unfold uk

f off

I'm not quite sure why, but I've been feeling a bit aggressive lately.  Maybe that explains my fascination with greeting cards that are a bit profane - but in the nicest possible way.  Sure, anyone can throw the f- word on a card for mere shock value, but the clever bit is juxtaposing this anti-sentiment with a wholesome, prim image.   Ann Taintor has done this design/copy flip-flop for a while now, but the artists I'm interested in take it a step - ok, several steps - further.

 

I first saw O PLUS D [above - I've written the words larger so you can read them] at NY's National Stationery Show several years ago.  Since then, Olga Krigman [the O part of O PLUS D; husband Daniil is the D] has added lots of new designs that I really love.   

   

In the UK, Dean Morris has been using stock images in ways the photographers probably never imagined.  The interesting thing about Dean's designs is that they are sold everywhere in the UK, which illustrates a key difference between the US & UK markets.  You'd rarely walk into a mainstream American card shop and see his wickedly funny cards displayed in full view.  And that's a damn shame.

O Plus D proves that you don't need photos to get the same effect - clever copy and almost prissy design works just as well:

be a birder

one to watch:

I've been an Amanda Seymour fan for a long time.  Her awesome bird illustrations have more personality than half the people I know... better make that three-quarters. 

I've been talking about how US designers are extending their brands across different product categories.  I haven't seen as much of that here in the UK, at least not yet - and I'm not quite sure why.  Maybe Americans are just more commercial.  And it's not always a wise, since putting an image on lots of disparate products can definitely cheapen a brand.

Amanda's designs, however, are perfectly portable - they could work almost anywhere. They do appear on some products, but I want to see more.  I love the greeting cards and since I'm partial to paper, I'd also love to see stationery, invitations, journals, post-its, prints...  These avian wonders would also be terrific on tees, onesies, and textiles of all kinds.  Ultimately, these babies need to come to life:  let's get them up on the big screen!  Can you say film franchise? 

Any licensor with half a brain should jump all over these guys.  Amanda, don't forget the little people when you're flying off to your fourth film premiere...

trendy tots & tees

My last post highlighted some artists who incorporate their designs on different media - such as prints, tees, baby onesies, housewares, etc.  Obviously it's different for every artist, but the general design progression that I've noticed begins with either a print or a greeting card, extends to other paper products such as notesets and gift wrap and then jumps to the apparel category. 

Uncooked's handiwork, above.

There are two main reasons for this.  One, the gift shop retailer who purchases greeting cards and stationery oftentimes carries baby gifts as well, and onesies [in UK speak: babygrows] are among the most popular of these.  Two, cotton apparel is cheap to source and easy to customize.   As far as brand extensions go, it makes sense.  Daniela Vitale of Girasole [below] offers her designs on stationery and lots of other things, like the onesie below.  I love the way Daniela designs her envelopes, too - such a great touch.

Monica Anderson from Remanents says that she decided to print her images on tees [below] after she wore one to a school function and everyone asked where they could get one for themselves. Opportunity spotted ... and seized!

all work and no play

It seems as though more artists are multitasking these days.  At last month's Stationery Show in New York, I noticed that more exhibitors were featuring their designs across a wider range of products, instead of focusing specifically on paper products.  Designers have been doing this for a long time, but I'm seeing a lot more of the smaller, more sophisticated artists branching out this way than I have in the past. Sometimes these 'line extensions' work, sometimes they don't.

When items such as pillows, dishes, notebooks, greeting cards and prints carry the same type of design and are displayed together in a booth, the effect can be really beautiful.  Alicia Peck of Bella Muse does this well. 

   

Alicia uses vintage icons and clever typography to illustrate paper goods as well as tees, prints and onesies. Here she uses the bee icon from one of her card designs on a women's tee. Not everything translates in every medium, so she chooses carefully. Not surprisingly, I prefer wall prints which are either inspiration for or inspired by designers' greeting cards and stationery. I'm a huge fan of Brian Reed's letterpess designs for Old School Stationers. They are eye-catching, original and saturated with color.  Gorgeous.

