News

The Greeting Card Association (GCA) announced the winners of the second annual Noted @ *Noted Awards during *Noted: A Virtual Event on May 1. While COVID-19 caused the GCA to cancel *Noted: The Greeting Card Expo in San Francisco this year, the community was able to come together and celebrate the winners during this virtual event. The awards program is part of a larger effort to expand opportunities to recognize new and established greeting card makers.

“The GCA is always looking to promote greeting cards and provide enhanced visibility for our members, regardless of their location or resources,” noted George White, president of the GCA. “Noted @ *Noted does just that, recognizing the best new cards in a variety of fun design and copy categories.”

The judges comprised of greeting card industry leaders and experts, including: Daniel Collier, Daniel Richards Showroom (Atlanta and Dallas), Archer Paper Goods, and The Merchant Atlanta stores; Barbara Mooney, Daisy’s Mercantile, Alameda, California; Chelsea Shukov, Sugar Paper, publisher with three California stores in Brentwood, Newport Beach and Marin; Audrey Woollen, Urbanic Paper Boutique, Venice, California; Tory Wright, Paper E. Clips; and Sarah Schwartz, editor of The Paper Chronicles and editor-in-chief, Stationery Trends.

“From a design perspective, the timing of the awards was actually opportune, as Noted @ *Noted allowed publishers to showcase what I’m referring to as Coronacards,” said Schwartz. “Many of the entries are doubly impressive in that they reflect how quickly publishers were able to respond to this horrid situation with humor and heart — and how they in turn help people to express themselves and connect with loved ones during the isolating circumstances of quarantine.”

The winning companies by category

• Best Color Combo Card – Girl w/ Knife
• Best New Product Line – Next Chapter Studio
• Best Tear Jerker Card – Good Juju Ink
• Best Use of Profanity Card – Girl w/ Knife
• Most Beautiful Card – Inklings Paperie
• Most Encouraging Card – KB Paperie
• Printing Innovation – UWP Luxe
• Smart Marketing – My Darlin’
• Snarkiest Card – Hitchock Paper Co.

The full list of winners can be found here. You can also view the finalists here.