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The Next Purple Ronnie?

With so much design going virtual and onscreen, it’s nice to know that greeting cards, one of the most popular design styles and a bedrock category of licensing, are still going strong – and attracting a vast and diverse group of creative talents, from the giants of the high street to talented artists working in the proverbial shed in the back garden.

How do we know this? Henry and Louie told us. More precisely, we mean the Henry Awards for greeting card publishing from Progressive Greetings Worldwide magazine and the Louie awards given out by the US Greeting Card Association.

In case you wondered, the Henries are named after Sir Henry Cole, who introduced the first commercially produced Christmas card in 1843, and the Louies after Louis Prang, who is credited with the birth of the US Christmas card in the 1870s.

Both events are going strong after many years. Indeed the diversity, of entrants, categories and styles is mind-boggling. Apparently the Henries alone can claim to attract 14,000 cards a year.

Importantly, however, both ceremonies give businesses of all sizes a chance to be in the spotlight. Recent award-winners include names you may know such as Lucy Loves Paper, Allyson Wilson, Fine Moments, Jesuso Ortiz and Stormy Knight.

All these stars of greeting card design have also been supported by our friends at art licensing and design company The London Studio, whose backing has helped some of these award winners to aim for category expansion into giftware and stationery – and sometimes beyond, either as licensed design brands in their own right, or as partners with charities, major publishers and heritage brands.

But the exposure both the Henries and the Louies have over the years given to these talented creatives is undeniable – and, for some, publicity they could not otherwise afford.

So when you wonder whether yet another awards ceremony is worth it, remember for some companies it could be the difference between a shed in a garden and a deal with a major publisher or retail outlet. After all even Purple Ronnie had to start somewhere.

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