Publishers can now enter the greeting card awards
The Henries 2023 – the ultimate accolades in greeting card publishing – are now open for entries and, as ever, entry is free of charge with no limit to the number of designs a publisher can submit.
The deadline for entering ranges is 18 June, 2023 and, following the success of last year’s experience, there will again be a two-stage judging process for the main product categories.
The initial judging stage will take place entirely online through the www.thehenriesawards.co.uk website, thanks to an extensive panel of retail buyers who will be invited to judge at least six categories each.
As a result of the judges’ online votes, a shortlist of contenders will be drawn up to go forward to the live judging round, again judged entirely by retailers, where publishers will be asked to supply physical card samples to be presented to the panel whose votes decide the finalists and winner in all product categories.
“The two-stage hybrid approach to The Henries judging process provides the best of both worlds,” commented Jakki Brown, managing director of Max Publishing, which owns and organises The Henries.
“The online submission means the retail judges can carefully consider the entries over a number of weeks, then can enjoy seeing the shortlisted ranges in the flesh with many of their retailing peers at an in-person Henries judging event, something that’s hugely enjoyable!”
The Henries 2023 award categories span the whole gamut of greeting card publishing, from humour to cute, art to children’s, Christmas to sentiment, and D&I to R&O. This year the Best Handmade Or Hand-finished Range category has been expanded to reflect the proliferation of paper-engineered cards and has been renamed Best 3D, Pop-Up, Hand-Finished Or Handmade Range.
Submissions should be for card ranges that have been launched at retail between 8 June, 2022, and 15 June, 2023, or for new designs to an existing range launched within that period. Entries for the Best Spring Seasons Range category should be event-specific, ie publishers should submit a separate entry for Valentine’s Day, a separate entry for Mother’s Day, etc.
Once again this year there is no online submission stage for The Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer Or Artist award as it has been deemed this special award category needs to be appreciated in the flesh so creatives are invited to submit boards showcasing their artistic prowess. This award is open to all designers and artists, either employed by a publisher or freelance, aged 35 years or under on 1 July, 2023.
The absolute deadline for entries to The Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer Or Artist category alone is Wednesday, 26 July, 2023. Boards need to be sent to Jakki Brown, The Henries Young Designer, Max Publishing, United House, North Road, London, N7 9DP.
The Henries awards event is the industry’s big night and a fabulous opportunity for the greeting card community to get together to celebrate its creative excellence as well as its strong sense of camaraderie.
Taking place at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Thursday, 5 October, 2023, The Henries 2023 awards will be a vibrant, joyful event, especially as it will take on an up-tempo Mardi Gras fiesta theme this year! To book tickets click here.
