Greeting card publisher and retailer Jelly Armchair has taken to Kickstarter crowdfunding platform to raise the funds to produce its innovative Pundemic collection of pun-orientated interactive greeting cards – and is well on its way to hitting the target in just three days.
Sisters Liz and Cat Faulkner, who co-own the Cheltenham-based card publishing that is well known for its pun-based designs, hit upon the idea of producing the three fold greeting card concept as a result of Faulkner family ‘quiz nights’ during lockdown as well as positive reactions they received to the ‘guess the pun’ games they posted on Instagram on various themes, from films to celebs.
As Liz told PG Buzz: “It all started with Cat trying to cheer people up by putting guess the pun games on Instagram during lockdown and they’ve been incredibly popular ever since.
We thought people who’ve been playing along every week may well be up for helping us to bring this project to life – so far it looks like that’s the case!”
Banging the drum for tangible greeting cards, Liz highlighted that while the games have proved very popular on Instagram not everyone is active on these channels. “In 2020, I don’t think social media is enough.”
The sisters, who started Jelly Armchair five years ago, decided to try the Kickstarter route to fund the Pundemic range as the format and print requirements mean that it is way more expensive to produce than their normal greeting card collections.
Click here to see their pitch (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyarmchair/pundemictm-a-greetings-card-game-that-packs-a-pun-ch)
The cards in the Pundemic collection each feature four illustrated guess the film or guess the celebrity games per card, based on illustrations by Cat. The answer to each is hidden under a lift and reveal style flap. The card opens out to a framed ‘blank’ inside section, for a message. The front of the card is held together with an interlocking system, which can be opened out into a full three side spread. The inside of this is packed full of silly jokes, a little extra detail about the answers, and another secret guess the pun game.
“We have to pay for a customised die to be made for the cards as well as for the envelopes and we also have to produce them using litho printing rather than digital so our upfront costs are higher than digital printing,” explains Liz, md of the business.
Both Liz and Cat bring the concept to life, stress the importance of greeting cards, the strong environmental credentials of the product as well as the reactions from the public to the concept as they took it to the streets of Cheltenham, in their pitch on the Kickstarter platform.
Liz says making the film for Kickstarter, was “definitely one of the most nerve wracking experiences I’ve had since starting the company,” but says that she and Cat hope “it will prove the demand for the product and not only take the risk out for us but also for our buyers as they’ll be able to see the popularity of the games.”
The signs are most definitely encouraging for its ‘greeting card game that packs a pun-ch’
as in less than three days of launching its crowdfunding pitch going live, the company is only 35% away from its target of £3,900, having received over 110 backers with still 26 days to go.
Backers can get involved for as little as £5. As well as the cards themselves, extra rewards backers can receive (dependent on amount pledged) include signed, limited edition prints of their favourite pun illustration from the range – a choice of one of the 32 Guess the Film/Celebrity illustrations, printed and then signed by Cat, with an A4 mount ready to confound and amuse the guests in any room where it is on display.
Jelly Armchair is to also produce a Zine (magazine book) which will feature all puns from the first collection of cards – 32 puns in total – so that if they give all the cards away the backer can still play the games themselves.
Jelly Armchair’s Pundemic Kickstarter campaign runs until Thursday 19 November.
Top: (left) Cat and Liz Faulkner says 2020 has been a ‘load of old pollocks’!
