About Me

Nicky Busch, Christchurch lettering artist and graphic designer

Hello! Thanks for stopping by. I’m Nicky, the designer and lettering artist behind Paper Heart Design.

I've always had a love of art and design. After taking all the art classes I could at school, I graduated with a Bachelor of Design in the early 2000s. Since then, as well as freelancing, I've worked on packaging, point of sale, and promotional material for Cookie Time, on the design team at the Christchurch City Council, where I was the lead designer on iconic events including New Zealand Cup and Show Week and KidsFest; and most recently for Fairfax Media (now Stuff) as a magazine designer for Avenues in Christchurch and Admire in Nelson.

My love of words and typography (I've been called a font geek on more than one occasion!) led me to try hand lettering, and after buying my first set of brush pens, I haven’t looked back.

I started this small business on the side, mainly working on custom prints, invitations and signage. My range grew when I was expecting my first child, Brodie (the cutie in the photo above), and couldn’t find any New Zealand made milestone books that I loved. After talking to lots of other mums about what they wanted from a keepsake book, I designed ‘Hey Baby’ - a keepsake journal for baby’s first year. After the popularity of that first book, I began to get asked if I had pregnancy, toddler and school record journals, and my range grew from there.

Not everybody gets to do what they love, so I feel extremely lucky to be able to do this, while spending quality time with my son. It’s a real privilege to be help other families create, cherish and document their special memories. I hope you enjoy my books and prints as much as I enjoyed creating them.