Art licensing and design studio, The London Studio has revealed a very busy first quarter of 2025, with new territories and expanded partnerships planned for its Artists Collective community, continuing success for its in-house brands, and the appointment of experienced licensing professional Jo Astles to help manage the fast-growing business.
The London Studio Artists Collective – a community that brings together, promotes and collaborates with some of the world’s most exciting independent artists – made news last year when Ryman Design stocked over 500 Artists Collective greeting cards designs in the new Ryman Design Cheapside store.
Following on from this, Ryman Design is now giving Artists Collective more space and moving it into key stores. The Artists Collective area in these stores is branded and also includes signage that makes clear that each purchase supports an independent artist or creative small business.
In addition, the launch of Denmark’s Mossy Frog – a new personalised greeting cards company – has helped to bring the Artists Collective to Scandinavia.
Coverage in publications like US Weekly, Cosmopolitan and Metro for both in-house cards and partners’ cards is also keeping awareness of The London Studio’s core greeting cards business high. At the same time in-house brands like the retro-inspired Dreamadelic and Kitty Cocktails, where famous drinks meet crazy cats, are bringing The London Studio to diaries, calendars and many other licensing categories both in the UK and abroad.
The company has boosted its senior team to manage the growth, with Jo Astles joining as artist and licensing development manager. A former licensing agent at the Bright Agency, where she specialised in greeting cards, as well as creative manager at The Original Poster Company for 15 years, Jo combines design ability with business and licensing skills.
As part of The London Studio team, Jo will be using her skills and experience to help its artists to develop both creatively and in business terms while also helping to grow the licensing arm of The London Studio business.
“The past year was a breakout one for The London Studio, with both in-house brands and partnerships like The Artists Collective securing growing interest from the greetings card and licensing trades,” commented Soula Zavacopoulos, founder and director at The London Studio. “This has continued into 2025 with new territories, new deals and growing potential for the business as a whole. We now need to take the business to a new level and our new appointee Jo Astles has certainly hit the ground running. We’re delighted to welcome her on board as we build on the success of 2024.”
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