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Spotlight On... Social Stationery
Fashion Meets
Function As the London Stationery Show gets ready to celebrate its 10th anniversary this month at London’s Business Designer Centre (April 21-22), gift retailers are sure to be among the visitors eager to spot the current designs for Spring/Summer. PG&H asked some of the leading names in the stationery sector for the trends that buyers should be on the look out for. Since the London Stationery Show first opened its doors in 2010, social stationery has come on in leaps and bounds, with fashion at the forefront of trends. “For SS20, stationery, especially in our Yes Studio range, there are bold designs and bright colours, with a return to the ‘feminist’ style of previous seasons - tapping into the woman power movement - but with a fresh, new look,” explains Joelle Engolia, marketing manager of Wild + Wolf. “Moving away from retro typography our design team drew
London Stationery Show Date: April 21-22, 2020 Venue:Business Design Centre, London Web:www.stationeryshowlondon.co.uk Below: Wild + Wolf’s weekend planner. Bottom left: Sara Miller’s Chelsea collection for Blueprint. Below right: Part of the Caroline Gardner stationery collection.
into the trend, making it even stronger. “We have also seen a trend towards the use of a softer colour palette for Spring /Summer 2020, to include teals, greens, pinks and yellows, but with a much softer tone. Plus, anything which promotes sustainability and discourages throw away land fill items and single use plastics is also very popular.” Taking both of these factors into account, Blueprint has collaborated with Heather Flynn, the creator of Happy Jackson and Alice Scott, to launch a stationery and gift collection under the Good Hands brand, for both the home and office.
inspiration from vintage propaganda posters, featuring a bolder statement typeface, adding in a strong, positive female influence in both the messaging and design accents. Easily identifiable graphic icons, as seen on social media, to include the lightning bolt, are popular design elements.” At Blueprint, product development director Pip Chamberlain says that tropical and botanical prints are still very popular, with drawings of animals added
Meanwhile, the Sara Miller brand is continuing to perform well for Blueprint with a collection of designs celebrating a love of print, pattern and colour. At Caroline Gardner, independent sales manager Luca Bridges comments: “We have seen increased interest in our social stationery over the last year or so, with big trends in wellness products, the colour lilac and fun, quirky gifts. We launched three wellness journals for SS20 - one for sleep, a live well journal to document fitness goals, health and mindfulness, and a daily journal.” Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide
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