51_Art Source.qxp_49/51 08/07/2025 17:01 Page 1
Art Source
Creative Clare-ity
While creativity was always on the cards for Clare Lambert it was clinching a design competition while at Uni that opened up her eyes to the potential of the greeting card industry. PG finds out more about her career path to date.
“As far back as I can remember I have always been creative. Summer holidays were spent sat drawing and painting my favourite cartoon Above: Clare Lambert soaking up the outdoors. characters or building and crafting furniture for my dolls’ house. One of my most memorable moments as a young girl was entering a school competition to design a book cover and winning it! I feel it was a combination of having a natural creative instinct along with positive experiences in art at school, that led me to pursue a career in design. After completing art college I then continued onto university to study International Textiles and Surface Pattern. This is where I also found a love for interior design, fashion and fabrics which really opened up a variety of design skills and creativity I'd never experienced before. From repeat patterns to fabric prints I was really able to explore a diverse array of creative techniques and experiment with a multitude of mediums and textures. It gave me the time to push myself and try a variety of new ways of designing and working out what really sparked the inner creative in me, but it wasn't until I entered a card competition through University and won a week’s work experience at Tigerprint working on designs for Marks and Spencer, that brought me into the world of greeting card design. This had a huge impact on me and led me getting my first professional job working for wholesale publisher Kingsley Cards. I feel one of the biggest and most impactful thing happened during my time there was when everything went digital. I never realised how much I would love creating new artworks this way and found a Below: Sentiment and nature combine in this design. Right: Clare loves rejoicing in the seasons.
Far left: A contemporary colour palette adds an uplifting feel to a traditional scene. Left: Springtime celebrated.
passion for formatting new designs, and I have never looked back. After leaving Kingsley Cards to become a freelance designer was when my career really started to flourish. I was asked to design ideas and take part in promoting the card designs on TV on the Create and Craft channel. This was definitely outside my comfort zone, but was an amazing experience. Over my 20+ year career I have been lucky enough to create greeting cards and gift wrap designs for many major companies including Simon Elvin, Nigel Quiney, Noel Tatt, Cardfactory, Grass Roots, Tesco and Out of the Blue (one of my designs reached The Henries) to name a few. Having the passion for interior design and pattern has really influenced my design process in the greeting card world. I have such a love for colour, formatting and creating commercial designs. Meeting so many other passionate creatives over the years and working in such a professional friendly industry makes it feel very rewarding and long may it continue. Knowing my designs have reached many consumers’ homes over the years is a lovely feeling. I am always looking out for inspiration from a number of sources. Being a farmer’s wife and living in the country I am fortunate to see the beauty of many things around me. I love summertime when all the flowers Below: Above: Florals are always a fave with Clare. are in full bloom, this really inspires me to get creative, but I also love the wintertime and the magical festive period. Fast forward to today and I'm now being represented by the wonderful Creative Sparrow design agency by Hannah Curtis. It would be amazing to see my designs licensed onto other products, as well as greeting cards. As I continue to build my portfolio, I feel privileged to have my designs added alongside the other amazing artists Hannah represents. Watch this space!” Clare Lambert is represented by Creative Sparrow for • licensing and commissions.
WANT TO BE FEATURED?
If you are an artist, photographer or verse writer and would like to be considered to appear in Art Source, please contact PG’s Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 51