| The Greeting Card Association (GCA) announced the winners in the fourth annual Noted@*Noted Products Awards Competition. The awards ceremony made a fitting kickoff for North America’s single largest gathering of greeting card publishers in real life and real-time, *Noted: The Greeting Card Expo, held in San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center on April 27 and 28, 2023. To keep the focus on fresh design, all entries needed to be released on or after January 1, 2023. This year’s competition received a record 238 entries from the 107 stationery makers exhibiting on the sold-out *Noted expo floor. A small but incredibly esteemed group of judges reviewed the entries: Chandra Greer, owner of GREER Chicago; Daniel Collier, danielrichards; Sarah Schwartz, editor of Stationery Trends magazine and The Paper Nerd; Pei Sim, The Paper + Craft Pantry, Austin, Texas; and Kate Strzok, Broadway Paper, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first round of entries was reviewed virtually, while the physical cards were reviewed by the judges in the final round to select the winners. “Although this represents the fourth edition of this competition, last year’s was the first we were able to announce winners in person,” remarked Schwartz. “Building on that momentum, and shaped by our dedicated community of volunteers, the awards presentation today is only the kick-off of our two-day celebration of cutting-edge greeting card design. Winners were revealed Wheel of Fortune-style this morning; the dynamic display graciously designed and donated by Universal Presentation Concepts allowed us to turn over and reveal card winners to a standing-room-only crowd. Tomorrow, we kick off the day with the world’s first greeting card parade of finalists and winners. If you are missing this gathering, you are missing out on a lot!” Winners
Makers competed in 10 categories and the winners are as follows: Best Color Combo Card
Punniest
Best New Product Line
Funniest Card
Snarkiest Card
Freshest Vibe
Best Pattern
Wisest
Most Fantastic Floral
Most Marvelous Creature
Congratulations to all the winners — especially Seedlings, who snagged an impressive three awards! To see all 30 finalists along with the inspiration for their designs, visit ThePaperNerd.com; winners will be shared Monday, May 1. Finalists and winners can also be viewed in the 2023 Noted@*Noted gallery. Those who wish to attend *Noted, co-located with SF NOW, can still do so! Start your visit at the GCA website, www.greetingcard.org. Registration is free for retailers and buyers, who will have a front-row seat to fresh wares from over 180 exhibitors. |
