they are high in fibre...paper fibre!

Above: Bewilderbeest’s designs are good enough to eat.

Adding another dimension

Super Fab is the new card range by Earlybird, which features some funny puns and typography to accompany vibrant neon colours.

Founder and designer Dom Early started off as a humour artist so explains why he wanted to revisit the genre: “When I was younger (a while ago now!) my card artwork was all humour based, it started the business off really, so it’s great to do some more so we could add another dimension to the Earlybird portfolio.

“I wanted to combine our striking neon look with some amusing imagery and, so far, they have been very popular. I think the vibrancy really catches people's eyes but also the funny sentiments hit the spot.”

Printed on 350 gsm FSC accredited board, these designs come with a kraft fleck envelope and are embossed and spot UV finished along with the neon inks. Earlybird's printer Hartgraph is also carbon balanced and only uses vegetable-based inks.

Below: Earlybird’s typography and puns.

“In the studio, we’re big fans of the TV series Schitt’s Creek. It’s great for a quick pickme-up after a long day! We’ve actually worked on a range of cards featuring some of the main characters for our publishing brand Sunshine Llama with designer Ellie Purdy.

They’re really popular, so we know we’re not the only ones obsessed with the show!”

Lucy Nicholson, Lucy Maggie Designs and Sunshine Llama

Extremely relatable

Relatable is the latest card range from Brainbox Candy and has been going down a storm since its launch.

Featuring captions everyone can relate to and a lip-smackingly gorgeous colour palette, the designs are finished with a very touchy feely emboss and UV finish, die-cut and come with a candystriped bespoke envelope.

It’s like being a kid in a sweet shop with these 20 designs!

Right: Sentiments to relate to from Brainbox Candy.

Keep going on about it

At Lucy Maggie Designs, the cards are known for their cheeky humour and new 2022 designs – an extension to the main card range – are certainly no exception.

Founder Lucy Nicholson said: “Our favourite design from the new releases has to be our Birthday Month card, because it’s just so relatable! We all have that friend – let’s face it, we all have many friends – who likes to make a meal out of a birthday, whether it’s a big birthday or not.

“We’re also really fond of some of the new Love cards, but perhaps we shouldn’t mention the captions on those!”

Right: Lucy Maggie adds more cheeky humour.

Getting stuck in

War isn’t the best inspiration for funny cards, or any cards really,” said Deadpan Cards’

Nick Padmore, “but we’ve got a bunch of new cards coming out soon that get stuck into some of the more commercial dates in the diary, like Mother’s and Father’s Day and Valentine’s. Please don’t point out that two of those dates have already come and gone!”

Left: Deadpan hit the more commercial dates.

Kinder humans all round

As everything was hugely affected by the pandemic, humour has also changed and Paperlink has brought the language of the Covid crisis into its new Love Train range.

Paperlink managing director Emma Young said: “It’s not just because it created a whole new way of life that we needed to find humour in to stay sane – see Working From Home from our new Love Train range – but it feels like we all got to know each other better.

“We were at home more and imploring each other to `stay safe` most days. I think we have come out the other side as kinder humans all round and this too is reflected in humour. “At Paperlink we now keep most humour super positive and kind in content. Staying with the positivity theme, cards about ageing are less about being wrinkly and creaky and more about still being out there and up for it. “Women don’t feel the need to shy away from being older because they still look fabulous however old they are, and men don’t need to get out the pipe and slippers because they’re still having adventures. Our new range Bowling For Soup was created with this in mind – like our Ageing Disgracefully card. Overall, it’s all about respect across the board.”

Above and left: Bowling For Soup and Love Train reflect post-pandemic humour.

Ready for a “I flippin' love the comedian threesome

and poet Tim Key – he When Pink Pig included a fun writes top level golfing card in one of its ranges, customers had such a giggle it nonsense!” was an instant hit, so it made Bewilderbeest’s chief sense to expand the style into a nitwit Ian Hamilton complete new range featuring lots of other sports and pastimes, and Three Up was born. The new range features comical illustrations of characters enjoying hobbies such as fishing, cycling, paddle boarding and more. “I think everyone can identify with someone in one of the designs,” said founder Mabel Forsyth, “maybe a male family member in his fetching Lycra gear, or a pal who never misses her

Zumba class!” There are 10 male and 10 female designs at present, with plans to extend the range very soon. Cards are all 150x150mm, and sold in packs of six cello-wrapped or naked with eko-kraft envelopes.

Above: Three’s not a crowd at Pink Pig.

Raves, robots and The Terminator

Dom Greyer at Lesser Spotted Images has just published another 12 cards in the Jim'll Paint It range.

