6 minute read
The Henries Finalists
Hooray for The Henries
Shiny shiny sexy sexy simplicity
Brainbox Candy co-founders (and buffoons) Ben Hickman and Mark Williams: “As with any of our ranges, at the initial design stage we always set out to create something completely different to anything we’ve designed before. We’ve used special finishes on some of our ranges in the past such as embossing and spot UV.
“We regularly use a bright and fun colour palette so, for a change, on Quotish we opted to go for a beautiful uncoated white card with shiny shiny gold foil typography. So shiny in fact, that all the magpies in town were tapping on the studio window.
“This forced the captions to work harder but the simplicity was eye catching, especially alongside the sexy, sexy bespoke black and gold envelope. It’s like the range got all dressed up in its poshest frock to go to the Henries themselves, just without the monumental hangovers that we get from such an event. After all, there’s no reason why humour cards shouldn’t look and feel gorgeous too, right Malcolm? Malcolm? “Since the Henries shenanigans, the success of the range has continued to grow with Age cards, Seasonal and Occasions being introduced.”
Winning at The Henries awards is a great achievement for any publisher, and the Best Humorous Range is one of the most hotly- Above: Rosie Harrison (left), founder of Rosie contested categories with Rosie Made A Thing taking the 2021 Made a Thing collecting the Henries 2021 title, beating off the challenge from Bold & Bright, Brainbox Candy, trophy from Hyve’s Alison Graham, sponsor of this award category. Emotional Rescue, Pigment Productions, and Redback Cards. Here PG recaps on all six finalists and where they’re headed now. Making sense of humour Collaborating with creatives has proven beneficial for the lean, mean, product-focused humour machine that is the Emotional Rescue operation, and one of the publisher’s latest link-ups has been with Paper Salad founders Karen Wilson and Claire Williams. Above and left: Daft capers from Not known for humour in their Ben and Mark own right, the ladies collaborated with with their finalist range Quotish. Emotional Rescue – where the team Below: Colourful is always learning and adapting to collaboration at Emotional Rescue. what the good old British public likes to have a good giggle at – and together they produced The Henries finalist Is It Friday Yet? collection. With the tagline being “making sense of humour”, Emotional Rescue cards are 100% recyclable, designed and produced in the UK.
Obsessed with miniatures
As a three-time Henries finalist, Bold & Bright founder Thea Musselwhite knows her Janice & Jeffrey range hits the sweet spot for humour cards.
She explained: “The range started right back in 2017 but, due to having young children, I didn’t really get around to doing anything with my ideas until 2019. I’ve collected miniature things since I was about six years old, so I have a bit of an obsession with it. Being able to use lots of my pieces in the cards is brilliant. “I launched my range at PG Live in 2019 – that was my first trade show and it had a great response, and really took off from there. I’ve been a Henries finalist three times now. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, haha! “I feel very fortunate that I’ve had such a good response to my range in the short time I’ve been going. Nothing like a global pandemic to slow things down, so I feel really grateful that it’s all managed to keep going and keep growing. “I’m still a very small set up. It’s just me working from home, but I have someone who stores and packs all my cards for me.”
Left: Bold & Bright’s Thea Musselwhite with her designs
“We were very big fans of Sean Lock and we’re still devastated that he’s no longer with us :( A true comedy genius. Bob Mortimer is thankfully still with us and another national treasure. He’s someone we’ve been fans of since the early Vic Reeves days. His Train Guy (pictured) sketches are brilliant, I mean someone knight this guy already. Have a campachoochoo on us yeah?”
Ben Hickman and Mark Williams, Brainbox Candy
Above and below: Team fun from Redback and Cloud Nine.
Cool, colourful and contemporary
Cloud Nine is a cool, colourful, and contemporary card range that tells it like it is! Bursting with humour, the range is full of spoton observations on life, love and more. Redback Cards’ senior designer Luka Webb said: “Launched in 2017, Cloud Nine took inspiration from a foiled marketing flyer that we received. We loved the simplicity and lux look of the foiling, so we started to develop a quote range that expanded on this idea.
“It was important to us that we came up with a concept that was readable from a distance, which would help it stand out on the shelf. After months of testing out fonts, colours and phrases, Cloud Nine was born!
“Since reaching the finals for Best Humour Range at the Henries last year, Cloud Nine has seen more humour and occasions additions and an exciting new colourway, neon coral! We also released some super colourful rainbow ages that are perfect for celebrating those milestone birthdays. “As for where the range is going next, you’ll have to wait and see. But. as always, prepare yourselves for a whole load more laughs!”
A great remedy
“We were delighted to be shortlisted for the 2021 Henries Best Humour range with our
The Life And Times collection,” commented
Stephen Baker, sales and marketing director at Pigment. “It’s our mission to make cards that capture the mood of the time, with words, with art, and usually with a smile – The Life And Times range does that perfectly. It’s been a great hit with all our customers and we will soon be extending the collection into topical relations and occasions.
“Our humour cards offer light-hearted relief from the heaviness of the world at the moment. Sending a humour card to a friend or loved one is a great remedy for the blues!”
Below: Llama love from Pigment.
Alan Auld, Comedy Card Company
Double measure, naturally
Top: Expanding horizons, Rosie Harrison with her Boozy Boards and Happy Hour range (right). “The Gin and Frolics range is inspired by people like you and me,” says Rosie Made A Thing founder and designer Rosie Harrison, “and the everyday nonsense that befalls us. The range has evolved over the years to include more diversity of characters which I think makes the humour more relatable to a wider range of people.
“Since our Henries win last October, we’ve expanded the Gin & Frolics theme, launching our Happy Hour range – concertina cards which fold out to reveal a big old party and a message to make you smile. These have been really popular, as has the development of the range into other stationery and gifts, such as coasters, gift wrap and Boozy Boards.”
