Newsroom
So much happens on a daily basis at open|box|design and this is where we'll endeavor to keep you posted about it. It's our aim to post the latest goings on here along with other sites and other views that we simply find interesting.
YOH!
a brand new range launching at Harrogate Home and Gift
Following in the footsteps of our highly successful Close Knit range is YOH - that's yarn over hook for all you crochet fans out there!
Designed with rich, retro colours, the YOH range homes in on your nearest and dearest and greetings for their special day. The range includes Happy Birthday, Make a Wish, Birthday Snuggles, Birthday Boy, Birthday Girl, Nest, Mum, Dad, Gran, Grandad, 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th Birthdays. And seeing as Christmas gives all of us at open|box|design a warm fuzzy glow, we've also produced six crocheted snowflakes to celebrate the family event of the year - presenting vibrant, graphic snowflakes on a white textured stock they are sure to stand out on that mantlepiece.Hooray for Harrogate
countdown to sun and sales
It’s half show, half holiday (well, it may be the only one we get this year we’re so busy…!) – the openboxdesign team just LOVE Harrogate in July! It’s hard work, but it’s fun work, and this year we’re excited to be bringing more new ranges to Harrogate from our favourite spot of Stand F27 in the Greetings Card Hall.
The week promises to be full of reunions and introductions, as many of the UK’s most interesting independent retailers come to town, and, if previous years are anything to go by, they love our cards! We look forward to welcoming old friends and new on Stand F27. Please come and say hello. You can find our listing on the Harrogate Home and Gift website here.
Facetime with Facebook,
Cheepy Chirping with Twitter
have a look at our 'other' sites
Like a surly teenager arriving late to the party we found to be really rather good, we have finally started using Facebook and Twitter to compliment this site. Yes indeed, facebook has already proved popular with our followers and we'd like to invite you to have a look at what we've done.
Do click the link above to see our Facebook page and please click the 'Like' button if you do indeed like it! And of course do the same with Twitter if being a chattery birdie is your thing.
Hip Hooray for Harrogate with 10% off!
a very special voucher for e-bulletin subscribers only!
Since we love our subscribers even more than we love Harrogate itself, we are offering 10% discount on all orders placed at the show on production of our special Hip Hooray for Harrogate Voucher (retail UK-based customers only). We appreciate the support and advice we get from many of you so it’s our way of saying thanks – we’re sure you’ll find new things to love this year, so please come and see us on Stand F27. To get the voucher you need to join some 600 other subscribers by becoming part of our e-bulletin service - no on else will get this offer!
Welcome to the Family!
open|box|design joins Not On The High Street
They don’t get much bigger or better than the online success story that is Not on the High Street, and openboxdesign is delighted to have been invited to be part of their online retail family. In addition to a few ranges of our trademark 3-d cards, we have produced some bespoke personalised work that can’t be sourced anywhere else. We’re really excited about this new avenue for our work - and we’re pleased to say the first orders are in!
To go to our product pages on Not On The High Street please click here
Designs on the Future
open|box|design judges new talent
Openboxdesign’s Creative Director, Sunil Vishin, was recently invited to be a member of Aberdeen‘s Gray’s School of Art selection panel to judge the best of creative talent at the 2011 Annual Degree Shows. Sunil helped identify the most exciting and creative work across the entire fine art and design departments. The selected works are being purchased for the Gray’s School of Art collection, which forms part of the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. Well done to all those selected!
To see the Gray's School of Art Degree Show website click here
Aden Country Park
Supporting and promoting North East Culture
Here at openboxdesign HQ there’s a lot going on – and it’s not all about cards! (despite how much we love them) We have been commissioned to create the corporate identity, website and publications for the redevelopment of one of Aberdeenshire’s main visitor attractions, Aden Country Park. The park features a Farming Museum, café, shops, historic estate buildings, playpark, walks and a Victorian arboretum – well worth a visit!
We’re also producing internal graphics and decorative vinyls for the interiors of some of our local authority’s libraries. These include a new library in Westhill, Aberdeenshire that has a cool scandi interior – right up our street! Visit the Aden Country Park website here
It's for you!
Personalised products from new partners
We all love getting something unique and special that has been made just for us and that’s why all of us here at openboxdesign are so pleased to be working with online retailers Not on the High Street and Must Get a Card to spread the love. What could be nicer than one of our cards featuring a message specially dedicated to you? – no, we can’t think of anything better either!
open|box|design's 2011 tour now heads to Birmingham
Spring Fair International, Birmingham NEC, 6-10th February
The next show in an already busy 2011
Round two sees us jetting off to Spring Fair... we can't wait. It's been a busy time and we're still reeling with the success of Top Drawer in London, but Spring Fair has a bit of a sweet spot for us as we won a Best of Show award last year. Come by, say hello and see our lovely new products as well as old favorites.
See you there!
open|box|design's 2011 tour began in London
Top Drawer Spring, Earl's Court, London 16-18th January
Our best show yet!
Wow... we were rushed off our feet. Top Drawer 2011 was a resounding success for us with more orders and more enquiries than ever before. We do love doing all exhibitions as we get to meet some really lovely people and get to hear genuine feedback from you all but we didn't realise just how busy we were going to be - so a big thank you to all that popped over.
We had TWO new ranges on show - 'Belissima' and 'Just Peachy' seen along with our big hitters 'Close Knit' (with new additions), 'Lov3d Up' and 'Brilliant Birthdays'.
Thank you for making this a show to remember!
Belissima - new range for 2011
Cards for really special people!
