Natural History Museum and Alison Hardcastle launch greeting card range
BRANDORA Editorial Staff - Januar 2019New card collection offers a fresh, contemporary take on the Museum and its contents
The Natural History Museum has partnered with design studio and independent stationery company Alison Hardcastle to produce a sophisticated new range of greeting cards that offers a fresh and contemporary interpretation of the Museum and its contents.
Called ‘Collection’, this range of 18 cards was designed by Alison Hardcastle, chief designer and founder of the company that takes her name. Using first-hand research and photography of the Museum, plus access to its creative assets and archives, Alison Hardcastle embarked on a design process of working through an immense amount of resources, finally focusing on four main topics: gems, minerals and crystals; flora; butterflies and bugs; and the Museum’s own architecture.
Each card is designed around, derivative of or directly inspired by specific exhibits, archives and Alison’s own photographs of the Museum. All the images used were re-drawn in her illustrative style and scanned in to form the design.
The result is a sophisticated range of cards that has cleverly translated historic materials – many dating back centuries – into a contemporary context, giving them a timeless appeal. And that’s not all. In the style of a Museum exhibit, appropriately enough, all cards feature text on the reverse which ‘places’ each design within the Museum’s collection.
The card range launches at the Alison Hardcastle stand (U53) at Top Drawer, the Home Gift Fashion Craft & Hospitality Trade Exhibition, taking place from 13-15 January at Olympia in London, and the collection can be found online at alisonhardcastle.co.uk. ‘Collection’ is expected to have a wide appeal to lovers of stylish contemporary greeting cards as well as supporters of and visitors to, the Natural History Museum.
Alison Hardcastle is a design studio and independent stationery company producing a range of stylish, clever and playful greetings cards, paper goods and prints in the Yorkshire Wolds. Her products are available in shops and cultural centres all over the UK and can be found as far afield as Australia, France, Switzerland and the USA.