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The
THE LYNN TAIT MOST PROMISING YOUNG DESIGNER 2025 FINALISTS
Open to: This special award category recognises and rewards the wealth of young creative talent that we have in the UK. This award was open to all designers and artists (employed by a publisher or freelance) aged 35 years or under on 6 June 2025. l
GEORGI DOIG
director of happiness and founder of Lil Wabbit “In 2020, I started lil wabbit at my kitchen table having inherited my grandmother’s watercolour paints and sitting down to give illustration a go for the very first time. Since then, I have worked on my craft, painting hundreds of little characters and turning them into greeting cards and stationery for the world’s animal-lovers to buy, keep and send. After five years of running lil wabbit, it’s become more than I ever could have hope! We’ve been able to donate £20,000 to the StreetVet charity through the sale of our cards and special events, and as of 2024, we’ve sponsored one UK bee for every card sold, helping to protect our local pollinators. I’m so pleased all this good stuff can come out of the designing and selling of cards. I’m so happy to be nominated once again for this award, the third time in three years, as well as for the Best Occasions and Relations category for my range As Good As Gold – a tribute to my great-grandmother who was a guilder in the potteries. Having learnt to paint just five years ago, I am thrilled to be referred to as an artist at all, let alone a promising one!” l
SAM EYTE
founder of Sam Jayne Designs "My work is inspired by a mix of fun and feelings turning everyday emotions, little moments and mental health into colourful, doodle-filled designs that make people smile. I've been dreaming of this happening ever since I started working as a greeting card designer at Hallmark around 12 years ago where I fell in love with illustration and surface pattern design. After working at Hallmark for around six years, I started my own business to create cards and products that felt more personal, honest, and uplifting. I began drawing as a way to manage my anxiety, and soon realised that my illustrations were helping others feel seen and supported too. That’s what inspired me to build a brand focused on mental health and spreading a little joy! Over the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing my illustrations land in the hands of thousands, stocked by retailers including Tesco, Paperchase and Next. Whether it's mugs, stationery or greeting cards, I’ve brought my doodles and quotes to life across bestselling ranges, my coaster cards were shortlisted in the Gift of the Year awards and I have just signed a licensing deal with Widdop!"
26 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE.
in alphabetical order
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GEORGI DOIG of Lil Wabbit SAM EYTE of Sam Jayne Designs CHARLOTTE FREW BROWN of Studio Frewb
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EMILY LESTER of Hotchpotch London EMILY NASH of Emily Nash Illustration EMILY NEEDHAM of Woodmansterne Publications
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ASHLEY ROWE of Paper Salad KATIE TOWNSEND of Arrow Gift Co.
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CHARLOTTE FREW BROWN
founder of Studio Frewb “I was recently clearing out the loft and found a huge box full of old card-making supplies - think early 2000s stamp blocks, handmade papers and infinite amounts of 3D flowers and stickers - along with my first ever ‘range’ of cards from the summer of 2008. Most 12 year olds spend the summer holidays shopping in town and trying to talk to boys. Not me... I was permanently sat at the kitchen table making cards and circling all the shiny new supplies I dreamt of in the Hobbycraft catalogue. Fast forward to today and here I am, a full time card publisher and professional artist. I love nothing more than making people smile, and so I now create cards that are not only colourful, vibrant and visually striking, but also packed full of humour and silliness, and express love boldly. It’s truly an honour to get to create memorable artwork for people.” l
EMILY LESTER
designer at Hotchpotch London “Hello, I’m Emily a designer at Hotchpotch London. My creative journey started out over ten years ago designing kids partyware - a super fun and creative place to kick off my career - it’s definitely shaped the playful style I’ve developed over the years. I am most comfortable with a paint brush in hand (probably a coffee in the other) and an array of gouache paints - my favourite medium to work in. I like to draw inspiration from fashion trends and love colour and paper engineering so as you can imagine working with Hotchpotch London for the last two years has been a dream!”