• 1987 The first Forever Friends bear danced its way onto the page of artist Deborah Jones’ sketchbook. Made into greetings cards that were published by Andrew Brownsword, the cards were soon loved by young and old. 1989 After a couple of years’ success, the brand established itself with the new name, Forever Friends
  • 1990 - 1994 The brand grew from strength to strength and its distinctive look and style of sentiment became synonymous with a hug in an envelope 1994 After seven successful years, the design of the cards was updated to feature borders and frames. (Although the bears stayed as soft and snuggly as ever!)
  • 1997 A special new range called ‘Between Friends’ was launched for our younger friends that focussed on the closeness of friendships.
  • 1999 - 2000 Another special range called ‘Blanc’ was introduced to target our older friends. Working on the basis that less is more, the bears were drawn in a sophisticated sketchbook style on heavier, more premium paper, with only a hint of pastel colour.
  • 2000 After 13 cuddly years of lovingly creating the Forever Friends bears, Deborah Jones finally decided to pass the sketchbook over to the team of illustrators in Hallmark’s Bath studio.
  • 2001 The ‘Pastels’ sub-range introduced a fun-loving, adventurous and mischievous side to Forever Friends and proved that even snuggly bears wanna have fun too! Warm colours on white paper with longer messages completed the look
  • 2003 Traditional florals and patterns and a cream background are introduced to the range as part of the Classic Core Collection.
  • 2005 - 2007 The Forever Friends brand was re-launched, designed to bring the bear up to date by the use of more modern surroundings and activities. A new watercolour look was given to the bears, along with new, textured paper and a cleaner font VIEW LATEST PRODUCTS
  • 2008 Forever Friends bears blow out the candles and celebrate 21 years of bringing hugs and happiness to people around the world. The bears have been transformed from pencils to pixels and are now available as downloadable digital delights, coming soon to a mobile phone and ipod near you...