At Penny Black we appreciate the meaning and thoughtfulness that goes into every card purchase. Buying the right card for your favourite people can be joyously painstaking; the right words, the right vibe, something quirky or something speaking exactly their sense of humour. But there’s more to it isn’t there?

In the UK, traditionally the visuals of the greeting card industry have been dominated by white, non-disabled, straight faces. Up until now, growing up non-white for example, in a predominately white culture can mean not always seeing yourself in every day things like tv shows, adverts and you’ve guessed it, birthday cards. But the world is changing and our industry is becoming more conscious of the massive importance of representation. Check out the unique card designs by Carolyn Suzuki, Rifle Paper and Emma Cooter Draws!

Greeting card designers and publishers from the small independent illustrators to the big guys are on a journey to offering inclusive product for stores like ours. Some Penny Black favourites like unique wordsmith Emily McDowall and Friends have been challenging the status quo since the start!

Already product curation at Penny Black consciously considers if our shelves truly reflects the thrilling composition of the humans around us.  We’re challenging the way we choose things but also for example, the traditional way cards are categorised on websites, by offering filters for gender neutral birthday cards if you want to steer clear of gender stereotypes which can often be so in your face.

You’ll hear more from us on the other ways we’re putting representation at the forefront of the products we’re bringing to you in 2022 soon!