The On the Cards winner reflects a ‘punny’ political epoque
Greeting card designs of google-eyed Donald Trump, Teresa May, Nigel Farage and Barack Obama coupled with puns against quirky graphic backgrounds caused greeting card industry experts to go “wow” during yesterday’s (5 April) judging of the On the Cards greeting cards competition that was open to creative undergraduates. This reaction was reflected in Joe Cox of Leeds College of Art being awarded first prize for his Political Pals range. He not only receives a cash prize, as well as paid work placement, but will also see his designs made into actual greeting cards and stocked in Paperchase.
“We introduced the On the Cards competition to both raise the awareness greeting cards among creative undergraduates and their tutors as a credible career choice as well as reward and encourage fresh new ideas to become a reality in the marketplace,” commented Reggie Pugh, creative director of Paper Rose and The Art Group, who together with GF Smith and Paperchase have spearheaded this important initiative.
Undergraduates from six leading art colleges submitted greeting card ideas all of which went under the scrutiny of an extensive judging panel yesterday, with the event taking place at paper company GF Smith’s impressive new London show space. The judging panel (pictured above, right-left) comprised Lisa Stickley (artist and author), Sharon Little (GCA), Jakki Brown (PG), Michael Czerwinski (House of Illustration), Hazel Walker (Paperchase), Mark Jessett (GF Smith), Emma Clooney (Paperchase), Philippa Phipps (Paper Rose/The Art Group), Reggie Pugh (Paper Rose/The Art Group), Gale Astley (PG) and Nigel Willcock (Paper Rose/The Art Group).
Second place went to Xian Lin of Camberwell School of Art for her Cheer Fruit range while Lucy Ryder Howard of Leeds College of Art for her Zoomorphic Harmony range (which are based on puns of celebrities) was awarded third prize.
