Adding to the excitement at PG Live this year will be the announcement – on the opening day, June 5 – of the finalists in a nationwide search for new design talent by David Hicks, founder and MD of Really Good and Soul (pictured above).
“There’s a large pool of young design talent that I’m looking forward to meeting and nurturing. I still get excited about a new design, so it’s exciting to think about who and what we might unearth,” enthuses David, who is well known for his maverick approach and gut feeling for product, having introduced many of the gift sector’s best-selling lines such as the Brightside’s Man Tin which has sold over 600,000 units globally.
The overall winner will be announced in July at Home & Gift, Harrogate, with the winner having the opportunity to see his or her work published and taken to market globally. The winner will also receive a £1,000 cash prize.
The panel of judges includes Jakki Brown, editor of leading greeting card industry magazine Progressive Greetings, a sister magazine to Progressive Gifts & Home; one of America’s biggest distributors, Alan Harnik of Notes & Queries, and Jenny Cummins of Australia’s gift and card distributors McMillan.
Unpublished designers aged 18 plus are currently invited to enter up to six examples of their work via email.
