Foliage, mushrooms and fresh Christmas looks. Atlanta Recap.
One of our favorite things about the new year is the anticipation of the Atlanta International Gift and Market. Not only do we love meeting with licensees and looking for new potential partners, but we also enjoy seeing the new trends, colors and themes that grab the industry each year.
The trends this year were quite clear with the natural world and in particular the forest floor taking center stage. Fern fronds, luscious foliage, mushrooms, moss and natural woods were everywhere, both for holiday looks as well as for everyday styles. A variety of greens, tans, soft blue-gray tones combined with these natural elements to give artwork, ornaments and home décor a very warm, inviting “outside-in” look. There is also a return to the terracotta color waves of a few years ago combined with natural seagrass, macramé and other natural materials.
This looks also extends into Christmas where it takes a more neutral tone. Santa wears a cream suit, not red. The Christmas trees are covered in creams, white, soft golds. Wreaths have white berries and taupe colored bows. Wood tones are lighter, like birch and they are accompanied by soft gold, creams and whites.
We were also delighted to see what we call the “candy land” look of pastels, pinks and reds is sticking around for Holiday décor. The overall look is playful and “sugary” and gives traditional Christmas icons such as nutcrackers, snowmen and Santa a fresh new look. We developed various images that fit this look before the show and we are excited to see them on products soon!
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RAZ
One of our usual go-tos in Atlanta is Raz. Typically we have artwork scattered throughout various collection. This year was no different. Among their new collections on display this year was the “Holiday Cheers” collection which featured our fun cocktail party based designs on ornaments and home décor. They also featured a “Dashing Through The Snow” line that included colorful ski-resort style images from our collection which we had customized for their use. We are excited to continue working with Raz on their upcoming requests!
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GANZ
We also always love to meet with Ganz. Their creative team always inspire us! This time, their “Highlands” line combined images of majestic stags from our archive with two designs featuring skiers done in a soft, more neutral palate that perfectly fits the current trends. Both sets of images were originally quite different than the look that Ganz was looking for, so they too are a good example of customization. We are thrilled to continue to work with Ganz and look forward to what they may request next!
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GODINGER
Unlike Raz and Ganz, this year, Godinger’s launches were mostly based on artwork created that did not come from a cover or inside illustration, but was rather created in-house by our talented designers. Their releases include appetizer plate set decorated with Christmas center images and botanical trim as well as fun plates featuring dogs, wreaths, trees and birds. They also featured an extensive line of travel mugs with assorted designs and for the first time, they also showcased acrylic trays.
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ABS
Our licensee ABS takes customization to another level. With clients that require artwork for specific travel destination, ABS usually requires art that needs some work. Their newest Curtis based collection boasts colorful nautical images of shells, turtles, crabs and other coastal classics and combines them with cleverly placed text customized for places like Myrtle Beach, the Outer Banks or Cape May. Similarly, our bears, moose and other woodsy animals will appear on lodge-based tourist spots.
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We truly enjoy working with Raz, Ganz, Godinger and ABS. They are a great example of how a good collaboration can work. They provide us boards, ideas or even reference images and based on what they are looking for, we create entire collections for their review. We encourage you to do the same. Design challenges is what we live for and without cost or obligation, you have nothing to lose!
Soon, we will be launching new images based on the trends we saw in Atlanta, so stay tuned and let us know what you are looking for in the meantime.
Your Friends at Curtis Licensing.
