Henries shortlist brings much joy – and there’s still time to enter the Young Designers award
With a “whoop whoop” here and a “woo hoo” there, publishers have been expressing their joy at being shortlisted for The Henries Awards 2024.
A record-breaking 313 publishers entered, giving the 90-strong panel of retail buyers plenty to look through as they completed the initial online judging marathon to arrive at this year’s amazing shortlist.
“Woo hoo! Thank you judging panel we’re absolutely over the moon,” was the reaction from Dandelion Stationery founder Jo Wilson, while “whoop whoop” was Kali Stileman’s reaction, and Heyyy Cards’ Dan and Yvette Clarkson simply shouted “Woohooooo!” when the email arrived yesterday, 11 July.
Now there’s just one creative category outstanding as the Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer Or Artist – sponsored by the Postmark indie retail group – has a later deadline of Thursday, 25 July, and entrants under the age of 35 are invited to submit boards showcasing their artistic prowess, with all boards being seen by the judges at the physical judging day.
As the winner of this prestigious award category in last year’s Henries, Stephanie Davies shared that her trophy gets an outing from its spot in her studio to ben shown off at all her trade shows.
Urging all creatives to take part, Stephanie said: “To any designer thinking about entering – absolutely go for it! Your work will be presented for consideration to some of the most influential people in the card industry, providing you with invaluable exposure and possible opportunities.
“I gained many stockists and interest from retailers who had seen my work while judging and from the announcement of the winners.
“The recognition and feedback from industry experts such as Mark Janson-Smith and his team from Postmark have been invaluable to my growth as a designer. It was a pivotal moment in my career, giving me the confidence needed to take my designs to the next level.”
The 2022 winner was Iain Hamilton, proudly described as the chief nitwit for Bewilderbeest Designs, and he joked: “Ever since winning life has been a whirlwind. I’m often recognised on the street, people point and stare, and I can’t remember the last time I had to clean my own ears. My wife says that’s all unrelated to The Henries win, but I disagree.”
On a more serious note, Iain said: “Apart from all that excitement, winning definitely helped spread the word about Bewilderbeest and put us on a few people’s radars.
“However, even before I was announced as a finalist, a couple of buyers who were Henries’ judges asked to stock our cards. So, even if you don’t win, it’s absolutely worth entering because you’ll get your cards in front of a number of buyers you might not otherwise cross paths with.”
Admitting he spent just a day getting his winning board together, Iain’s top tips are to keep any text about you or your designs, concise and broken up into short paragraphs, “don’t make the judges read long blocks of text” he said, and added: “It’s good to be weird and different. I themed my board as though I was writing a recipe on how to cook cards. It didn’t really make sense, but it didn’t matter!
“Don’t worry about it looking professional. I have as much graphic design knowledge as a dead frog, but no one ever stands out by being professional. You’re creative, so go big and show the judges just how creative you are.”
With both having entered a couple of times before picking up the trophy, keep on trying is key, and Stephanie’s appearance as a finalist in the year Iain won led directly to her recently-announced licensing deal with Glick for giftwrap and bags.
With no shortlisted contenders for this award, The Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer or Artist finalists will be arrived at as a result of the boards being seen at the live Henries judging day.
Entries should be sent to Jakki Brown, Max Publishing, The Henries Young Designer, United House, North Road, London N7 9DP. The deadline for the boards to arrive is Thursday, 25 July.
Each entry should demonstrate the entrant’s design talents, both generally as well as on the greeting card front, as well as give an insight into their inspirations that serve to set them apart. The boards can be any size, although A1 is popular, and should include information about the entrant with a snap of themselves if they wish – and remember to include your contact details!
Talking of the judging, following on from the online panel of retail buyers, which included buyers from Sainsbury’s, Waterstones, Oliver Bonas, Blue Diamond, Tesco, Postmark, Lark, Scribbler, Fortnum & Mason, Cardfactory, Longacres, House of Cards, Moonpig, Utility, Ryman, National Trust and many leading indies, many of these along with additional names will be returning for the upcoming in-person judging day in London where the 15 or so shortlisted ranges in each category will be further whittled down to a finalists’ list.
And that’s why all the 123 publishers on the shortlist need to get busy and send six different card designs along with a sample envelope for each of their shortlisted ranges to Jakki Brown, The Henries, Max Publishing, United House, North Road, London N7 9DP, to arrive no later than Thursday, 18 July.
There’s been plenty of the excitement around being nominated, Brainbox Candy posted the reel that can be seen below, and co-owners Ben Hickman and Mark Williams – known for their creative appearances at the award ceremony – said: “Wowzers Penny! Six Shortlisted nominations in this year’s prestigious Henries Awards. We’re very proud and obviously delighted. Now for the outfit planning!”
Ohh Deer co-owner and md Mark Callaby commented: “Wow, best first round yet for us!” while The Art File’s sales and marketing manager James Mace said: “Amazing news! Thanks so much, we’re over the moon!”, Lexi Rogi from Little Roglets added: “What lovely, unexpected news,” and Ginger Betty’s Tracey Colliston said: “We’re absolutely over the moon to be shortlisted in three categories! Thank you sooo much to the judges who voted for us, it’s really appreciated.”
Poet And Painter’s Lucy Creed is “as pleased as punch”, and a chuffed Wendy Jones-Blackett said: “My goodness, we’re shortlisted in 10 categories for this year’s Henries! Biggest ever! Wowzers and thank you!”, while Bexy Boo’s Bex Hassett heard the news out in Fuerteventura: “My Lily Loves have been shortlisted twice for the Oscars of the greeting card industry – I always find out when we’re on holiday and I couldn’t be more excited. We’re celebrating with an ice-cold beer!”
Making reference to his appearance at last week’s Beatrix Potter-themed Retas Awards, Ricicle Cards’ David Nichols-Rice joked: “As happy as Peter Rabbit who just got a carrot”, and Abacus Cards studio manager Liz Ellis said: “Absolutely fantastic news, it’s made my day! Thrilled that we’ve made the shortlist for three categories.,” with Woodmansterne’s marketing manager Kate Leach adding: “Oh my goodness, day made!”
Final word goes to new kid on the block Brilliantly Brave, proving it’s the strength of your designs that make the grade as Stuart Cox and Jean Pride only launched the business in January: “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Can’t begin to express how totally over the moon we are to be shortlisted six times! We would have been delighted and surprised with one, but six is beyond our wildest dreams.
“I was literally bouncing off the ceiling of the car on the way home from a day-job meeting. It truly means the world to us.
“Totally amazed. As a small start-up with just six months under our belt this is epic! It’s such a great validation of our brand, our cards and, most importantly, the mission we’ve set ourselves. For our business this kind of validation is immense, and I can guarantee even getting this far is something we’ll use to its full potential.”
There are also two other awards, for the Best Service To The Independent Retailer no shortlisted contenders are announced and the finalists will be picked at as a result of votes cast by independent retailers, with a survey currently underway.
And nominations are being sought for the Honorary Achievement Award, where there is no shortlist of finalists as the recipient will be revealed at The Henries awards event.
The full shortlist can be found here, and all winners of The Henries 2024 will be announced at a lavish awards event, the industry’s big night, taking place at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel on Thursday, 3 October, 2024, which this year has an anything goes Ancient Rome theme.
To book tickets click here. It is a fabulous opportunity for the greeting card community to get together and celebrate its creative excellence as well as its strong sense of camaraderie. For more details head to the website www.thehenriesawards.co.uk
