GREETING CARD ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES 2019 LOUIE AWARD WINNERS

GREETING CARD ASSOCIATION RECOGNIZES “BEST OF THE BEST” 

LOUIE Award Winners and Consumer’s Choice Contest Announced at Speakeasy Soirée 

NEW YORK — May 20, 2019 – The Greeting Card Association (GCA) announced the winners of its 2019 “LOUIE Awards,” the International Greeting Card Awards Competition, at the 30th annual celebration on Sunday, May 19th. The event was held in conjunction with the inaugural Noted: The Greeting Card Expo.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the LOUIE Awards, the celebration was moved from its usual location in downtown NYC to booming Brooklyn. Benefitting from a fresh new venue (26 Bridge) and a brand-new show (Noted), this year’s LOUIEs event was a welcome mix of fresh new faces and familiar industry friends.

“There’s nothing like the genuine and lasting connection you get from receiving (and sending) a greeting card,” said GCA Executive Director Peter Doherty. “But consumers’ tastes are constantly changing, and greeting card makers continue to evolve and respond.. The wide variety of product submitted during this year’s LOUIE Awards campaign is proof that  card companies are always looking to innovate. We look forward to seeing the latest innovations this fall” he said.

The evening’s highest honors went to: Calypso Cards (Card of the Year, $4 and Below) and UWP Luxe (Card of the Year, Above $4.00). It was also announced that Quilling Cards was honored with the 2019 Judge’s Award for Excellence. And finally, Texas-based KB Paperie was named the 2019 “Rising Star.” A complete list of the 2019 LOUIE Award winners is available now at https://greetingcard.secure-platform.com/a/. The winning cards were also on display at Noted: The Greeting Card Expo through the end of the event.

The 2020 LOUIE Awards Celebration will move to San Francisco, CA, along with Noted: The Greeting Card Expo. The card submission period will open in early September.

History, Criteria and Lifetime Achievement Award

Launched in 1988, the “LOUIEs” honor Louis Prang, the German-born Boston lithographer and publisher known as the “Father of the American Christmas Card.”  Nearly 200 companies submitted hundreds of entries in 55 categories in this year’s competition. Seventy-four companies had at least one card advance to the finalist round. The LOUIE Awards are open to all publishers in the U.S. and throughout the world. While GCA members receive a reduced entry fee, any publisher who marketed and sold cards in the U.S. in 2018 is eligible.  

A panel of 19 industry experts comprised of retailers, publishers and designers judged entries against five criteria: originality, impact, design excellence, “sendability,” and value; all identifying information about the entrant was withdrawn from the entries.  A Blue-Ribbon Panel of five judges selected the “Cards of the Year” and chose to honor the “Judge’s Award for Excellence” from among all categories. 

“Our thanks to an outstanding panel of judges who gave two days of their time to review, comment and select the LOUIE finalists and winners,” said GCA Executive Director Peter Doherty, CAE.  The LOUIE judges are: Alan Friedman, Great Arrow Graphics; Angie Appleman, Hallmark; Betsy Sarles, Calypso; Christi Slaton, DaySpring; Cathleen Llansó, Legacy Publishing Group, Inc.; Danielle Tobin, Neenah Paper; David Wilke, Leader Paper Products; Erin McLeod, American Greetings; Fern Gimbelman, Designer Greetings, Inc.; Gail Anderson, UPC; Jason Arbuckle, J Falkner; John Segal, Crane’s; Lawrence Yeh, Paper Pop; Lexi Hull, Paper Source; Lynn Mitchell, Mitchell Group; Nicole Mercer, Universal Engraving, ; Inc. – a UEI Group Company; Sue Charlier, J.S. McCarthy Printers; Susan January, Leanin’ Tree Inc.; and Andy Meehan, The Madison Park Group.

Sponsors

“In addition to the judges, the LOUIE Chair Fern Gimbelman (Designer Greetings) and our fantastic sponsors are the unsung heroes of the LOUIE Awards,” said Doherty.

“Whether it’s a financial contribution or an in-kind donation, each and every sponsor plays an important role in supporting the LOUIEs,” said Doherty.  “On behalf of the GCA Executive Committee and Board, our thanks to: American Greetings, Designer Greetings, Hallmark Cards, Universal Presentation Concepts, Quilling Card, Avanti Press, The Occasions Group, and our media sponsors, Stationery Trends and Gifts and Decorative Accessories.”

Nine GCA member companies supplied materials and production for the call for entries, Celebration invitations, décor, and program book. Those companies are: Exclusive Bordering, Infinity Foils, J.S. McCarthy, Leader Paper Products, Neenah Paper, The Occasions Group, Universal Engraving, Universal Presentation Concepts and Designer Greetings.

For the tenth year, Universal Presentation Concepts designed the display showcasing winners and finalists. The LOUIE winners and finalists are on display at Noted through May 20^th at the Brooklyn Expo Center.

The Consumer’s Choice Award voting for 2019 will begin on May 20th. Consumers can find out how to vote for their favorite cards by visiting our LOUIE Awards Facebook page through June 7 and one lucky voter will receive a selection of the winning cards. The winner of the Consumer’s Choice Award, the final LOUIE Award for 2019 will be announced later this summer and honored at the 2020 LOUIE Awards celebration. All LOUIE winners are posted at www.greetingcard.org.  For information on GCA membership, contact gca@greetingcard.org.  Listed below are the 2019 LOUIE Award Winners.

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Founded in 1941, the GCA is supported by nearly 200 American and international publishers from businesses ranging from start-ups to established companies of all sizes, scopes and industry tenure — as well as suppliers that provide production services and wholesale product distribution.