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Publisher Focus
THE BIG BLUE Diving into fresh waters, Museums & Galleries’ new BBC Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II card and stationery collections were a significant launch for the publisher, as the ranges’ debut at PG Live in June propelled the company into its first art photography orbit. And the collections’ trajectory is set to rise, not only because of the memorable and beautiful imagery from the astonishing award-winning BBC natural world documentary series coincides with the rising tide of ecological awareness, but also, in keeping with the ranges’ green origins, Museums & Galleries developed its patent-pending ecoBand, an environmentally-friendly way of attaching the card to the envelope. Museums & Galleries’ creative director Ben Dorney takes PG behind the scenes of the ranges’ evolution. The breath-taking, thought-provoking and sometimes upsetting, BBC Blue Planet II award-winning documentary had us enthralled every Sunday for weeks. Attracting over 14 million viewers to BBC One, presenter Sir David Attenborough took us on a magnificently filmed journey exploring the world’s oceans that cover 70% of its surface, the wildlife that lives within and the dangers of plastic that the human race are inflicting on their habitat. And who could forget the nail-biting 'Iguana vs Snakes' Planet Earth II episode on the Galapagos Islands of the newly hatched marine iguana escaping the deadly clutches of the racer snakes! Or the time a rare pygmy three-toed sloth tried to woo a female mate by swimming across to her at, surprisingly, great speed. “There are so many brilliant moments and sequences in both Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II,” says Ben Dorney, creative
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Above: Museums & Galleries’ creative director Ben Dorney (left) and licensing manager Eddie Clarke at PG Live. Below: Featuring a beautiful turtle, a Blue Planet II notebook from Museums & Galleries (MGML). Middle: A leopard from the Yala National Park in Sri Lanka on a BBC Earth card from MGML. Below left: Alan and Debbie Williams, managing directors of MGML (and Mint and Real & Exciting Designs).
director of Museums & Galleries (MGML). “From Blue Planet II I loved the clever octopus covering itself in shells to evade a hungry pyjama shark - it shows how intelligent they are - and the iconic sequence of sea lion chasing tuna onto the shore is unforgettable. From Planet Earth II, I think the racer snakes chasing newborn iguanas down the beach takes some beating. In appreciation of that we have a great card of iguanas sunning themselves with what look like grins on their faces; they certainly earned it!” And it’s memorable moments like these which reinforced Museums & Galleries conviction that this would make a stunning art photographic range when the publisher was approached in early 2017 by the BBC to consider a BBC Earth collection, a few months before Blue Planet II aired on TV. The MGML team also recognised that it
would also be a significant licensing tie-up for the company, as it would be its first foray into the art photography realm. “It was clearly a great opportunity with a hugely respected global brand, but it also represented a big step beyond our ‘core’ offer,” explains Ben. “By coincidence (or good fortune) we were already considering photographic ranges at that time, but our challenge was finding the right mix of brand and imagery to suit our customer base. They expect the best of both from M&G!” With the advancement of new technology, but no CGI or visual effects, both Planet Earth and Blue Planet footage is filmed in real time, with a combination of patience and fortitude, and it is because of these credentials that there is great integrity and respect for the images that both of the BBC programmes’ crew were able to capture. “We quickly realised that the BBC Earth brand surpasses expectations on both counts (of an iconic British brand and amazing imagery). The quality of imagery is top-notch, often ground-breaking. And the popularity of the Planet Earth and Blue Planet series means people are already invested in many of the stories behind the pictures. That’s a uniquely compelling mix,