“One in four people in the UK will suffer mental illness over the course of their life,” explains Charlotte Reed, the creator behind the May the Thoughts Be With You uplifting and soulful brand, which has just debuted at Spring Fair onto a range of cards and calendars by Danilo who is producing them under licence. “I am genuinely so happy that the cards and calendars are launching, so that they can help people to think more positively and spread awareness of mindfulness.”
Charlotte sums up May the Thoughts Be With You as ‘simple cartoons conveying a soulful message’ with her hand-drawn illustrations coupled with her uplifting philosophical messages having been inspired by her own journey out of depression, when she decided to draw and write a positive message each day as part of her own self-therapy.
Charlotte went on to take a market stall on Portobello Road, selling her artwork and the ‘May the Thoughts Be With You’ book she self-published. Charlotte’s work received an unexpected boost when former chancellor and now London’s Evening Standard editor George Osborne saw her artwork on her stall resulting in one of the May the Thoughts cartoons being published in the newspaper each week.
The recent move into licensing came about as a direct result of Giles Andreae (creator of Purple Ronnie and Edward Monkton and co-creator of Happy Jackson) suggesting (via a mutual friend) that Charlotte needed to go to Brand Licensing Europe trade show if she was interested in licensing onto other products. She then won the License It! competition run by the show last year, which resulted in her being represented by Larkshead Media on the licensing front while a literary agent is close to finalising a deal on a second book, which will be used as the basis of a film about Charlotte’s journey.
Dan Grant, licensing director of Danilo who signed the May the Thoughts brand for greeting cards and calendars said: “Charlotte’s work will strike a chord with so many people and will help to lift the spirits. The sending of cards is very positive anyway, but with her messages they can be even more so.”
Danilo’s initial launch comprises a capsule collection of 10 designs as well as calendars in three formats. Subsequent launches will feature more of the key characters, such as Shoeless Guru and Happy Hippy.