The image on the left is a wall print - I 'borrowed' this image from Rare Device, where you can buy it. On the right is one of my favorite greeting card designs.

No one can accuse Karin Spraggs and Adrienne Wong from Superdeluxe of lacking talent - far from it. They have a popular store in nyc and they group their products by design instead of type, which illustrates the brand's tagline a bespoke life.

My only gripe?  I wish they went a little deeper and offered several more selections in each design.  When merchandised together [like the serving plate and menu cards and place cards, above], as I'm sure they're intended to be, it works beautifully.  But what about the smaller stationery stores or websites that only sell paper and don't sell pillows or plates?  By not offering just a little more depth, they are leaving money on the table.

if you've got it

Each year, America's Greeting Card Association gives out the Louie award at New York's Stationery Show.  There are lots of categories and entrants fall into either the over $3.00 category or $3.00 and under.  While I do pay attention to the awards, I also get a bit skeptical of their scope when the same publishers and designers win year after year after year after year.  After year.  If one more Meri-Meri card wins I'm going to scream. 

Sometimes true stars break through, however, as was the case this year.  I won't say I called it, but hey, I called it.  Jennifer Parker of Canopy Cards won an award for her super-creative and very sweet Baby Love Letters.  I'm glad to say that Shannon Barnes of Flaunt, an all-around awesome chick who designs awesome cards, took a Louie home too!  That's the award-winning design, left, and that would be Miss Shannon, right.  But you knew that.

She had a pretty packed week, since she also taught America how to design the Flaunt way on none other than The Martha Stewart Show... where does this girl find the time? While appearing with Martha was probably great and all, the first question I asked her was not about her very cool experience but about... Aidan Quinn. He was on the show too and I am madly in love with him, so of course I do have priorities [paper... Aidan... you decide]. In her words, he's 'ultra-hot in person and his eyes are totally dreamy.'   Can't beat that. Here's some more of Shannon's fab work:

the gloves are off

Artists are starting to tell it like it is.  Walking the aisles of the National Stationery Show recently, I noticed a growing number of greeting cards whose sentiments were anything but sappy.  It's a trend I welcome wholeheartedly, since I never met a sarcastic person I didn't like.

I wouldn't describe Julianna Holowka's Mean Cards as sarcastic, exactly; nor are they mean as their name implies.  They are honest, simple, poignant and funny.  Julianna's from the midwest and now lives in Philadelphia designing home accessories including lampshades, pillows and prints.  She recounted to me how her first greeting card designs were born out of desperation - broke and unemployed, she blew what little money she had left on art supplies and expressed herself on paper.  I wish all therapy was this productive - I'd be a millionaire by now.   I love this card, which reminds us that it will make everything all better.  Martinis usually do.

For the raw foodies among you comes uncooked.  The duo behind uncooked, Natalie and Armand, are animators and have done work for MTV.  I really like their style, while I can't say I'm a huge fan of the copy on the cards.  I want to like it, but I just don't connect with this:

But some of them, like this one, I find really funny.  Regardless, they are certainly clever and are most certainly not Hallmark.   Thank God.

ones to watch:  The guys from Bald Guy Greetings are flat out great. In their former lives, they worked for advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners on the west coast.  Now, at their second Stationery Show, they've seen the greeting-card light. Ian Kalman is a wordsmith with a wicked sense of humor and Sean Farrell is an incrediby talented illustrator who would make Edward Gorey proud.  Together they produce the funniest cards I've seen in a while - but funny isn't really the right word. Witty, clever, dry, subversive... maybe I'll just shut up and let you decide for yourself. 

 

For the record, Ian is the bald guy and Sean fulfills the hirsute quotient with a full head of hair, beard and mustache.  I bet they are a blast at parties.