36th Annual Louie Awards

The annual Louie Awards program has been honoring the best cards in the industry for over 30 years. Brought to you by the Greeting Card Association, the Louie Awards recognize, reward, and celebrate that moment when art, editorial, and design perfectly coalesce to bring these emotions to life and memorialize the numerous milestones in our lives.

Officially known as the International Greeting Card Awards Competition, the Louies are named after Louis Prang, the German-born Boston lithographer credited with the birth of the U.S. Christmas card in the 1870s.

Launched by the Greeting Card Association (GCA) in 1988, the prestigious Louie Awards recognize the most outstanding greeting cards, invitations, and announcements marketed in the U.S. during the previous calendar year. The competition is open to all domestic and foreign publishers of greeting cards, invitations, and/or announcements, and attracts hundreds of entries annually.

When you join, register, attend, or participate in any GCA activity, you agree to abide by GCA’s Code of Conduct.

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The Greeting Card Association (GCA) celebrated excellence in greeting cards at its 36th Annual Louie Awards Ceremony. The event took place at Las Vegas World Market Center, Building B, Floor 16, WorldView in Las Vegas. This year’s competition had an incredible response from card makers with over 900 total cards submitted across 53 categories. At last night’s Award Ceremony, 38 unique companies were named winners, with many winning multiple awards. 

The Louie Awards celebrate the pinnacle of creativity and craftsmanship in the greeting card industry, honoring the work most admired by publishers and designers. 

“A huge congratulations to all this year’s winners and finalists! I’m so grateful we are able to celebrate members of our industry like this,” said Alyson O’Connor, Outgoing Chair of the Louie Award Committee and Owner of Rust Belt Love Paperie. “We couldn’t make any of this happen without the work of our incredible committee, and the judges who volunteered their time and expertise. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in bringing these awards to life!” 

During the Louie Awards ceremony, two exceptional cards were honored with the highest award of the evening: the prestigious Cards of the Year recognition. Wolf & Wren Press earned Card of the Year in the $5.50 and Below category for their Sympathy card. UWP Luxe earned Card of the Year in the Above $5.50 category for their standout entry in Print and Production Excellence. These categories are sponsored by Leader Paper and Indigo Ink respectively. 

This year also marked the return of the Judges Award for Excellence, last awarded in 2019. This distinguished honor is not given every year and cannot be submitted for. It is selected solely by the Blue Ribbon Panel to recognize a card that exemplifies outstanding creativity, craftsmanship, and emotional impact across all categories. The 2025 award was presented to Dear Beni for their Everyday Boxed Set, praised by the panel for its beautiful color, patterns, and uniqueness. 

The inaugural Vickie Gimbelman Celebrating Women Louie Award was presented to Redback Cards. Named in memory of Designer Greetings co-founder Vickie Gimbelman, the award honors cards that thoughtfully capture the essence of womanhood through art and copy.  

In addition to individual card accolades, several publishers and creatives were honored for their overall contributions. Pier Six Press received the Rising Star Award, celebrating emerging publishers in business for three years or less. Lindsey Yuriko Warriner of Warren Tales was named Writer of the Year for her exceptional copywriting. The Artist of the Year Award was presented to Gigi Rosado of Seedlings in recognition of her remarkable artistic talent. 

Finally, GCA announced recipients of this year’s Maker of Note Awards, which recognize and elevate the diverse makers and publishers shaping the greeting card industry. To qualify, entrants must self-identify as a member of an underrepresented community and submit at least five entries across any award categories. Winners were selected based on the highest average score across all submitted entries. 

Maker of Note Winners: 

• Asian American/Pacific Islander Maker of Note: Lindsy Liu, Happy Little Paper Co 

• Black Maker of Note: Ama Schulman, All Very Goods 

• Latinx Maker of Note: Christy Asper, Paper Baristas 
• LGBTQIA+ Maker of Note: Kate Woolley, The Noble Paperie 

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Why Enter the Louie Awards?

