Welsh publisher kicks off greetings industry’s pride celebrations in Cardiff
As 75 cardies get ready to step out at Pride In London tomorrow, 29 June, IG Design Group has already been out there for the Cardiff event.
A team from the Wales-based greeting card, stationery and celebration business represented both IG and Eco Nature, and had a whale of a time at the annual Pride Cymru event over the weekend, 22-23 June, marching through the principality’s capital city.
Thousands took part in Saturday’s 1.4mile parade, which marked its 25th anniversary with performances across two stages in the grounds of Cardiff Castle.
The greeting card industry is fully embracing the event this year with the GCA having organised for 75 marchers to take part in tomorrow’s Pride In London event – clinching a prime spot, right at the front of the 32,000 marchers – and another 50 at the Manchester parade on 24 August.
And they’ll have 50,000 greeting cards to hand out along the two routes to “help share the joy of greeting cards and show the diversity of product available”, as Mark Callaby, Ohh Deer’s co-founder and the GCA council lead on diversity and inclusion, explained.
His partner and Ohh Deer co-founder Jamie Mitchell has been busy artworking the designs which have been supplied by Jessie Maeve Studio, Pink And Mint Design, Cath Tate Cards, Ricicle Cards, Dean Morris Cards, and Ohh Deer artists – who are also joining the parades.
And the costs of the cards have been covered thanks to Fedrigoni supplying the board, envelopes from Enveco, while The Imaging Centre is printing all the cards.
Other sponsors of the GCA’s Pride initiative include Cath Tate Cards, Dean Morris Cards, Hallmark, Home & Gift, Top Drawer and UK Greetings, which means all costs are fully covered ready for the meet-up in London’s Grosvenor Square tomorrow near the Roosevelt Memorial between 9.30am and 10am – it’ll be busy so anyone going needs to look out for the white t-shirs with Send A Card With Pride on the back.
Staying on the Pride theme, the playful Art Of Drag brand, created by The London Studio and its founder Soula Zavacopoulos, has teamed up with national retailer Ryman for an exclusive range of specially-designed greeting cards, stationery and giftware.
Ryman owner and chairman Theo Paphitis said: “We’ve greatly enjoyed working with Soula on this fantastic project. Her talent for thinking both creatively and commercially means she develops products that our customers can’t get enough of. And this superb new collection doesn’t disappoint, it truly stands out for quality, style and originality – perfect for Ryman Design customers!”
Available through to August the designs taking famous artworks featuring cultural female icons and replacing them with drag artists are in selected Ryman’s main stores as well as its new design-led concept outlets Ryman Design, and online.
The London Studio is also supplying Ryman Design with an exclusive range of greeting cards for Pride 2024 designed by independent artists from its Artists Collective group of individual artists and designers from around the world, hand-picked by Soula and her team.
Ryman trading director Chris Wall said: “Soula has been supplying Ryman and Ryman Design with greetings cards that have been consistent top sellers for us, so we’ve been keen to expand into more categories.
“We commissioned Soula for a diverse range of cards, giftware and stationery for Pride 2024, and we had high hopes for a memorable range – those hopes have definitely been exceeded. The Art Of Drag designs are both impactful and highly original. We couldn’t be happier with this unique collection and we think our customers will feel the same way!”
Soula and her business were early #SmallBusinessSunday winners on X, then Twitter, picked by Theo in 2011 as part of his ongoing support for smaller firms, and they have maintained the relationship ever since.
She added: “I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Ryman and looking forward to seeing our new Art Of Drag Pride Collection in stores. Together we aim to bring this fun brand and the superb artists that support it to a bigger audience than ever, while celebrating diversity and inclusivity.”
