CURLY GIRL
INSIDE THE ENVELOPE WITH LEIGH STANDLEY
The original 'Curly Girl' Leigh Standley (fig. 1.) started her company after getting laid off from her second job as a Creative Director. Not sure what to do next she began working with a friend at her yoga studio in Boston, where many new beginnings would later blossom. She began making small artworks that her friend would hang in her studio, when people started asking if they could purchase the art, Leigh had her lightbulb moment. She knew she was onto something, and eventually took some good advice and thus began her greeting card empire, Curly Girl Design.
Figure 1. Leigh Standley in her art studio
Did you always have a goal to create greeting cards or was it a kind of AHA moment? No, though I was a paper nerd, the job wasn't really on my radar. During the starving-artist beginnings of trying to make a business of my art, a lady that I babysat for told me I should meet her sister... who was in the gift industry. I met her and she just said "Oh. These are greeting cards. Here's my printer's number. Use him. He's great." and I was just green enough to do exactly what she said. When we first received the order of 2000 greeting cards on my front porch later that year, the printer had written "Great stuff. Pay when you can." which I will never forget. We went on over the years to do hundreds of thousands of dollars of business with him.
Figure 2. Leigh working on a piece in her studio
If someone is being introduced to your line for the first time, what are three things you would want them to know about your cards?
1. We make cards for people, not occasions. While we do have Holiday and Birthday cards. What I love the most, is that cards create connection. You'll hopefully find one that reminds you of someone you care about and suddenly you are sending that person a piece of hand written mail.
2. The art and lettering are all done by hand. I make the collage work with paper, paint, ink and very tiny scissors. It is not digital. In a world of digital everything, I think it's kind of refreshing to hold something in your hand that has an original piece of art behind it. (See Fig 2).
3. Even though we have been around for over 20 years, this is still very much a VERY small business. Just me and a couple of great employees making this happen... so when you buy our cards, you are supporting our families. And we really do appreciate it.
If you could tell your younger self one piece of advice about starting a business, what would it be? Ha! Oh gosh. Probably to make sure to punctuate things. A business is like a lifetime, or a marriage, you have to stop to celebrate the wins and acknowledge the losses. You need champagne toasts and headstones along the way. That way time is marked and proper reverence for the work is paid. Being a founder or CEO is tough, because there is no one to high-five you when you hit a goal or achieve something big... you are most often, just in your office going "WOOO!" and then someone comes in and tells you the toilet is clogged and you have to deal with that. The same is true for the ways you fail... only usually there are more people that know you have blown it. There is a lot of feedback and business moves fast, so often you have to rush into fixing, without properly grieving the thing that didn't work out. Make sure to honor things that do.
One of our favourite things about Curly Girl Design is your beautifully written sentiments, how exactly do you come up with them? Do you start with the artwork or the copy? So, for the everyday cards, they are always written first. I noodle around for a long time on what to say and how to say it. The image really has to apply to as many people as possible, and then also maybe look good on a mug or whatever...so the image comes second. With Holiday cards it's the reverse. Which I find very fun. I play around with holdiay imagery and themes and color palettes and then for the most part, write something holiday-ish. It's a lot more playful to me.
We love that you use eco-glitter in your cards! What does sustainability mean to you in the greeting card world? As someone who loves the earth and thrives in nature, sustainability is very important. It's in opposition to being in the gift industry and I have always been determined not to just be making STUFF for the sake of selling it. Everything we make must be useful and beautiful and the packaging must be as minimal as possible. From vegetable-based inks, to eco-glitter to recycled paper... even printing with wind-power. I like the idea that my work can go safely back to the earth someday after doing its job.