As greeting cards are what I love to design most it would be fitting to share a few facts with you about the industry. 

Despite being warned of the difficulty of working in the greeting card industry by peers and tutors (and I not being one to listen to advice) so far I have relished being part of one of the most competitive, exciting, rewarding design jobs there is.  I think many designers would agree with me.

According to The Greeting Card Association the UK Greeting card industry is worth over 1.7 billion annually (to put that into perspective that's more than tea and coffee combined). It's acknowledged as being a decade ahead in terms of design than any other place on earth with over 800 publishers producing over 1.5 billion greeting cards in 2009 for the British consumer.

There is a greeting card available for just about any message you want to send. You can even have personalised hand-crafted cards to be as heart warming or insulting as you so wish.

'I Walked and I Walked' is one of my designs based on the fairytale idea of being lost in a deep dark forest but being saved by the string you set down to find your way back, a little bit Hansel and Gretel.

My personal hand-cut favourites are these beautiful designs by the ultra talented Helen Foers owner of StoreyShop.


Visit her Folksy shop here.

My love of illustration goes way way back. It would be foolish to try to say who or what inspired me the most to begin a career in design but it is important to recognise those who excited me years ago and still do to this day. 
The turning point in design for me was my discovery of Neasden Control Centre and Vault 49 famed for their explosive use of line and multi-layering. This was at a time when I saw the demise of minimalism (which had become somewhat tired) manifest into a wonderful world of maximalism celebrated worldwide by designers and illustrators like myself. My time at university was at the beginning of this wave of change, and I remember my classmates going mad for this style.