Representing a significant breakthrough for Museums & Galleries and potentially the industry as a whole, the publisher Museums & Galleries is to launch an inaugural collection of BBC Earth greeting cards at PG Live that will include a patent-pending ecoBand, an innovative and environmentally-friendly solution of attaching a greeting card to an envelope.
The range (which includes both greeting cards and stationery) will feature stunning imagery from the astonishing BBC natural history series’ Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II.
Debbie Williams, managing director of the Kettering based company (which also includes Mint Publishing and Real and Exciting Designs) revealed that the range, produced under licence with BBC Studios, has been in gestation for a long time. “We have been working with BBC Studios for the last 18 months on this, but it has been worth it,” Debbie told PG Buzz. “The signing is significant, not only as the high profile brand and amazing imagery takes Museums & Galleries into photographic products, but in keeping with the ecological ethos of the series – who could forget David Attenborough’s poignant comment at the end of Blue Planet II? – we have gone to great lengths to ensure that the range is being produced without harm to the environment.”
Key to this has been the development of the ecoBand, an effective way of attaching the card to the envelope which supersedes the need for cellowrapping. Museums & Galleries has applied for a patent on the ecoBand. In addition, the cards and envelopes are printed on FSC-certified board and are recyclable.
Ben Dorney, creative director of Museums & Galleries who has worked on developing the range says that it has been a “privilege to collaborate with BBC Studios” on such an “unparalleled British brand with an uniquely relevant story at its heart — that’s what we’re all about.”
The inaugural range, which launches at PG Live (June 5 and 6 at London’s Business Design Centre) comprises 24 blank greeting cards; five notelet packs; eight wiro-bound reporter pads and four desktop weekly planner pads.
As Ben added about Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II: “The ground breaking spirit of these series has made them a global phenomenon with a vital message, which encouraged us to be innovative with the packaging and production of the range from an environmental perspective too. BBC Studios have been very supportive and fantastic to work with, and we’re thrilled with the launch collection.”
