Wentworth Wooden Puzzles has just launched “Art That Slays“, a new range of jigsaws featuring eye-catching illustrations by artists such as Paul Bond, Uijung Kim, Tom Podmore and Kirsten Ulve and photographers such as Delene Lambert. The aim of the range is to both retain a fast-growing fan base of younger dissectologists discovering the hobby during the Coronavirus Pandemic – and reach many more younger puzzlers, too.
It’s impossible to have missed the rise in popularity of the humble jigsaw puzzle over lockdown this year. From a soothing activity for mindfulness and wellbeing, to a boredom buster and brain trainer, long-time lovers of this analogue pastime were more than happy to share the benefits that jigsaw puzzles had to offer.
Quickly being named as a sanity saver and new household essential, it was no wonder that more and more people were trying puzzles for the first time. But while it’s understandable that the increased interest in jigsaw puzzles caused a large uplift in new customers to their site, Wentworth Wooden Puzzles also noticed an interesting trend – an ever-growing percentage of their customers were from a younger demographic.
The 25 – 34 year olds topped the age group for most number of new visitors from February to May 2020, while the 18-24 year old age group was the fastest growing in the same time frame, with nearly four times as many new visitors when compared to the previous three months.
“It’s clear that puzzles are here to stay,” says Sarah Watson, Managing Director of Wentworth Wooden Puzzles, “so we wanted to ensure that we catered for the diverse variety of people that have taken up puzzling, especially during lockdown.
“As well as refreshing our brand identity and packaging, we’ve launched an exciting new collection of contemporary designs to appeal to the ever-growing number of younger dissectologists.
“We have also moved box production back to the UK and dropped shrink wrap from our packaging, as part of a move towards minimising our impact on the planet.”
Artist Paul Bond loves to blur the lines between dreaming and reality, unveiling a world where anything is possible. Inspired by a quote, Paul Bond created “Possessing a Most Irrational Sense of Optimism”, imagining what the home of a wild optimist would look like… Image: Wentworth Wooden Puzzles 
“Guksu” is named after the Korean word for Noodle soup, and you can see how wonderfully artist Uijung Kim has captured this homely comfort food. Kim’s iconic style really expresses her strong roots in Korean Culture. Image: Wentworth Wooden Puzzles 
Japanese artist Naomi Okubo is well known for her signature style involving lots of flowers and colours. “Girls Want To Be Like A Flower” represents the pressure that society and social media places on women and girls to look perfect and feminine. Through her work, Naomi Okubo hopes to show that we can balance the difference between media images and reality. Image: Wentworth Wooden Puzzles From an award-winning illustrator and designer “New York City Lady” was one of Kirsten Ulve’s early attempts to condense this amazing city into just one picture. With Lady Liberty as the starring role, she’s surrounded by 20 other landmarks. You can appreciate the influence of Kirsten’s location in the garment district throughout her work. “I envisioned New York City Lady as a modern day symbol of Liberty,” says Kirsten. “She strides through Manhattan as nightfall itself, clothed in the magical lights of the city.” Image: Wentworth Wooden Puzzles
Wentworth Puzzles have also launched a fresh, eye-catching “Art That Slays” collection, pulling puzzles into the 21st century with a modern and exciting range of contemporary puzzles aimed at a new generation of puzzlers.
Working with a wide variety of exciting artists and photographers, the collection features the very best of quirky and modern art, from curious creatures to breath-taking photographs and amazing locations from our own world to pure fantasy – a collection as diverse as the puzzlers who complete them.
All of Wentworth’s puzzles are made using wood from forests that are sustainably managed, and its boxes are made from recycled materials.
No plastic is used in the packaging process and Wentworth is doing all they can to minimise the energy they use and recycle the waste they create.
Most importantly, the puzzles are made to last. So, there’s every chance many more young dissectologists may discover these puzzles lurking in their parents or grandparents homes, well into the future!
• The Art That Slays collection consists of 25 brand new puzzles, which are all available in a 250 piece and 500 pieces, prices start from £29.95 and can be purchased online here from www.wentworthpuzzles.com.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, downthetubes News, Merchandise, Other Worlds
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