Craft Focus - April/May 2020 (Issue 78)

56 The royal treatment With a vibrant range of brands, Royal Talens’ products are loved by artists across the world. Marketing executive Suzen Pope reveals what the company has in store for 2020 Tell us a little about Royal Talens and its heritage. Headquartered in Apeldoorn, Holland, Royal Talens manufactures, distributes and promotes an unrivalled number of premium products – more than 10,000 finished articles to over 100 different countries. In our early history, Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands was a great Talens devotee, using our materials daily for her own artistic creations. Thanks to her love of our products, she gave her Royal seal of approval, making us the Royal Talens brand you see today. In the UK, the opening of our first headquarters in Wokingham, Berkshire, is our most significant sign of progress. The move represents our long-term commitment to building and developing lasting relationships in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Talk us through the company’s product range. Our range is extensive. Since 1899 and the creation of our professional brand, Rembrandt, we have launched several other lines including Van Gogh. There’s also Amsterdam, which consists of acrylics, and our innovative Cobra water mixable oil paints. For new artists, we have Talens Art Creation, and of course, the ever-popular Sakura collection. Are there any new launches you’d like our readers to know about? Innovation is part of our DNA - we’re always looking for ways to create exciting new products, and 2020 is no different. We have recently launched new Sakura Gelly Roll pens, which come in 15 vibrant colour options. These are accompanied by Sakura sketchbooks, available in a variety of sizes in both black and ivory. Elsewhere, we have new Sakura Koi brush pen sets in themed wallets, called Bright, Sweets, Botanical, Portrait and Galaxy. Our new Ecoline 10x brush pen sets cover a range of interests – Architect, Fashion, Hand Lettering, Illustrator, Dark, Bright, Skin, Greys, Botanic and Pastel. There’s also an additional 30x set. There’s more to come, including Rembrandt toned paper, Talens Bristol paper and Art Creation sketchbooks in four new colours. We’re always creating, so expect more announcements throughout the year. How often does the company develop and launch new products? We regularly and consistently develop new products whilst innovating to improve our existing collection. As a company we are passionate about setting market trends. We believe creative expression brings out the best in everyone and people need high-quality products to do this. As the preferred supplier in the creative colour industry, we are dedicated to making this happen. Our development comes from our team in Holland