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THE HENRIES HUMORISTS
The art of humour
What’s so funny?
“For our laughs we go to Folkestone Comedy Club, especially to see resident compere Dan Atkinson! One (or more) of the Objectables team may (or may not) be married to Dan. What a small world it is.” Joy Thomas, designer and admin, Objectables
Brushed Issues takes classic paintings and subverts them with modern humour, and Emotional Rescue’s creative director Jennie Rutter said: “We came up with the idea in the office while looking for an image to illustrate a joke. “We found there were some great fine art images out that were screaming out to have a joke added, some of them were just naturally funny. We had so much fun writing for it, it was a real laugh out loud range, some simple, some clever. One customer described it as ‘intelligent humour’, and Brushed Issues is doing really well in our independent customer base, so we’ve now started developing captions in the range.”
Above: Modern meets classic with Emo’s Brushed Images.
Above: Rosie Tate took a retro vibe with Piña Colada.
If you like piña colada… The Piña Colada range was born of Cath Tate Cards’ director Rosie Tate’s keenness to produce a new 70s-inspired humour range, with a retro colour palette and type face, the designs are brought very much into the 21st century by the humorous modern captions. And she laughed: “When trying to think of a range name, we all agreed on Piña Colada as what’s more emblematic of the 70s than this classic cocktail! We also then had an ‘If you like piña coladas...’ earworm ringing in our ears for the whole day!” The range that was launched at the start of 2023 comprises 23 birthday and occasions cards featuring embossed text, all printed in the UK on high quality 100% recycled board. Rosie added: “The bestselling birthday card in the range is ‘In banana years you’re bread’, a great one for those of us feeling a little over ripe in the age department! “The range has continued in popularity and we’re currently designing the next hilarious batch which will be ready for PG Live.”
Talk of the town If you’ve ever wondered what animals would say if they could talk, Woodmansterne’s collaboration with US cartoonist Jimmy Craig gives an idea. His illustrations reflect what Below: Jimmy Craig delves conversations Jimmy believes animals into the animal world. may have, with brilliant and hilarious results that have earned the range a Henries nomination for the second year running. Taken from his popular internet comic They Can Talk, the greeting cards run from anarchic cats to cute but dim dogs as Jimmy Craig's fantastic comics show what pets and the creatures around are really thinking – probably!
Double bubble daftness Known for its on the button humour, Rosie Made A Thing was a double finalist, with both its classic Gin & Frolics collection as well as the newer Stoke Me range making the grade. “Gin & Frolics range has been with us since time began,” founder and chief Above and below: Rosie’s creative Rosie Harrison model old person agent explained. “We keep it up Andy Fletcher with a Stroke Me bestseller and updated to date with what’s going Ginn & Frolics humour. on in our racy, middleaged world. “Most of us girls are now using phone torches to read menus, we grow the odd tomato and enjoy a scatter cushion or two. Wild swimming is cool now – who knew? – so we just pop it all on a card. “Our Stroke Me range came about as a variation of some of my first cards which were simple black and white ink drawings. The Stroke Me humour is sillier than our normal stuff and it allows me to unleash my puerile side which I’m sure we all enjoy.”
Focus On Humour Cards
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