The new designs include Ultimate 90s – all the heroes and villains of the 90s gathered together for the biggest illegal rave that never was!

There’s also Robots – the iconic Beatles album cover reimagined with robots from down the years. Let us introduce you to Lt Cdr Data's Metal Hearts Club Band!

And there’s Vegan Terminator – the Terminator accidentally arrives at a vegan cyclists’ cafe instead of a biker bar.envelopes.all about respect across the board.”

Colourful and quirky

The Art File’s brand-new Pabuku collection is both quirky and funny, combining both visual design and words to get a laugh. Stern-looking men in tutus and quips about crazy cat ladies are just some of the joys that can be found within this collection.

Ulla Kopf and Ute Baurecker, the talented creators of Pabuku, fiercely believe that “normal is just an illusion”. This collection is for anyone who loves the bold and unapologetic, is openminded, and enjoys a bit of fun. The cards are finished with neon orange ink and come with bright orange and green envelopes, dependent on the design.

One of The Art File’s wellestablished and popular humour card collections is Snap To Grid, which was shortlisted for a Henries award in Best Contemporary Trend Range. It’s a colourful collection by Heather Flynn featuring no rude ’n’ crude, just cheeky – and extremely relatable! – cards to make your pals smile.

Above: The Art File’s completely different ranges.

I only walk with Queens

Barking up the right tree Join the Booze Cruise

Cath Tate has added to its best-selling PhotocatsandCanines range. Featuring philosophical felines and poetic pooches! These are a collection of dogs and cats with a sense of humour. In the new designs there is even a corgi fit for a Queen, just in time for the June Jubilee! All printed on 100% recycled paper.

Above: Her Majesty would approve on this Cath Tate design.

Taking it gentle

Very well known for its cheeky humour, publisher Go La La! has a gentler new range set for launch at PG Live, with founder Laura Kavanagh bring out a set of fresh designs in the Strudel collection.

Right: Strudel is Go La La!’s latest launch. Poet And Painter gin enthusiast and designer Bryn Dineen has just put the finishing touches to a new collection called Booze Cruise, which will be launched at PG Live. “In vino veritas as we all know,” Bryn laughed, “and there are often some great (beer) belly laughs to be had, and the only thing about the cards that isn’t recycled are the jokes!

“We’re also extending our keystone Motley collection, there are plenty of new silly smiley designs for both occasion and everyday consumption. Very much looking to pressing the flesh at PG Live – (whisper it) our favourite of all the trade shows.”

All cards are 150x150mm, on matt FSC-approved stock, and are available naked, with eco clasp, or in biodegradable cello wraps.

Above: No recycled jokes on Bryn’s designs

Enjoy the shenanigans

HEADING HEADING

From giant sharks to amorous facehugging aliens, the Deleted Scenes collection by The Grey Earl has everything for the film fan in your life. Being all about the big screen, this range perfect for movielovers and cinema-goers and also has the right credentials of being made in the UK, printed on FSC-accredited paper, and contained in eco-friendly packaging. Above: The Grey Earl has scenes you’d like to see.

“We’d have to go for some brilliant

female comedians – currently in

love with Katherine Ryan (pictured), Joanne McNally, Meg Stalter and Judi Love.”

Rosie Tate, Cath Tate Cards

Shenanigans is Twizler’s brand-new humour range for 2022 and, after a successful launch at Spring Fair, the team is excited to bring it to PG Live in June. Twizler’s Laura Murphy said: “The humour is fun and breezy with beautifully drawn and realistic images to add something a little different to your portfolio of cards – and ours!” Above: Twizler has fun with realistic images

Comical creations benefit charity

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards were dreamed up by professional photographers Tom Sullam and Paul Joynson-Hicks in Tanzania with the aim of creating a light-hearted photographic competition that would celebrate animals while also raising conservation and environmental issues.

UK Greetings has developed a card range which features stunning highquality funny animal photos submitted by photographers worldwide, paired with funny but simple easy-purchase edit and, each year, a percentage of revenue goes to support charities with sustainability and conservation goals.

With literally thousands of competition entries annually, the end result is a truly spectacular offering with great rack appeal across stand alone, adult age and integrated captions.

Tom said: “It’s fantastic to see the competition images reproduced so brilliantly on cards, as the images really do lend themselves to some great sends and we have many, many favourites among the range!

“As well as the contributing photographers, who directly benefit from the sales and exposure of the cards, some of the most endangered animals in the world will also be supported through card sales of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, which is wonderful and fitting outcome.”

UKG also offers the Quip Art range which takes a little inspiration from the Monty Python Animations, while seeking to bring to life various humorous situations with etched Victorian character artwork and each design features different animated elements or pop-ups.

Right: UKG offers pop-ups and photographs.