Meet the family diversifying the world of greeting cards
- Text by Huck
Launched in 2018, Avila.Diana is a greetings card company that exists to “represent the underrepresented”. But the journey here wasn’t always an easy one for its founder Avila Diana Chidume.
When she was a kid, Avila was always doodling. When special occasions came around – birthdays, holidays, and such – she’d design her own greetings cards for family and friends. She’d label each one with the same signature: Avila Diana’s Card Company.
As she grew older, though, life started getting in the way. By the time Avila made it to university to study law, art had completely fallen by the wayside. However, as her degree progressed and the work intensified, she found herself struggling.“Unfortunately at the time I didn’t feel comfortable or confident enough to reach out for help,” she remembers.
The need for a creative outlet was greater than ever. In response, she found herself recalling the greetings cards she’d made all those years ago and jumped back in. Soon after, Avila.Diana was founded.
As a consumer, Avila was sick of picking up cards that didn’t represent or speak to her experiences. In direct response, her work seeks to normalise the inclusion of underrepresented groups – people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, those living with disabilities – in popular designs.
Since then, the business has grown and grown. Now, through the help of 99designs by Vistaprint, Avila is gearing up for the next stage of her journey. Avila.Diana is transitioning from a brand to a platform that will stock the work of designers doing similar work in terms of diversification. The financial grant that Avila will receive as part of the collaboration will accelerate that, while the design makeover will help demonstrate its evolution.
By Design is an editorial series created with 99designs by Vistaprint, in which all participating businesses receive a design makeover, as well as a financial grant to help them embark on their next chapter. Read more stories from the series here.
Take a look at the other 99 small business design makeovers on 99 Days Of Design.
The new Avila.Diana logo was created by ms.logolady on 99designs by Vistaprint.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s
From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Artifaxing: “We’ve become so addicted to these supercomputers in our hands”
Framing the future — Predominantly publishing on Instagram and X, the account is one of social media’s most prominent archiving pages. We caught up with the mysterious figure behind it to chat about the internet’s past, present and future, finding inspiration and art in the age of AI.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong
Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.
Written by: Sophie Liu
What we’re excited for at SXSW 2026
Austin 40 — For the festival’s 40th anniversary edition, we are heading to Texas to join one of the biggest global meetups of the year. We’ve selected a few things to highlight on your schedules.
Written by: Huck
Huck’s 20th Anniversary Issue, Wu-Tang Clan is here
Life is a Journey — Fronted by the legendary Wu-Tang Clan’s spiritual leader RZA, we explore the space in between beginnings and endings, and the things we learn along the way.
Written by: Huck
Clavicular isn’t interesting, really
Dreaming Small — The ‘looksmaxxer’ of the moment has garnered widespread furore over recent controversies. But newsletter columnist Emma Garland asks whether the 20-year-old influencer is actually doing anything that new, and what his rise says about modern turbo-nostalgia’s internet dominance.
Written by: Emma Garland
