With this being National Stationery Week (running from 20-25 April), the V&A is championing a number of its greeting card and stationery licensees – including Museums & Galleries, Papier and That Company Called If – and their museum-inspired products in some broad reaching emarketing.
Having achieved strong sales over 2020, Museums & Galleries is continuing to translate the museum’s archive into art and design-led greeting cards and gift stationery.
The successful stationery range is being expanded in 2021 to include V&A water bottles with matching canvas tote bags and pouches.
Designs include popular stationery patterns such as Voysey’s Birds of Many Climes, Drawings of Comic Birds by Edward Lear and Clover wallpaper by J.H. Dearle.
Meanwhile, following the launch last August of V&A licensed product at WHSmith‘s travel store in Heathrow terminal 2, the retailer has rolled out V&A ranges at a further three locations.
Ten more locations are set to offer V&A gifts though year as travel begins to open back up, including the London Bridge bookstore later this month. Products on offer within the display include stationery from Museums & Galleries and Galison, tote bags from Temple Island and hydration bottles and Alice in Wonderland ceramics from KitchenCraft.
Online retailer, Papier‘s Japan-inspired V&A range has proven to be popular, in particular the Golden Crane range which is inspired by an ornate textile called ‘fukusa’. The golden birds are a symbol of longevity, believed to live for 1,000 years.
The range includes a gold foiled notebook, daily planner and a wellness journal, and has taken top spot on its best sellers list.
Finally, the V&A has launched a new collaboration with That Company Called If with a range of stationery accessories.
The Bookaroo V&A range offers clever gifts that help keep writing and reading implements to hand, from pen pouches and tech tidies, to beautifully embossed journals. Each is enlivened with bright, colourful designs from the museum, from classic favourites by William Morris and William Kilburn, to a Chinoiserie furnishing fabric by Morton Sundour, chosen for its glorious green hues, florals and beautiful bird motif.
Top: Part of a V&A display in WHSmith.
