Brainbox Candy
A handy ‘Spice Guide’ guides buyers through Brainbox Candy’s range of male
cards, with little chilli icons signifying the spiciness of each design.
Thus a one chilli rating for male designs in its Finger Folk range tells us that
it’s probably quite safe for most palates. Finger Folk is a clever, photographic
design that gives new meaning to the phrase: ‘Giving someone the fi nger’.
At the other end of the chilli rating are the laddish offerings in Brainbox’s
Well Cool range of messages spelled out in fridge magnets. Some of these
are not for faint-hearted retailers but could be a winner with younger male
customers.
In between is the Retro Pop range of urban art illustrations featuring iconic
objects like a scooter, space-hopper, record decks or amusement machine all
designed in a spraycan graffi ti-style. Ask the Experts
Tel: +44 01702 716643
Terry Harvey - From the Heart,
Web: www.brainboxcandy.com
Portsmouth
Alice
The space leant to male cards is relatively small,
generally occupying only 25-30% of an open
Palace
birthday section. This is largely due to the popularity
of the humour ranges for males as a preferred
Launched in June
last year the
choice.
action-packed
Breaking New
Having a dedicated male section is very
Ground range
important although it can be hard to source good
from Alice Palace
product. This area is clearly not a good money-
is illustrated
spinner for suppliers and few will do a specifi c
to appeal to
male range; most suppliers choose to just mix
men interested
some male designs into their open birthday ranges
in surfi ng,
which I consider far from acceptable. At the very
Abacus
snowboarding,
least retailers should separate these male designs
good food, the
from the female and ensure the darker colours of
Strong, masculine tones and striking
great outdoors, mountain biking, golf, DIY and fi shing.
these cards form a very defi nitive male section.
imagery are what’s needed for the modern
The top seller of the eight designs is the mountain
Despite the diffi culties there are some good
man and that’s what you get in spades
biking illustration, called ‘Into the unknown’, and is
dedicated ranges available from companies such
with Abacus’ Graphite range and its recent
closely followed by both the snowboarding image
as K2 Greetings, PaperHouse and Grass Roots
extension into Graphite Editions.
named ‘Let there be snow’, and the golfi ng design
International.
The range features a whole host of
called ‘Into the hole’.
male activities and interests including
Alice Palace greetings cards are eco-friendly -
We have seen publishers experimenting with
sports, exotic cars, gardening and guitars.
printed on fsc recycled board, use white recycled
some quite jazzy designs in the past with a lot of
Printed on a luxury, textured board and
envelopes, and biodegradable polybags. All designs
add-ons such as metal rivets, heavy embossing
available in a variety of formats, the range
are blank inside, and measure 178mm x 114mm.
and die-cutting to give the card more bloke appeal.
covers birthdays, blanks and relations.
Tel: 01386 48363
However, our experience has shown this to just add
Tel: 01638 552399
Web: www.alicepalace.co.uk
to the price rather than the appeal. Male cards are
Web:www.abacuscards.co.uk
very price sensitive probably because they don’t
appeal to the woman buying them and they know
the men will be more interested in the gift than the
UK Greetings
sentiment of the card. £1.75 appears to be the
optimum price point at the moment. Traditional
Camden Graphics from UK Greetings has launched a new range of contemporary male designs called Manual. The
designs are defi nitely favoured including, fast cars,
style is uncomplicated graphic with a simple and limited palette. To complement the design style, each card has a
sailing, fi shing, other forms of transport, music,
slightly ‘nonchalant’ attitude to the text or the artwork or sometimes both. This is a deliberate choice based on the
sport (although avoid cards that have a montage of
idea that men don’t really like or appreciate cards or even buy them.
different sports and seek out the action shots rather
UK Greetings says Manual is a great alternative to humour and will be purchased by both male and females alike.
than the still shot of a football), I.T. cards should not
The range of eight everyday birthday cards has been supported very well in the caption range and has really helped
be over looked with the odd computer or ipod card
to fi ll a gap in Camden’s male profi le.
for the geeks and also some older generation cards
Camden has also been hard at work creating handmade styles for men, again keeping things clean and
i.e. trains, aircraft, potting shed and horse racing.
uncomplicated to make the choice easier for the male or female buyer.
Cards with some form of alcohol on i.e. wine, beer
Trademarque is a simple text-based graphic style, with a handmade
should be included as a fall-back but it is easy to
Perspex panel and a vintage style range.
overdo this area; there are some publishers who
In-press is printed on great quality board with one simple gem attached
defi ne the sexes as chocolates and fl owers on
- this range exudes quality and sophistication - but again its simple and
one hand and alcohol and pants on the other! - I
designed to be an easy purchase.
won’t mention the name. We tend to do better with
Tel: 01924 465200
slimmer cards rather than the more common 5”x7”
Web: www.ukgreetings.co.uk
or squares in this area too.
Greetings Today 33
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