UK publishers, Ohh Deer, Santoro, Paper D’art, Louise Tiler, Mia Hague and Laura Darrington have reached the finals of The Louies, the US greeting card awards, run by the American Greeting Card Association. This trio joins a host of American greeting card publishers and distributors, such as Avanti, which received seven nominations (distributed under licence in the UK by GBCC), Hallmark (which secured three finalists slots). Leading US distributors of UK publishers, Notes and Queries and Calypso reached the finals with three and 10 designs respectively.
UK publishers Louise Tiler and Mia Hague both reached the finals, having been entered by their US distributor Calypso Cards.
Different from their UK counterparts The Henries, (organised by Max Publishing, owners of Progressive Greetings), The Louies celebrate individual card designs rather than ranges.
After two days of intense judging by a panel that consists of industry experts (publishers, suppliers, media), the 168 2018 Louie finalists were officially revealed yesterday evening (Monday 26 February).
After winning a Louie award last year Laura Darrington is “delighted” to be in the running again this year.
Meanwhile for Ohh Deer, which also triumphed in last year’s Louies awards, it been two way traffic across the ‘Pond’ as it launched with two US brands, Hello Lucky and Sapling Press in the UK at the start of this year through licensing agreements with both American publishers.
Of the three Louies nominations, Mark Callaby, Ohh Deer md commented to PG Buzz: “We’re obviously very happy with the nods, especially after we won two last year – it would be great to try and win three this year!”
The winners will be announced at a Louies’ black tie awards event that takes place in New York on May 20, during the New York Stationery Show.
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.
