GS PETS Winter 2019

Meet the Maker: Up With Paper By Sam Ujvary

Up With Paper has a long history of creating greeting cards and is well-known for its creative artistic designs. The pop-up cards are ideal for all occasions and now are available for all pet-lovers to enjoy as well. Unique designs provide a special way to send a message to a fellow dog or cat lover.

Gift Shop Pets: What’s the inspiration for the UWP and UWP Luxe line?

Monika Brandrup, vice president and creative director: In 1978, the original inspiration for Up With Paper, formerly known as PopShots, was to bring the magic of a Broadway set to the greeting card world, as the founder was a Broadway set designer! In 2014, UWP Luxe emerged from the creative team’s aspiration to create upscale pop- up greeting cards that target millennials and the design- conscious customer. This was an opportunity to design a completely different line of award-winning pop-up cards that our Up With Paper brands did not cater to.

Today, our creative team draws inspiration from the fashion industry, trade shows and current social events.These emerging trends are then implemented into our designs, resulting in a unique combination of leading artwork, innovative paper engineering, and clever additions of mixed media finishes.

GSP: Tell us about how the two brands vary.

MB: Up With Paper and UWP Luxe target two different customers. Fun, colorful and bright, Up With Paper’s cards appeal to boomers and adults to send to family, friends and kids for traditional card-sending occasions. UWP Luxe, however, features intricate designs with clever copy and on-trend themes, which are ideal for millennials and adults to send for any occasion. Additionally, UWP Luxe cards are printed on luxury papers with delicate finishes and stunning pop-ups that are designed specifically for each card.

GSP: Tell us about your pet-themed cards.

MB: Our designers at Up With Paper love to develop pet-themed cards! A range of pets, mostly dogs and cats, are represented in all of our card lines. Our most popular Treasures line features some cat cards with actual fluffy fur, which always ranks high in our top sellers. We also design sound cards for our elaborate Panoramics and Sight ‘n Sound lines, where you can discover dogs barking the ‘Happy Birthday’ song or cats meowing the same tune in unison. The humor resonates with consumers which makes them want to share them with others.

GSP: Why do you think they do so well?

MB: Whether you are a dog or cat lover, or connect with any other popular pets, pet-themed cards touch a soft spot in our hearts which always evoke happy feelings and fond memories.

GSP: What’s next for UWP?

MB: Up With Paper’s new light-up cards that feature push-button light effects have been very well received since their launch in 2017. We are now introducing additional everyday and Christmas designs in our treasures and panoramic formats. Our light-up cards truly bring to life our founders’ vision of transforming a Broadway set into greeting card form!

For Up With Paper, we are excited to further incorporate new art styles, mixed media and innovative technologies into our paper engineered cards.

Meet other makers in the pet industry:

• carol & frank

• P.L.AY.: Pet Lifestyle And You

• Son of a Sailor

• Harry Barker

Sam Ujvary

Sam is the managing editor of Gift Shop Pets, Museums & More and Party & Halloween Retailer, and is a contributing editor for Gift Shop Magazine. She has a copywriting background and has been in publishing for six years.