Check out finalists at Spring Fair with winners announced at The Gift Awards in May
At least 17 greetings, wrap and stationery folk have just received great news – they’ve made the shortlist for the Gift Of The Year 2023 Awards!
The announcement came yesterday, 4 January, when awards organisers The Giftware Association revealed all the finalists in the 19 categories, with extras in some due to demand from the online judging panel of over 100 retail experts.
The full shortlist is available here – in the Cards, Wraps & Stationery category, 15 products made the cut from 14 companies, with a further three from the industry appearing under other headings:
Cards, Wraps & Stationery shortlist
Acid Drops cards from Wendy Jones-Blackett
Boxed Sterling Silver Jewellery cards from Crumble & Core
Dinkies cards from Paper Salad
Eco Plantable Seed Paper Calendar from Little Green Paper Shop
Eco Plantable Seed Paper Crackers from Little Green Paper Shop
Fabulously Flat Paper Pens from If
Happy Birthday In A Matchbox, World Is Your Oyster Range from Marvling Bros
Just to Say… candles from Cotton & Grey
Miniature World pop-up cards from Alljoy Designs
My Magical Journal from Essential Choice
Nebula gift wrap from Wendy Bell Designs
Painting With Words cards from Nicole Elders
Punderful Fun cards from Citrus Bunn
Vent Refillable & Recycled Weekly Planners from Vent For Change
Wildlife Botanical Wiro-bound notebook organisers from Lola Design
Other greeting card industry finalists include:
Filthy Gorgeous Box Sets from Go La La! in Beauty, Bath & Spa
Peter Rabbit pop-up card collection from Cardology in Branded Gift
Belly Button Ceramic Mugs from Belly Button Designs in Contemporary Gift
Boxed mugs from Belly Button Designs in Contemporary Gift
Funny Smells from Go La La! in Home Fragrance
All the finalists will be on display at Spring Fair, which runs over 5-8 February at Birmingham’s NEC, where the next round of judging will take place, before the winners are revealed at The Gift Awards, in partnership with Max Publishing’s The Greats Gift Retailer Awards, on Thursday, 11 May, at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel, where the GOTY Judges’ Choice overall winner will also be announced.
Chris Workman, marketing and pr manager for The GA, said that, despite the challenges faced globally, the creative industry has shown no signs of slowing down, and this year’s competition is the biggest yet.
With an incredible amount of innovation and creativity on display, the judges had a tough time choosing their favourites for the first round of judging, which took place online throughout December, and the new system saw “some standout products receive record votes in each category”, he said.
Chris added: “This year has been a fantastic year for us, as we have grown the competition, attracted brand-new companies to the awards and refined our categories. The consensus is that it was the hardest to judge to date because of the amount of quality on display.
“Some of the products that have been entered are very exciting and we can’t wait to showcase this year’s shortlist at Spring Fair and celebrate the incredible entries in this year’s awards competition.”
Top: The GA has unveiled the Gift Of The Year 2023 shortlist
