Arrthi Little on the origins and values of Cheeky Legends – and what’s next for the brand

Arrthi, can you give us a brief introduction to Cheeky Legends? Was there a particular creative spark that inspired their creation?
Cheeky Legends is an award-winning character brand built around a reimagining of classic mythical folk –wizards, elves and gnomes and restyled as cute, free-spirited nudists!

While humour is its core, the brand’s values are love, acceptance and body confidence. This message resonates strongly with today’s consumers who seek authenticity and positivity, giving us a strong emotional anchor beyond just ‘silly bums’. By putting a unique, cheeky twist on the classic fairytale genre, we make our brand accessible and perfect for a wide audience already familiar with spells, magic and fantasy.

The origin was definitely a creative spark of inspiration. Around five years ago, I had a sudden, humorous vision of a blue, naked wizard soaring through the air. That initial spark became a commercial reality after PG Live in 2023. That pivotal show, where we showcased the initial greeting card range, instantly validated the market demand. This allowed us to scale our vision from cards into an expansive character universe that is now ready for licensing.

The characters and brand are ‘cheeky’, but you are targeting a family audience. How do you ensure that the brand retains its family appeal?
We put in place clear, non-negotiable brand rules to ensure that ‘Cheeky Legends’ remains reliably family-friendly. We never show frontal nudity or use foul language, adhering strictly to our internal mantra: ‘Not too naughty, just a little Cheeky!’ This ensures we can confidently enter the children’s market.

The humour comes from the playful puns, light toilet humour and the characters’ names, like ‘Willie Warlock’ and ‘Bumdragon’, which have been tested to get a laugh across all age groups.

Design-wise, how did you establish the visual look of the characters and brand?
The visual look has taken a few years to develop. The boldest design choice was to never show the characters’ faces, which is a highly effective, instantly recognisable USP in a crowded market. The characters themselves are based on simple shapes I’ve been developing for over a decade. While the style may appear simple, there is a body structure to them that is unique and we use our signature studio shading and inking to complete the look.

Getting the colour palette to work on screen and print was trial and error, but once we got our hero bogey-green right, the rest followed. We deliberately chose a range of colours that avoided skin-tones, to make the brand universally accessible. A little fun fact that informs this choice is my Hindu background – having blue and green characters is very much part of my culture, which provides a gentle, authentic nod to that heritage.

Lovely. And does consumer research play any part in your business?
In the early stages, our go-to-market strategy involved direct-to-consumer testing at local markets with just a handful of products. This face-to-face, instant feedback immediately validated the demand for greeting cards in particular, providing us proof of concept. We then intentionally focused on cards to create a profitable foundation from which to expand the IP.

For ongoing creative development, my husband, who has now joined the business, acts as our ‘typical consumer’ filter – if I can get him to laugh at an initial sketch, I know it has a good chance of doing well. Ultimately, we are a commercially focused brand. We are driven by real sales data and what sells on the shelf, not superficial social media engagement. This commercial discipline ensures every design we release is optimised for profitability and longevity.

Your main product area at the moment is greetings cards. What makes a good greetings card – and more specifically, what makes a good Cheeky Legends card?
A good card, in my view, has to fundamentally trigger an emotion – it is a small, physical piece of communication that delivers an experience. In the case of Cheeky Legends, we aim for the recipient to laugh out loud. More specifically, a good Cheeky Legends card succeeds when the unique, playful visual and pun-driven caption work together instantly to create a memorable moment.

What excites me most, and validates the IP’s future, is that we are crossing the line where the sentiment starts to align with the humour. Our fans are beginning to empathise with the characters, choosing a card because they have a favorite character. This indicates that the characters are developing a personality and emotional connection that is ready for expansion outside of the card category.

What are your bestsellers?
Our bestsellers are, unsurprisingly, our birthday cards! They make up over 70% of our card range, making them the most critical category to perfect. By working closely with our partner, Thortful, and utilising the data they supply to creators, we optimised our range to ensure the humour resonated perfectly with their target audience. Within a year of launching on their platform, we’ve sold over 12,000 cards and have consistently grown our sales month-on-month. One card – Blow Out the Birthday Candles – has been a Thortful top seller multiple times; proof that designing with the consumer in mind delivers results.

