Alice Scott brand goes back to its roots bringing Scottish humour to Pigment
Scott by name and Scot by nature, Heather Flynn has come up with a special collection of cards from her Alice Scott brand that reflect her homeland.
And the resounding “Och Aye!” from Pigment’s creative director Martin Powderly and the team meant the range of eight cards went straight into production when Heather showed off her ideas.
“When I launched Alice Scott, it came from a desire to write cards in casual, contemporary language,” she explained, “cards that said just what I want to say, the way I’d actually say it, whether humour or sentiment.
“Creating this Scottish collection has very much been an extension of that aim but, of course, playing with the humour and expressions us Scots are known for.”
Drawing on her childhood north of the border, Heather only moved south when she landed her first job in greeting cards back in 2001, but the draw of home proved too much and three years ago she moved her family from London back to Glasgow.
Although she’s designed a fair few cards over the past couple of decades, there have been none from a specific Scots’ angle so she decided it was time to correct that.
Pigment has published many Irish and Welsh language designs in the past, and Martin felt this one was definitely overdue, adding: “Alice Scott has been a game changer for Pigment over the past decade. When Heather suggested adding these Scottish-themed designs into the range for our Scottish customers, we jumped on the idea.”
Sandy Rae, Pigment’s independent sales manager, is another Hibernian and will be sharing with the new designs with the publisher’s Scottish independent retailers this month. “But I won’t be surprised if ultimately a few of these designs reach a wider audience,” predicts Martin.
Sandy himself gave the thumbs up: “The Alice Scott range has always done well for us in Scotland and now having the new designs with a Scottish lilt to them alongside our ever-popular Pigment humour is fantastic.”
With her personal favourite being the 500 Miles design, which riffs on The Proclaimers’ much-loved anthem with what she considers to be a reasonable addition, Heather admits she’s had a lot of fun putting the Scots into the captions, and she said: “There are truly too many fabulous Scots expressions to fit into this initial range and so many designs I’d love to add. So, I’m excited to see where this goes – haste ye back for an update next year!”
