David Hicks – founder of The Really Good Card Company and its gift sibling Soul – was a true one-off. A great friend to many, and an inspiration to everyone who had the good fortune to meet him, David most definitely made the most of his life, but sadly, the cruelty of motor neurone disease cut it too short.
David died on Friday 8 April, in Switzerland with his wife Nicole by his side, and good friend Miles Robinson, co-owner of gift and greeting card retailer House Of Cards, close by.
He will be remembered for many reasons – his character, his wicked sense of humour, his vision, his entrepreneurial talents, his principles, his dress sense, his love of travel, photography and food, but most of all, his love of people and interest in their lives.
During his career, David received two industry Honorary Achievement Awards: one in recognition of his contribution to the greeting card industry, presented at The Henries in 1997, and the other for his achievements in the gift sector, which was presented at The Greats Awards in 2017. He will never be forgotten.
Having “stumbled by accident” into the greeting card industry in the late 1980s, David did things his way right from the off, something that was to continue right to the end.
The Really Good Card Company – David’s first publishing venture – made its mark initially with postcards featuring the cartoons of Rob Duncan, published under the typically oblique range name of Not Particularly Orange. This led on to a vast array of over 250 greeting card ranges.
While not a designer himself, as a publisher, they all had the David Hicks touch, adhering to his mantra of having to be different from what was on the market – no “me too’s” for him, that was for sure.
While some were incredibly successful, most notably Happy Hefalumps, Edward Monkton and Bright Side – by David’s own admission, he “also published some awful failures, but they were always a bit different”!
The expansion sideways for both Really Good and Soul, which launched as a sibling brand in 1997, from cards into gifts, provided another avenue for David’s entrepreneurial nous to come into play. Only he could have come up with the idea for a Man Tin, where an astonishing three quarters of a million were sold over a five-year period.
While David took the decision to close down both Really Good and Soul in 2019, with the intention of spending more time travelling and on his photography, he retained strong links with his many friends in the industry.
However, less than a year ago, David was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Aware that his health would deteriorate rapidly, in true David fashion, he made no secret of the fact that when the time came, he would be going to Switzerland to take control of the inevitable. Sadly, that time came last week.
“We worked with David for many years on gift ranges Happy Heffalumps, Not Particularly Orange and Kid Art,” commented Kishor Shah, md of Xpressions. “He was probably one of the most charismatic people in our industry, always with a smile, always something to say and always funny. He was his own man and did what he wanted and believed in. A true character.”
You can read more tributes to David on our sister site PG Buzz by clicking here and here.
