April 27 (San Francisco, CA) – The Greeting Card Association (GCA) celebrated excellence in greeting cards this evening at its 33rd Annual Louie Awards ceremony held at Gallery 308 on the campus of the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. Winners of the prestigious awards were announced from among 612 entries in 51 categories. Finalists were whittled down to 153 cards by a panel of 42 industry judges around the country. 53 cards from 29 different publishers ultimately received a coveted Louie Award.
“The Louies are the top honor in the greeting card industry,” says GCA executive director, Nora Weiser, “as the cards are judge anonymously in five distinct areas: originality, impact, design excellence, sendability, and value.”
Two cards received highest honors as Cards of the Year: Seedlings as Card of the Year above $5 for their submission in the Sympathy category, and Good Juju Ink for Card of the Year under $5 entered in the Friendship/Encouragement category. In addition to individual cards recognized for excellence, several prestigious cardmakers were honored in categories that recognize a body of work rather than an individual card. She Said It was awarded the Rising Star honor reserved for publishers who have been selling at retail for three years or less. Writer of the Year honors went to Morgan Harper Nichols of Biely & Shoaf Co., and the coveted Artist of the Year honors went to Elicia Castaldi of Girl w/Knife.
The full list of 2022 Louie Award winning cards can be found on the GCA website here.
“I was honored to serve as Chair for this year’s Louie Awards committee”, says Kate Murray of Quick Brown Fox Letterpress. “It was amazing to get back to celebrating with an in-person awards ceremony, to recognize the creativity of this industry, and to have the energy and commitment of so many makers contribute to making the Louies such a success.”
Those attending *Noted: The Greeting Card Expo co-located with SF NOW, April 28-29 at Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion can view all the Louie finalists and winners in a display created by Universal Presentation Concepts. Consumers can buy select Louie finalist cards this summer at Barnes & Noble stores around the country, and can also vote for their favorite cards as part of the Louies Consumer Choice Awards now through July 31, 2022 here. Winners of that public competition will be announced at next year’s awards ceremony.
—————————————————————
About the Greeting Card Association
Founded in 1941, The Greeting Card Association (GCA) is the non-profit U.S. trade association serving the greeting card and social expressions industry. GCA represents nearly 200 American and international publishers and industry partners by promoting the tradition of sending greeting cards, helping members grow their businesses, recognizing creativity, and serving the industry and citizen mailer as a voice for media, leadership, and advocacy on industry issues.