Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2020 (Issue 118)

81 COMPANY PROFILE footprint of our cards, we’re trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible with each of our cards and Christmas five-packs being sold inside a biodegradable bag. All of our cards are printed on FSC certified board and are recyclable. Do you license your images? Over the last few years, Bug Art has licensed its images for use on giftware and stationery to several companies worldwide. These giftware products are not available directly from Bug Art. What are your most popular cards? Released back in 2002, our Jewel range has a striking combination of foiled designs on black backgrounds. This classic yet contemporary look has had lasting appeal and has been nominated several times for national awards. We’ve just released our latest additions to this range for 2020. Do any subjects stand out as particularly popular? Yes, cats. Cats sell well anywhere in the world. Owls and elephants also do well. However, there are some cultural differences with animal popularity. We’ve found that some animals that sell well in the UK might not do so well abroad such as rabbits, hares and sheep. How do you keep your designs fresh and current? How often do you launch new lines? We try to be current but different. By keeping an eye on trends, we can see what to avoid as some themes get over subscribed. We don’t have specific deadlines or targets for new releases, though with Christmas we update our ranges in the spring. What sets you apart from competitors? Quality of design. Each card is designed as an individual work of art, with careful attention to the design, foiling and embossing. It’s very important to stand out in a competitive field, so we’re careful not to compromise quality by bowing to pressure to release more new products than is comfortable for us. Unusually for a card publisher, we reprint some designs for many years, such as Black Cat from our Paper & Foil range. It has sold more than 300,000 units since 2002. How are you finding the current economic climate in the UK? Is it affecting business? The struggles of the high street and the closure of gift shops over the last decade has been sad and has obviously had repercussions on the card market. We aim to produce good quality cards that shops can rely on to sell through for them. Despite the climate, our strong designs have helped gain us new UK accounts whilst also expanding internationally through our distributors.  What challenges have you overcome? Lots. The most stressful one we had was back in the mid ’90s, when we were suddenly advised that there was a worldwide shortage of wobbly eyes available for our Snout cards. Apparently, there was only one factory in China that produced them and they had sold out and moved onto other products for a few months. We needed about 100,000 of them urgently. It was very touch and go but we managed to beg, borrow or steal them from somewhere. Are you active on social media? How is this important for the business? Yes @bugartcards is active on Facebook and Instagram. As we’re still relatively new to social media, it’s difficult to say how important it is. We enjoy the process as it allows us to communicate directly with all types of followers from around the world. We try and mix up the content and let people peak into our working day here in the studio by giving them sneak previews of what Jane is working on – and what our two naughty studio rabbits get up to. Do you have any advice for new businesses starting out in the world of greetings and gift? Have a unique product and strive to make it the best that you can. Listen to advice but don’t always take it. Don’t chase turnover, work on perfecting your product and learn from your mistakes. What can we expect from you in the future? More of the same. We’ll be releasing more quality art cards throughout the year. T: +44 (0)115 929 4776 bugart.co.uk