Stand: DP1-A62
Building on two decades of growth through new product development and brand evolution, M!NT will showcase its latest collections at Home & Gift.
The specialist humour greeting card company M!NT is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a big push into stationery and gift products, spearheaded by its visually striking and hilarious bestselling To Be Frank! brand.
The new products began to be trailed last summer, with further releases in recent months, and the full range to date will be on show at Home & Gift, with more to come.
Group creative director Ben Dorney describes the To Be Frank! ethos as “a mix of witty one-liners and funny deadpan delivery, all presented in a palette of secretly blended neon colours. It’s the last word in colourful humour!”
The ‘secretly blended’ reference relates to the neon inks being custom-made for M!NT – described as groundbreaking for the industry – with the company also working to achieve colour matches across different product substrates and manufacturers.
The products are well suited to personal gifting or stocking fillers and focus on popular formats. These include magnets, keyrings, large, medium and bottle gift bags, A5 textured-cover notebooks with soft-touch lamination, special inks and embossing (160pp lined paper), magnetic pads, bookmarks, and coasters (single designs, sold in units of six).
M!NT and its proprietors, Debbie and Alan Williams, are celebrating two decades of greeting card and stationery publishing this summer. Twenty years ago, the couple took over a struggling, little-known card company and have since transformed it into the major independent business it is today.
An early success was the now-classic Knit & Purl greeting card range, featuring quirky animals and objects hand-knitted by Debbie. What began as a temporary accounts role at a small greeting card company ultimately led to Debbie and her then farmer husband, Alan, buying and relaunching the business, which now occupies a 43,000sq ft premises and is one of the UK’s leading independently owned greeting card, stationery and gift publishing groups.
M!NT’s early successes rapidly led to the acquisition of Museums & Galleries (M&G), Real and Exciting Designs, and the launch last year of The Fold, M&G’s boutique side label.
Meanwhile, M!NT has not rested on its laurels. Ben Dorney has reinvigorated the brand, creating its new identity, and developing the To Be Frank! collection of cards, stationery and gifts.
M&G relationships and administration manager Sophie Bylina-Williams explains: “A team effort created the magic – printer and production team pushing technical boundaries; studio design and copywriting in collaboration with an industry wordsmith – and the result is a unique look and tone of voice.”
The constantly refreshed Knit & Purl range remains a core part of the M!NT offer and, together with the contemporary success of To Be Frank!, strengthens the company’s position as a leading humour publisher. This is further supported by a reinvigorated collection of licensed ranges including Katie Abey and Magdalena Creative, alongside popular in-house ranges such as Doodle Showcase and Just Saying.
Reflecting on 20 successful years in the industry, Debbie says: “We just feel so proud of our team and how they have adapted to the evolution of the business and our retail customers, both multiples and independents. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them.”
