As most of you know, Flashcards have been one of our stocks in trade since we released the original Slang and Therapy Flashcards in 2003. We refreshed them and made them a bit smaller for Spring 2010 and brought Parenting and Foodie Flashcards into the mix.
For the past year and a half or so, we’ve really enjoyed bringing out more products for kids. Our first children’s product, the Bingos (Roadtrip and Kids’ Night Out), were introduced a while ago, but we weren’t really doing kids’ product on purpose. Now it’s a big part of our strategy as well as what we want to create, starting with the Playtime Pads and continued with the currently bestselling This or That?. There’s some really big stuff shaking in the kids’ arena for 2012, but we can’t tell you about that yet!
One thing we can tell you is that we’re totally excited about Big Word Flashcards, to be introduced in January 2012 (Spring 2012, in fast-forwarded retailspeak). You may have noticed that we’ve been using more and more illustration in products such as Vs. and My Life in Graphs. This is in large part thanks to our creative director, Craig Hetzer, who’s an illustration lover and maven (with respect to finding great illustrators and determining their roles projects). Now that we’re using illustration, we can’t keep away from it—you’ll see lots in the rest of the Spring 2012 release.
The inspiration behind Big Word Flashcards is the way that kids love to learn new words, especially big, silly-sounding ones. (This, by the way, is a large part of the humor in one of my favorite kid’s books—and books on LA—Max in Hollywood, Baby, by the inimitable Maira Kalman.)
The charming pictures in the Big Word Flashcards were created by an illustrator named Robert Stites, while the words were selected and copy concocted by one of our editors, Meredith Ridings, consistent with our generally doing most editorial in-house. The beautiful evolution from adult to children’s flashcards—staying within the brand and previous flashcards but also injecting fresh newness, a challenging assignment—was accomplished by one of our fabulous designers, Alexis Lowery. The box has a hinged cover, more durable and easy to open for little fingers.
We hope you’ll enjoy Big Word Flashcards as much as we do—kid or adult! Tell us: do you think you’ll be buying them, and if so, for whom? And if you’re in the mood, tell us your favorite big silly-sounding word!