The Grey Earl has been unveiled, as Founder Jon Bishop drops his alias to tell us more about his captivating greeting cards and gift brand. Here, the designer and illustrator joins our Digital Content Manager, Jordan, to give us some insight into how The Grey Earl was born, what it’s all about, and what’s next… 

Watch the interview below, or read on for more on The Grey Earl...

Hi Jon, thanks so much for joining us for a chat. Before we delve into The Grey Earl, tell us a bit more about yourself and your background. 

So I’m an illustrator. I studied illustration and graduated a very long time ago (2005). Afterwards, I took a few years out from doing anything creative and had a bit of a jolly travelling the world. I’ve since spent the last decade living and creating in Scotland. 

 

How did The Grey Earl come about, what was that journey like?

Having taken a break from anything creative, I really wanted to get back into the scene and start working again. The prospect of coming up with new work and designing it under an alias seemed like a good idea—it enabled me to marry more humour to the work, which is a key part of the brand, than if I’d created it under my own name. 

 

And how about the name? 

Well, I do drink a lot of tea and I thought it added a nice bit of mystery. 

 

What do you think sets The Grey Earl apart from other greeting card and gift brands on the market?  

Humour is inherent to the work I do, and I think it helps people connect to my designs in a meaningful way. And though I don’t specifically design my cards for the male audience, I also think there tends to be a gap in the market for cards that are suited to this group of customers. Many of my designs are enjoyed by the fellas and they’re not always catered for in the gift market. Generally, I think a lot of people are also attracted to the hand-illustrated style. 

 

Your brand is incredibly creative and uses a lot of humour and pop culture references – how do you decide upon a new design and what’s the process of bringing it to life?

I get a lot of inspiration from the things around me: movies, pop culture, politics. Watching movies, thankfully, is a pretty nice way to get research done. I always have a handy sketchbook with me to capture ideas, but it can take some time to fully bring them to life as market-ready designs. The idea for my most recent range sat in my sketchbook for seven years and was only revisited in 2021. 

 

You have some really thoughtful, funny and super creative collections (the Wearable range comes to mind). Could you talk us through some of your designs?

So with the wearable cards, which came out last year, there’s a handy little space for the receiver to pop their nose. They’ve been doing very well on social media, with many people sharing themselves or their loved ones wearing their ‘weirdo beardos’, which is what this most recent card collection is called. 

Because I live in Scotland, a lot of the early cards I designed used local dialect, like ‘yer ma wee pal’, but I’ve since tweaked some of them to be a bit more appealing UK-wide. The My Hero is a really good seller, it does well for Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and birthdays. 

As I mentioned, movies are something I love to plunder for inspiration, so Star Wars pops up a lot. So do political observations and humour; a lot of Boris Johnson. 

In terms of children’s birthday cards, we have the animal and ages range, for 1-4 year olds, and then my new space cadet range that features space exploration, which caters to 1-6 year olds. Both of these lean into a more children’s book aesthetic. 

It must be hard to pick, but do you have any personal favourites?

I quite like the fruit and vegetable range, it’s heavy on nostalgia featuring everyone’s party favourites—cheese and onions on sticks. 

 

The simple act of giving someone a thoughtfully selected card has meant a lot to so many over the past few years, how does it feel to see your designs be gifted or selected by someone?

It's sweet and I have had a lot of feedback over the last year with people who have been buying from me directly, and where I can I’ve been giving them a cheeky little extra free card to encourage people to make contact with pals that they may not have been able to see as much over the past 2 years. The feedback has been great and buyers are really appreciative and just writing to each other a lot more. It’s been reassuring to see that greeting cards still have such a special place in this digital landscape.

 

So what’s next for The Grey Earl? What does the rest of the year look like for you? 

Lots of projects this year. I have a new range that I’m hoping to get started on the drawings for in the next couple of months. I’m also working on some children’s picture books and developing my other alter ego, Jon Bishop, for that work, as well as The Grey Earl greeting cards, so it will be a busy year. 

I’m looking forward to showcasing my designs at Top Drawer this September, so hope to see many of you retailers and buyers then. 

Be sure to visit The Grey Earl on REVEAL today to see more of Jon’s designs. Registration for Top Drawer, where The Grey Earl will be exhibiting in February, is also open now.