Thursday, 22 February 2018

Ultra Violet Pantone 2018

When Pantone's hot new colour for 2018, Ultra Violet, was announced late last year - half the design community cried 'Yes!' while the other half (me included) said Wait.. what, um er.. no thanks. For me the colour purple is still mired in the realms of cheap chocolate, teletubbies and some awful design on DIY shows. However after some persuasion I have to admit that I'm coming round to the idea.

Pantone explains "we are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination" and that Ultra Violet could take our "awareness and potential to a higher lever". Having loved Pantone's 2017's Greenery colour and the ease of which we could design with it, I can see the challenges of using Ultra Violet, especially in greetings. It's going to be tricky and will need that "inventiveness and imagination" to place with those seasonal colours - valentine's red, easter yellow, father's day blue etc. It could nonetheless make for a fresh new take on the escapism and constellation trends (though we have possibly reached peak unicorn?).

We are now starting to see the work of designers who have taken on the purple. I'm quite excited to see a new light on violet and where this creative colour goes. Here are a few purple picks:



above clockwise from top left: battersea 9 square greeting card from ohh deer, pf-mb 014 from malissa brown pressed and folded, moon journal book from oliver bonas, large form gift bag from oliver bonas, my darling husband card from lagom, frida kahlo print from artisticsideoflife, happiness mothers day card woodmansterne from john lewis, elephant greeting card from lagom, you can do anything but not everything card from oh squirrel, centre: party hats design from papier.

#pantonecolouroftheyear2018 #pantone #ultraviolet #purple #stationerylove #paperlove 

my purple premonition

Thursday, 15 February 2018

Equality + Powerful Words

With the release of Paperchase's new Fierce Female collection, this week seemed like a good time to talk about the latest trend appearing on the high street, Equality & Powerful Words.

It's been quite a year, the #MeToo campaign brought women together to support each other in face of sexual harassment and abuse. There was the release of the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls book creating a new wave of children's literature with girls as the focus. John Lewis then took a big step by removing gendered labelling on children's clothes and at the start of this month we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Suffragette movement.

It's great to see this forward thinking movement now arriving in greetings and stationery. Here are some favourites:

EQUALITY + POWERFUL WORDS EDIT - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

SaveSave above clockwise: she believed she could card from oh squirrel, feminist pendant flag from paperchase, that's my girl jolly awesome card from paperchase, feminist journal from anthropologie, suffragette votes for women poster from bookishly, slay all day jolly awesome card from paperchase, bad girls throughout history book from anthropologie, the future is female slogan ruled notebook from paperchase, nailed it greeting card from rifle paper co.

#paperlove #stationerylove #equality #powerfulwords #feminist #feminism

Friday, 9 February 2018

Spring Fair 2018

Well, that was a busy day at this week's Spring Fair, barely time for a brew! It was lovely to catch up with everyone and talk about exciting new projects (more on that soon!).

Hall 3A was awash with talent. I spotted a few new faves in the greetings debut area, edgy graphics from I ended Up Here, contemporary illustration from Card Nest and trend inspired cards from Meraki. Great to have the latest from Raspberry Blossom and Stormy Knight too.

A fab show all round. Let's hope everyone has a well earned rest this weekend!

SPRING FAIR 2018 - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: collage of images from the early start watching the sunrise over the m6 to roaming round the halls of the nec.

Tuesday, 30 January 2018

Valentine's Day Edit

There is some great Valentine's greetings design out there this year. Lot's of humour, some interesting new font styles and plenty of hearts of course. Some great illustration but sometimes the simple forms are the best for this season -  red and heart shaped! Here are a few of my faves.

VALENTINE'S DAY EDIT - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise: forever and ever card by sadler jones, forever my valentine's day card by woodmansterne, pizza time by carolyn suzuki studio - papier, love heart valentine's card from paperchase, i love you to the moon & back by lagom, mon amour by emma block - papier, word up kiss! concertina card from trouva, you make my toes tingle card by lagom, so in love valentine from paperchase, conversation hearts greeting card from ohh deer, you'll do hand lettering polka dot heart card from oh squirrel.

#paperlove #stationerylove #valentinesday #SS18

Tuesday, 23 January 2018

Top Drawer S/S 2018

Last week was a fantastic start to 2018 with Top Drawer. The design-led show is one of my favourites as we can see the trends arriving for the coming seasons.

I especially loved this year's Paper Awards which gave real focus to the best in the Greetings and Stationery industry. Winners Sadler Jones and Hotchpotch captured the mood of 2018 so well. I also hugely enjoyed the paper fest talks and was lucky enough to see the stationery trend session - I'll be following up on these predictions in later posts.

It was a fab day all round catching up with old friends and making new ones. I'm very much looking forward to what 2018 brings.
TOP DRAWER 2018 - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA
above clockwise: the olympia, paper awards finalists - pressed and folded - purpose & worth and wolf & ink, trend predictions talk with  of present & correct & of quill london & , products in the spotlight, a lovely sky over the show, paper awards winner hotchpotch and finalists noi publishing - lagom - scribble & daub - alison hardcastle.

#paperlove #stationerylove #topdrawerss18 #defineyourstory #topdrawerlondon

Thursday, 18 January 2018

Abigail Ahern Design MasterClass

Well it's not everyday you meet your design hero. I've long been a fan of Abigail Ahern's interiors (see my mini bar project here). I was hugely excited to attend her Manchester masterclass on Saturday and was not disappointed.

Abigail's bold style inspired the trend for dark walls and her work often features elements of quirk, dramatic contrasts of proportions and unusual art. What especially attracts me to Abigail's style is the illustrative way in which she styles a room creating spaces with a story that invites us in. Her instagram has some wonderful examples of this.

We had a full day packed with amazing inside info. Heaps of advice on use of colour, contrast, texture, scale.... much of which can be applied to many creative fields including print.
ABIGAIL AHERN DESIGN MASTERCLASS - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise: abigail ahern at the manchester design masterclass, a scribble from my new notebook filled in just one day, a favourite quote of abigail's, a picture of the class from abigail's instagram - me on the front row there - i wasn't going to miss a thing! the hollywood mirror i bought from abigail's collection which i love, styling tips still, my cuppa, more scribbles, inky hues still. 

Abigail's style is not for the faint hearted but the results are amazing. These fantastic masterclasses can be booked here.

#aadesignclass #abigailahern #designlove 

Tuesday, 9 January 2018

New Year New Stationery

Hello 2018. After a lovely Christmas break and New Year travels in Scotland I'm back at the desk and ready to start the year. My new stationery has arrived from the printers. Hot foiled on dusty pink + crisp white with a hand embossed envelope. I'm looking forward to scribbling away.


above: latest print project hot off the press, sparkly new business stationery for 2018, hot foiled copper and abalone. Tricky to photograph in the low January light!  #paperlove #stationerylove #2018