The Belissima range incorporates subtlety, elegance and refinement to produce a stunning set of cards aimed only for those you really care about.
The cards use soft hues, ornamental visuals and a glamorous typeface all presented on a luxuriant card stock with a gentle swirling emboss.
Just Peachy - new range for 2011
Juicy and full of flavour
Have you ever seen a word that looks good enough to eat? Well that’s the basis of these simply sumptuous cards.
Luscious letters with a flavoursome sentiment filled in with a hand drawn style and finished on a heavy linen-embossed card stock. Mmm, smack those juicy lips now.
The Card and Gift Blog
Being Part of the Community
A few weeks ago we were invited to be part of a wonderful website - the Card and Gift blog. This extensive site shows the cream of design not just in the UK, but worldwide too. It's a constantly updated site and is already something of a benchmark for retailers. We're proud to be part of it all - thank you so much Charlotte!
You can see our entry in the site here
The South Deeside Under Fives
A great place for kids to learn and play
We work for institutions, companies and organisations small and large and love it as working for such varied clients keeps us fresh and happy. The South Deeside Under Fives is a dedicated group that run classes for babies up to five year-olds in the local area to openboxdesign's HQ. We know how good they are through first hand experience and were delighted to be asked to be involved. The team approached us to create a small, fun and approachable site that was easily updatable, and you can see the results here.
Silk Step
Dedicated to the shoe lover in you
Silk Step has a simple ethos - be passionate about the shoes you're in. This new and lively midlands-based company has already had a huge amount of success and media exposure and we're over the moon that they trusted us with their brand identity and design including corporate logo, signage, business stationery and website which can be seen by clicking here.
Close-Knit - introducing a brand new range
Cosy and contemporary
It's new and it's as snug as a big snuggly thing from your Gran. If your Gran is the coolest thing around of course. We've taken our cue from the wonderful world of knitting and crochet of yesteryear and have bundled up all that care, craft and heart appeal with a little contemporary open|box|design styling to produce a range that is both on trend and traditional.
Harrogate Home and Gift 2010
A huge success
Even the weather couldn't stop it from working for us!
Harrogate was wonderful: we continue our upwards trajectory and we took more orders than we have before at any show, not to mention the follow-ups which have kept us busy all week.
So thank you all from the bottom of our crocheted hearts. The openboxdesign elves have been locked in a darkened room until all the orders are away and we're now off for a stiff G&T.
Sadly, the weather really was terrible so there was no Pimms on the lawn but we'll be back (with a better brolly) in 2011!
Random Chat gets Bigger
New Characters... New Danger
Along with our 3D flagship range 'Brilliant Birthdays', 'Random Chat' has been the most popular of our cards this year. They're cheeky, a bit naughty, very telling but never nasty... in fact just the way we are really. And to mark our first birthday... yep, in terms of Greeting Cards we are a glorious ONE YEAR OLD, we have doubled the range to an eye-watering 36 cards!
So, please go to the Random Chat section here. Oh, and retailers who register can see all our cards in glorious high resolution by going here.
open|box|design awarded BEST OF SHOW, fresh 2010 at Spring Fair International
The icing on the cake
It was already a great start to the year for us and it's kept on getting better as we’ve now been recognised by industry leaders in the retail sector and fellow card publishers for the quality of our work.
We exhibited at Spring Fair International in February, specifically within the ‘Fresh’ area - a brand new section of the greetings hall specially reserved for design-led companies - and we were awarded the very first ‘Best of Fresh’ Award.
This award was given to the company that, in the judges’ opinion, had the best and most innovative products of the entire Fresh section. We are delighted that our greetings cards have been endorsed so positively by colleagues - and it makes us want to do more!
The award has already raised the profile of our small but energetic company and following our time at Spring Fair we have been mentioned in Progressive Greetings, Greetings Today and Gift Focus Magazine.
(Image: Sunil Vishin, Director of open|box|design, centre, is presented with the award by David Pursley, CEO of the Australian Giftware Association, Left, and Jeremy Corner, Director of Blue Eyed Sun and one of the Fresh Organisers, right)
Designtech Aberdeen website launch
Brand new website for Oil and Gas Company
open|box|design are proud to announce the launch of the Designtech website.
This is a compact site that effectively informs with clear information and an appropriate visual flair.
AberdeenshireArts website launch
A refreshing new look
We're very excited to say that AberdeenshireArts have launched their new website that has been created and managed by open|box|design.
The site has improved functionality and hosts a wealth of information on the arts for the North East of Scotland and beyond.
Why we don't have two websites
We've thought about this one for a long time now and it was always going to be a tough call. As you may already know, we've been running as a well regarded design company for over seven years, but we've only been actively designing cards as greeting cards since 2009.
Taking the 3D Challenge
On the one hand, we seem to be getting this right as so many of you love our three dimensional cards. They certainly stand out from the crowd. On the other hand, there is that pesky issue with the display cards, with any card - you almost always just see the flat face of the card on very narrow display shelves.
open|box|design in your mailbox
keeping you informed with emails and special offers!
Sign up now and keep up to date with what we're up to and to give you access to discounts and special promotions that we'll be running throughout the year. Our e-bulletin service is completely free and you can opt out any time you wish. We do not spam, we do not give your information to anyone else. We will only ever use the service to inform you of what open|box|design are up to.
School kids write it up
For the fourth year open|box|design has been involved in the 'what's the story' project for wordfirsts which has culminated in the production of ten exemplary short stories by secondary school children in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire under this year's title of 'The Writing on the Wall'.