Ohh Deer, Paper Salad, The Art File and Roger La Borde are among the winners announced at this year’s Louie Awards Ceremony, held by the US Greeting Card Association.
The event took place at The Cowell Theater on the campus of the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco. This year’s competition had an overwhelming response from card makers with a 21% increase in competition entries over last year. 1,229 total cards were submitted in 57 unique categories.
A panel of judges consisting of 78 card publishers, retailers, sales representatives, and stationery industry leaders from across the country carefully reviewed the entries to determine the finalists. After a rigorous selection process, 171 cards were selected as finalists. At the Louie Awards ceremony, 57 cards from 44 different publishers were awarded the prestigious Louie Award, with two taking home Card of Year honours.
Two exceptional cards were honoured with the prestigious Cards of the Year recognition. Biely & Shoaf Collection was presented with the Card of the Year $5.50 and Below award for its Christmas/Seasonal – General card submission. Roger la Borde was bestowed with the Card of the Year Above $5.50 award for its Print and Production Excellence card entry.
Alongside the individual card accolades, several publishers were acknowledged for their body of work. Magic Paper Labs was honoured with the Rising Star award, dedicated to publishers operating in retail for three years or less.
Kate Woolley of The Noble Paperie was recognised as the Writer of the Year for her exceptional copywriting skills. Lastly, the esteemed Artist of the Year award was bestowed upon Daria Hirny of Homework Letterpress Studio in recognition of her remarkable artistic talent.
The full list of the 35th Annual Louie Award winning cards can be found below and an image gallery of the finalist and winning cards on the GCA website here.
Along with this year’s five new diversity categories, GCA also introduced the new Maker of Note awards. These awards honour and elevate the rich diversity of the makers and publishers within the greeting card community, highlighting the makers themselves. To qualify for a Maker of Note Award, the designer must have self-identified as a member of at least one of the communities and have submitted a minimum of five entries to any combination of award categories. The awards were presented to the individual with the highest average score across all their entries.
Maker of Note Winners:
- Asian American/Pacific Islander Maker of Note Award: Janine Kwoh, Kwohtations
- Black Maker of Note Award: LeeAnn Brissett, Add Pink and Stir
- Indigenous Maker of Note Award: Brigida Swanson, Yardia
- Latinx Maker of Note Award: Libby Llanso, Seedlings
- LGBTQIA+ Maker of Note Award, Kate Murray, Quick Brown Fox Letterpress
Consumers can vote for their favourite card as part of the Louie Consumer’s Choice Award until August 15, 2024 here. Winners of that public competition will be announced in October at GCA’s Workshop + Retreat and celebrated at next year’s award ceremony.
35th Annual Louie Award Winners:
| Artist of the Year (sponsored by Indigo Ink) | Homework Letterpress Studio |
| Birthday – General – $5.50 and Below | Biely & Shoaf Collection |
| Birthday – General – Above $5.50 | Paper Salad distributed by Notes & Queries, Inc. |
| Birthday – Humorous – $5.50 and below | Ohh Deer |
| Birthday – Humorous – Above $5.50 | Second Story Cards |
| Birthday – Small Company | Maginating |
| Blank Card – $5.50 and Below | The Art File |
| Blank Card – Above $5.50 | UWP Luxe |
| Celebrating AAPI Culture | Kwohtations |
| Celebrating Black Culture | Pineapple Sundays Design Studio |
| Celebrating Indigenous Culture | Crystal Worl |
| Celebrating Latinx Culture | Lucy Loves Paper |
| Celebrating LGBTQIA+ | That Queer Card Co |
| Celebrating Women (sponsored by Stationery HQ) | Wolf & Wren Press |
| Children’s Card – $5.50 and Below | Pedaller Designs |
| Children’s Card – Above $5.50 | Maginating |
| Christmas/Seasonal – Boxed Set | Artists To Watch/Fun Folks |
| Christmas/Seasonal – General – $5.50 and Below | Biely & Shoaf Collection |
| Christmas/Seasonal – General – Above $5.50 | Up With Paper |
| Christmas/Seasonal – Humorous – $5.50 and Below | Calypso Cards |
| Christmas/Seasonal – Humorous – Above $5.50 | Cardideology |
| Congratulations/Special Occasion – $5.50 and Below | Ginger P. Designs |
| Congratulations/Special Occasion – Above $5.50 | Friendly Fire Paper |
| Everyday Boxed Set – All Submissions | LolliPost |
| Father’s Day – $5.50 and Below (sponsored by Haobby) | Naomi Paper Co. |
| Father’s Day – Above $5.50 | Up With Paper |
| Friendship/Encouragement – General – $5.50 and Below | Naomi Paper Co. |
| Friendship/Encouragement – General – Above $5.50 | Cardideology |
| Friendship/Encouragement – Humorous – $5.50 and Below | Ampersand M Studio |
| Friendship/Encouragement – Humorous – Above $5.50 | Kwohtations |
| Get Well / Feel Better – $5.50 and Below | E. Frances Paper |
| Get Well / Feel Better – Above $5.50 | Seedlings |
| Global Greetings | Mitzi Bitsy Spider |
| Halloween | Fine Moments |
| Invitations & Announcements – Non-Wedding (sponsored by Ecological Fibers) | Minted |
| Invitations & Announcements – Wedding | The Chatty Press |
| Letterpress (sponsored by Neenah Paper) | Homework Letterpress Studio |
| Mother’s Day – $5.50 and Below | Fine Moments |
| Mother’s Day – Above $5.50 | Fugu Fugu Press |
| Non-Religious Celebrations – $5.50 and Below | Eight21 Studios |
| Non-Religious Celebrations – Above $5.50 | Ivory Tower Studios |
| Paper Engineering and Innovation | Pigeon Loft Limited |
| Print and Production Excellence (sponsored by The Imaging Centre) | Roger la Borde |
| Religious Celebrations – $5.50 and Below | Liyana Studio |
| Religious Celebrations – Above $5.50 | Lynn-oleum |
| Rising Star (sponsored by NY NOW) | Magic Paper Labs |
| Romantic Occasions – $5.50 and Below | Botanica Paper Co. |
| Romantic Occasions – Above $5.50 | Kwohtations |
| Superbly Stated | Bromstad Printing Co. |
| Sympathy – $5.50 and Below | Two Pooch Paperie |
| Sympathy – Above $5.50 | Kwohtations |
| Thank You – $5.50 and Below | Darling Lemon |
| Thank You – Above $5.50 | Paper Salad distributed by Notes & Queries, Inc. |
| Trends & Events | Shorthand Press |
| Valentine’s Day – $5.50 and Below | Botanica Paper Co. |
| Valentine’s Day – Above $5.50 | Inklings Paperie |
| Writer of the Year | The Noble Paperie |