Exposure and Visibility!

• Get your cards seen– All submissions are reviewed by our judges panel that is made up of buyers, retailers, members of the press, sales reps and others looking for the best new cards in the industry.
  • Expose your designs to prestigious retail judges from Paper Source, Barnes & Noble, and more.
  • Winners will be announced at *Noted in front of hundreds of retailers.
  • Awards ceremony takes place during *Noted, with winning cards on display.
  • A digital Finalist and Winner’s Kit will be available to help you promote your Louie-winning designs.
  • Be a part of Louie Award Display – Cards that advance to the finalist round will be prominently displayed at the Louies display right at the entrance of *Noted where 600+ retailers will see your cards front and center.
• Learn where you stand – Applicants will receive access to the final scores for each entry as well as any comments from judges.
• Go social – Finalist and winners cards will be showcased on the GCA social media accounts.
• Live on forever – Images of all finalists and winners will remain archived in a Finalist and Winner’s Gallery on the GCA site.

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History of the Louie Awards

Launched in 1988, the “Louies” honor Louis Prang, the German-born Boston lithographer and publisher known as the “Father of the American Christmas Card. Since 1988, the greeting card industry has come together each year to celebrate the best our industry has to offer. Hundreds of companies from around the world enter thousands of their best cards for the chance to win the coveted Louie Award.

One of the best things about the program is the number of new publishers who enter and win each year! The finalists are announced in February, and the GCA promotes every finalist on the web and through social media. The announcement of the finalists gives us an opportunity to share the spotlight with some truly gifted greeting card publishers, designers,  and artists. The excitement continues to build until April when the winners are announced.

That’s only the beginning. Each spring/summer, our fabulous publishers and GCA Associate members come together again to design and build an outstanding awards celebration. This is where the Louie Award winners are announced for the first time. Not even the finalists know who will win, so we encourage all finalists and greeting card professionals to attend! Because our awards program is all about excellence in printing, our volunteers also create the invitations, program, and other items seen each year at the Louie Awards celebration.

Following the Louie Awards celebration, each winner is automatically entered into our annual Consumer’s Choice competition. Through the Consumer’s Choice Awards, Louie Award winners can expect increased exposure, press coverage, and lots of social media attention from thousands of consumers.

You can read more about the judging process and criteria here.

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The Changing Face of the Louies

In 2010, Andy Meehan headed a strategic review to consider ways to refocus the Louie Awards and establish a more modern direction reflective of today’s greeting card industry.

The following year, the Louie Awards, chaired by Katy Greenspan, saw exciting changes, including the addition of new categories, the expansion of the program booklet to include photos of all finalist cards, a stunning new Louies exhibit at the National Stationery Show and a Consumer’s Choice Award.

For the 25th Louie Awards, Monika Brandrup-Thomas chaired the Louie Awards and she continued to build on these enhancements and chose to commemorate the 25th year by recognizing in a special way excellence in greeting card design.

For the 26th Louie Awards, we engaged buyers from major retailers, industry sales reps, stationery bloggers, and magazine editors as judges, continuing to build on the credibility to the competition and attracting companies that may not have previously considered entering. The finalists cards within the Louie Exhibit is centrally located in the Javits Center at the National Stationery Show©, offering increased visibility for the card designers and manufacturers alike. We also expanded the section on the Greeting Card Association’s website to showcase images of the finalists’ and winning cards, along with links to their respective companies’ websites. The Consumer’s Choice Award, given to the winning card receiving the most votes on the LOUIEs Facebook page, continued as well.

Each year, the Louie Awards Committee seeks to engage a diversity of publishers and artists committed to excellence in the social expression industry. To achieve this, we look to increase opportunities for early exposure for those companies named a finalist or a winner, knowing that it enhances the value in being part of the Louie Awards.

We welcome your feedback on ways we can advance, strengthen, and expand the Louie Awards in the years to come.