I’ve been hanging around since 1767, but I usually have a pretty picture painted on me. What were those Artists thinking? What good am I to anyone plain and boring? I’m even too small and stiff to be useful for toilet paper…But hello, David has found a new use for me, in the Fruit Machine, where I am the best prize on the wheel, because I unlock all manner of wonderful mystery prizes!!! And now I am so popular that I’ll probably stick around for another 250 years!

I am certainly the premium shape, because I am both decorative and symbolic, so I have the most responsibilities! All year round, I may be used to tie back a little pet’s hair. But I really come into my own at certain times of the year, when I am used as an awareness raising ribbon, for some very important causes, such as: working to end violence against women; alliance for safe motherhood; emphysema; lung cancer; bone cancer and diseases; congenital cataracts, blindness, retinoblastoma cancer and eye diseases; multiple hereditary exostoses and SCID (to name just a few). If you know of other causes that I represent, I would love to showcase them in your art!

One of the most versatile of the shapes, I can be almost anything you want - a full stop, a ball to play with, a berry, a coloured light, part of an eye... the list is endless!

I'm a heart - what's not to love? Obviously I'm essential for your Valentine scenes, but there's so much more to me than that. You need me to play cards, for instance. Turn me upside down and add a vertical line to make the spade, and make the diamond by overlapping two of me, one upside down. The only suit I can't make is the club. Clever, eh?

When you need to draw the line, I'm always ready to assist. Use me on my own or with my friends as part of a border or more complicated structure; very few shapes are more versatile than I am.

You can, of course, also use any of the plain coloured backgrounds as a rectangle, but I still have my place; my proportions are different. I'm somewhere between the background rectangle and the square. Because, you know, not all rectangles are equal.

Yes, I'm a square, but I'm not as square as you might think! I'm actually very cool and some even call me hot. You see, some of my colours are 'cool' (green, blue and purple) and some are 'hot' (red, orange, and yellow). I am definitely the hippest square you have ever seen!

I'm a five-pointed star, one of the more complex shapes the penguins make. Use me on my own or as part of a repeating pattern. I'm a particularly fun addition to the top of a Christmas tree or a piece of festive bunting.

I'm a neat equilateral triangle, perfect for all manner of artistic compositions. Take six of me and you can build a hexagon, either in a single colour or any scheme of your choice.

One of the world's earliest significant inventions, I'm now even more useful than I was when I was first thought of. I'm essential if you want to build your own transport, from a unicycle to a juggernaut. I think I look particularly good on a pram, though I do say so myself.

When you need to draw the line, I'm always ready to assist. Use me on my own or with my friends as part of a border or more complicated structure; very few shapes are more versatile than I am.

Thin lines are great. Some of my best friends are thin lines. But for when you need something just a bit more substantial, I'm here to help. I may be plain and basic, but I'm as versatile as your imagination, and remember I come in the same shades as the plain backgrounds so you can also use me as a colour mask.

Thin lines are great. Some of my best friends are thin lines. But for when you need something just a bit more substantial, I'm here to help. I may be plain and basic, but I'm as versatile as your imagination, and remember I come in the same shades as the plain backgrounds so you can also use me as a colour mask.