Big wins at the Louies for The London Studio’s US partners
Art licensing and design company The London Studio has announced that, for the second year running, US greeting card publishers the company represents have won Louie awards – the prestigious awards given by the Greeting Card Association, the US trade association that serves the greeting card and social expressions industry.
The 35th Louies, also known as the International Greeting Card Awards Competition, took place in San Francisco on 16 April. Lucy Loves Paper, Allyson Wilson and Fine Moments, three admired US greeting card designers and publishers represented by The London Studio, won a total of four awards.
Lucy Loves Paper won the Diversity category celebrating Latinx culture. Lucy Loves Paper was also a finalist in the Non-Religious Celebration category.
Lucy is Lucia Saisse, whose Lucy Loves Paper is a fun stationery brand with a unique style, full of fun characters and bold colour palettes inspired by both Lucia’s Brazilian upbringing and a lifelong passion for children’s book illustrations.
Allyson Wilson triumphed in the Christmas / Seasonal Boxed Set category. Her card is licensed to Artists to Watch, a well-established greeting card company that collaborates with independent fine artists to create beautiful greeting cards that carry good wishes into the world.
Allyson is an illustrator and graphic designer with an emphasis on floral, fold art and children’s book design. She loves creating fun environments full of detail, and she thinks there’s no such thing as too much sparkle! She is best-known for her delightful illustrations of the Luna Muna children’s picture book series about a young astronaut. In fact she and the author (and real-life astronaut) Kellie Gerardi received an invitation from America’s First Lady to do a book reading early this year at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, whose theme this year was education.
Fine Moments won in the Halloween and Mother’s Day (below $5.50) categories. Fine Moments is the company started in 2005 by artists Jason and Hae Carberry. No stranger to Louis Awards, Fine Moments has won multiple categories year on year – and this year was no different. Its greeting cards are sophisticated, clean and modern, and designed to appeal equally to all sexes. They can be found in major retailers such as Paper Source and Barnes and Noble.
Launched by the Greeting Card Association (GCA) in 1988, the prestigious Louie Awards, named after Louis Prang, who is credited with the birth of the US Christmas card, recognise the most outstanding greeting cards, invitations and announcements marketed in the US during the previous calendar year. The competition is open to all domestic and foreign publishers of greeting cards, invitations and announcements. It attracts hundreds of entries annually.
The founder and director of The London Studio, Soula Zavacopoulos, says: “We work with many fine artists in the US and it’s a joy and an honour to see them recognised by their peers in the highly competitive greeting cards industry. Of course we also believe that Lucia, Allyson, Jason and Hae are worthy winners, brilliantly combining great ideas with a distinctive, fun and witty style that has won them the award recognition they thoroughly deserve. Our congratulations to all of them!”
