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In The Making
A Winning
Main picture: Nadiya Hussain’s huge popularity goes way beyond her cooking skills. (Photo: Chris Terry) Below: Of course the first batch of designs just had to include a cake!
Recipe
Take a generous handful of vibrant colours, stir in some eye-catching patterns, add some choice words, season with exquisite foiling and garnish with an uplifting message from the chef, and there you have it, a Nadiya Hussain greeting card collection. PG ventured into the Woodmansterne ‘kitchen’ to learn about the vital ingredients in this latest launch.
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Nadiya Hussain brightened up our lives the moment she first appeared on - and went on to win - Great British Bake Off in 2015 and has continued to spread joy ever since. Through sharing her skills and her personality on her TV programmes, through her cookery books and newspaper columns, Nadiya has become one of the most influential and inspirational women in popular culture, something that has not been missed by the Woodmansterne creative team. “Every 3-6 months we have a group brainstorming, where everyone in the studio contributes images of what has caught their eye, be it through social media, on TV, in retail or elsewhere,” explained Lee Keeper, creative director of Woodmansterne Publications. “During one of these sessions at the start of lockdown, we were flicking through the sheets of submissions and Nadiya’s smiling face popped up within a display of Bliss ceramics in John Lewis, and something clicked.” No time was wasted in getting in contact with Ian Downes of Start Licensing, who represents Nadiya on the licensing front. “We knew Ian already as we had worked with him on our Ashmolean Museum range. Before we knew it, we were on a Zoom call and goodness me Nadiya was there too. Her involvement in and enthusiasm for what we wanted to create as well as her love of greeting cards generally really was the icing on the cake, pardon the pun!” recalls Lee. Having been an ardent Bake Off fan since Nadiya first rose to fame, Woodmansterne senior designer Paula Reece jumped at the opportunity to translate the essence of this amazing woman into greeting cards. “I wanted the designs to reflect Nadiya’s vibrant self with bright colours and patterns that were beautiful and quirky; pretty but not too girlie,” said Paula. “The fact that I shared Nadiya’s love of Marmite crisps and salad cream I hoped would mean I was on the right wavelength with the design approach. Thankfully I was!”
