Design for a new baby card
Drawing
1960s-1970s (made)
1960s-1970s (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is the original artwork for a greeting card to celebrate a new baby. It was designed in the 1960s or 1970s by Marion Wilson for the Gordon Fraser Gallery, a large British card company. The image is built of layers of paint, ballpoint pen and pen and ink to create a painterly effect. However, there are certain indications that this is really a design for a mass produced card. First, the image follows a formula: it shows a baby, christening gown, proud parents, a crib, a teddy bear and a fluffy bunny - all traditional elements of cards for new babies. The background is a soft lilac colour, a blend of the pale pinks and blues associated with newborn babies. These conventions ensure that the card conforms to common notions of infancy and help the customer to distinguish it from other kinds of card in the shop. There are also a number of physical clues that suggest the image has been transferred to print: the centre marks on the mount, traces of adhesive tape, pinholes and stock codes on the reverse. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds one of the many thousands of cards made from this design.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Design for a new baby card (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink, ballpoint pen and watercolour on card |
| Brief description | Design for a greeting card by Marion Wilson, for the Gordon Fraser Gallery, 1960s-1970s |
| Physical description | An illustration in bodycolour, watercolour, pen and ink and ball-point pen on paper, showing a mother, father and baby. On the left the father holds the baby in the the air. The baby wears a long robe and the father wears a tall hat, crowned by a fluffy rabbit. The mother sits on the right, wearing a pink dress and holding a teddy bear. A crib is in the right foreground. The background is purple. Signed at bottom left. The illustration is mounted in an original, painted card mount, bearing centre lines, sellotape marks and pin holes. |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label | This is part of a larger acquisition of material from the designer Marion Wilson, who worked for the Gordon Fraser greetings card company during the 1960s and 1970s. This card and original artwork have been chosen for inclusion in the Print Room 'education boxes.' These boxes contain objects linked by a particular topic and are aimed at school groups. They are advertised on the V&A website and include labels explaining how they relate to the topic in question. The topic here was the design process, or how designers get from first idea to finished project. On the right is the original artwork, incorporating layers of paint, ballpoint pen and pen and ink. Although the effect is very painterly, there are certain clues which show that this is really a design for the mass produced card on the left. First, the image follows a formula. It has all the elements traditionally associated with new babies and the background is a soft lilac colour, a blend of the usual pale pinks and blues. These conventions are there to help the customer to distinguish it from other kinds of card in the shop. Second, there are some physical signs that the image has been transferred to print. For example, the centre marks on the mount, traces of adhesive tape, pinholes and stock codes on the reverse.(14/6/2004) |
| Credit line | Gift of Marion Wilson |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This is the original artwork for a greeting card to celebrate a new baby. It was designed in the 1960s or 1970s by Marion Wilson for the Gordon Fraser Gallery, a large British card company. The image is built of layers of paint, ballpoint pen and pen and ink to create a painterly effect. However, there are certain indications that this is really a design for a mass produced card. First, the image follows a formula: it shows a baby, christening gown, proud parents, a crib, a teddy bear and a fluffy bunny - all traditional elements of cards for new babies. The background is a soft lilac colour, a blend of the pale pinks and blues associated with newborn babies. These conventions ensure that the card conforms to common notions of infancy and help the customer to distinguish it from other kinds of card in the shop. There are also a number of physical clues that suggest the image has been transferred to print: the centre marks on the mount, traces of adhesive tape, pinholes and stock codes on the reverse. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds one of the many thousands of cards made from this design. |
| Associated object | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.950-2003 |
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| Record created | December 22, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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