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Brand In Focus
Who wouldn’t welcome a bit more happiness and honest uplifting thoughts from people they care about? Put this in a tangible form with an explosion of upbeat colour thrown in and you have the new rebooted Happy Jackson collection from Pigment. PG shared some very happy thoughts with the brand’s co-creators, Heather Flynn and Giles Andreae, about the Happy Jackson reboot, five years since it first launched.
It was very big news on a number of counts when Happy Jackson burst onto the scene five years ago with its bright and breezy uplifting sentiments and fashionable graphical design treatment. Firstly, Happy Jackson caused some ‘oohs’ as it was the shared ‘brainchild’ of two highly respected creatives – Giles Andreae (the man behind Purple Ronnie, Edward Monkton and countless books) and Heather Flynn (the first ever winner of The Henries’ Most Promising Young Artist Or Designer award who went on to carve out a career with UKG and Hallmark before striking out on her own, with the Alice Scott brand among others). Secondly, Happy Jackson was a big marker for the new breed of sentiment messages, which echoed a conversational style, offering alternative solutions for existing card sends as well as new ones. The launch of the card range by Pigment was also significant in that it prompted something of a step-change in retailers’ perception of what has become a ‘must have’ card publisher for retailers of all sizes, who have come to trust a growing agility to 56
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
publish collections that are far broader than the company’s humorous heritage. Happy Jackson launched with a bang on cards (through Pigment) and gifts (through Wild and Wolf ), but what is more impressive is how the brand has grown in stature, maintaining its presence on the card racks through ongoing design refreshments to appeal to both sexes as well in other areas Top: Some of the new look Happy Jackson cards from Pigment featuring the neon colour palette and new design treatments. Above: Heather Flynn and Giles Andreae, the co-creators of Happy Jackson at The Henries awards. Right: Selected retailers received a ‘sneak peek’ of the new look in a ‘goody box’ recently, just prior to the launch.
through a curated licensing programme (managed carefully by Giles and Heather) taking it to other products, from toiletries to confectionery, baby products to pet care. Having given some retailers a ‘sneak peek’ in a ‘Boom! Colour Explosion’ goody box last month, January sees the official launch of a rebooted Happy Jackson greeting card collection from Pigment, the designs of which celebrate an eye-popping new colour palette, encompass some quirky tweaks to the design format as well as updated phraseology.