Who are Frances and Ġorġ?
The Idea
Frances and Ġorġ started as a vague idea to create something beautiful and educational for children. See, there are many similar brands around, but what is special about F&Ġ is that will be multi-lingual (in English and Maltese), and it is coming from someone who is a parent, an illustrator, a designer and an educator. When it came to creating the Frances and Ġorġ characters, I wanted to look at my own family tree.
In Malta, we have an identity crisis of sorts. We were under British rule and this is something that is still felt on the islands. Some people speak Maltese, some speak English, some a bit of both. Maltese is our national language but English is still considered as an official language.
The name Frances and Ġorġ belonged to my late grandparents and I felt they perfectly encapsulated this Maltese identity. Frances, an English name, and Ġorġ, the Maltese form of ‘George’. We did in fact call our grandfather “Gorg” pronounced “Gorch’ rather than “George”.
My grandmother Frances is also part-Irish, so again this multilingual idea of a children’s brand made sense to me and it seemed like an autentic place to start from.
Visual Research and Development
When I started working on the Frances and Ġorġ characters, I looked at mid-century cartoons, old children’s books that I had lying around, but also pictorial symbols from graphic design. I started forming my initial characters, and these slowly developed over time. In the meantime, I (very informally :)) interviewed my mother about my grandparents. I was lucky enough to remember them very well and I knew them well, but I wanted to know more. Often as children and grandchildren we are very self-centred and we never truly know enough about our parents and grandparents.
Through this interview I found out so much more than I had already known about my grandparents, and from this information, I started to round up my first two personalities:
Frances
The real Frances was of Irish and Maltese descent. She was a gentle and kind soul. As a child, her family home was tragically bombed and destroyed not once, but twice.
Frances worked as a nurse for a span of two years. Her desire to make a difference extended beyond her brief nursing career as she actively participated in several charity and religious groups. Frances embraced a modest and simple life as a housewife, finding fulfillment in raising her five children. Cooking and tending to her plants brought her immense joy, and she was known for her warmth and her positive outlook on life.
Similar to our Frances, the real Frances had a fondness for Arum lilies and peaches, and she definitely had a sweet tooth! (Pictured here as a child and with her mother, Feliċissima but known as Ċissa )
and from my nanna Frances, came the Frances character:
Meet Frances, a sweet-natured girl who always has a smile on her face and a kind word to share ❤️.
She loves socks 🧦, patterned scarves 🧣, and cupcakes 🧁(oh she adores cupcakes a little too much 🤭). One of the most amazing things about Frances is that she makes friends easily. Her loving nature and friendly personality attract people to her like bees 🐝 to honey. In fact, Frances is not just a member of many clubs, but she also leads them 🥇! Frances is determined and sometimes a bit stubborn, but her leadership skills shine like a bright star.
Frances dreams of becoming a doctor or nurse and loves helping others. Her favorite fruit is the peach 🍑, and her favorite flower is the arum lily. You’ll often find her surrounded by her beloved plants 🪴, using her green thumb to make them thrive.
Gorg
Zuzu
The name Zuzu comes from one of my mother’s neighbours who owns a greengrocer. I always found it playful as if it was from a children’s cartoon. Now Zuzu the character is meant to represent neurodivergent children. Frances and Gorg are both white, traditional characters so I was eager to add an inclusive element to the F&G family.
Zuzu represents all the creative kids but also