You mentioned the brand is grounded in humour – where do you get your inspiration humour-wise?
My inspiration comes from two key areas. Creatively, I’m a huge fan-girl at heart, and have been a lifelong collector of all things anime and fantasy. Now at 37, I’ve seen this collection and my passion grow, and this love for detailed universes is what is now driving our world-building efforts, with locations like Willie Warlock’s ‘Jolly Bog’ and Earl Trumpy’s ‘Château de Toot’ setting the narrative premise for the entire brand.

In terms of humour, I’m a fan of sitcoms, and I watch them over and over to study the timing when a joke lands – good writing is essential! By expanding beyond greeting cards and into world building, we ensure the humour remains fresh and consistent. We’re not just creating one-off jokes; we’re creating repeatable comedic scenarios rooted in an enchanting world, which is a sustainable model for long-term IP development.

Looking at the greetings card market, what trends have you observed and how have they influenced your business?
Consumers are looking for brands that reflect the reality of the world, specifically the growing diversity in relationships like blended families, single-parent families and LGBTQ+ unions. Early on, we launched a small range of same-sex wedding cards and I’m slowly introducing more diverse characters as I grow the brand.

“Our fans are beginning to empathise with the characters, choosing a card because they have a favorite character.”

Our whimsical world offers a perfect opportunity to subtly incorporate what a modern family looks like. We are developing a playful novelty book called ‘Willie Warlock and his Fellowship of Misfits,’ which centres around our married Wizard and Witch who have adopted three Elf triplets. This concept allows us to communicate acceptance and love through a humorous, engaging fantasy world, proving the brand’s versatility far beyond the greeting card aisle.

What’s next for Cheeky Legends product and design wise?
Having established a successful foundation in greeting cards, our focus has moved to structured brand expansion. Our successful launch of the ‘Gardening Gnomes’ collection, which secured our first listing with a major Garden Centre, demonstrates our ability to target new retail channels. Building on this momentum, we are actively seeking licensing partners to develop an accompanying gift range.

Next year, we will launch a ‘Magic, Wish and Potions’ range. This is designed specifically to open new commercial avenues in publishing and novelty gifts. We will also be topping up each collection throughout the year to ensure retailers always have fresh additions and new products to promote.

Finally, to create a fuller experience for our customers, our vision is developing branded Point of Sale units. This will ensure that Cheeky Legends maintains a premium, cohesive brand presence across all retail environments, from garden centres to gift stores, making us an instantly recognisable retail destination.

Reflecting on the brand and business to date, is there anything that you have learnt along the way that you wished you had known at the start of your journey?
So much! It’s all been a huge learning experience. While I’m confident in my abilities as a cartoonist, the steepest learning curve was transitioning into the commercial side of the business.

Specifically, understanding the retail landscape everything from learning how to run successful tradeshows to self-publishing our own greeting cards. Becoming a GCA member in particular has helped me grow, allowing me to network with established business leaders and attend every possible webinar to build my commercial knowledge.

If I could go back, the one area I would fast-track is the art of selling. Being the creative person, selling doesn’t come naturally. Having recently received training on this, I recognise that mastering these sales strategies earlier would have significantly helped us secure partnerships with more independent shops much sooner. This journey, however, has ultimately made us a stronger, and a better partner moving forward.

Finally, if you had to point to one card range that you admire, which one would it be and what do you like about it?
I actually can’t pick just one! Two ranges are stand-out for me for very different reasons.

First, The Art File’s Storybook Collection. Their attention to detail in terms of production quality is second to none. Second, Santoro’s Swing Cards – they simply blow me away and leave me wondering how they make them! They both represent true innovation and technical execution.

I am fortunate enough to have great relationships with both companies, and they have certainly had a helping hand in shaping the direction of Cheeky Legends. Learning from the best in design and engineering is critical to our brand’s growth.

Finally, I’d like to thank you for this opportunity to introduce Cheeky Legends. I am very excited for where this journey is taking our characters!