Hotchpotch designer Helen John picked up the Most Promising Young Designer Or Artist Award at The Henries 2013 awards, held at the Lancaster Hotel, London last night (Thursday October 10). Having worked at Carte Blanche Group brand Hotchpotch since May 2011, Helen’s work is heavily influenced by current trends and she finds inspiration from almost everywhere, from retro posters to wallpaper samples and her everyday surroundings in London. Her style is graphic, colourful, nostalgic and quirky and she enjoys working in a varied illustrative style combining digital processes, collage, mark marking and good old fashion drawing.
Helen comments: “I’m absolutely thrilled to have received this award and for my work to be recognised amongst such a strong group of talented designers by my industry peers. To receive a Henry award is truly inspiring and I hope to achieve just some of the success that past recipients of the award have gone on to enjoy.”
Steve Blakemore, Director of 2D at Carte Blanche Group, said: “It is both an honour and delight to have received this award, particularly with this coming during the year we have celebrated our silver anniversary. Winning the award is a reflection of the fantastic team we have and how important it is to support and nurture young talent in the industry. The competition at the Henries gets stronger every year, so we couldn’t be more proud of this achievement.”
Carte Blanche Group was nominated for five awards in a variety of categories ranging from design to customer service. The Henries awards – recognised as the ‘Oscars’ of the greeting card industry – are judged by 40 top retailers including buyers from John Lewis, W H Smith, Tesco, Waterstones and leading independent stores. This year over 14,000 cards were entered in 19 different categories, with just six finalists nominated for each category.
The ceremony at London’s Lancaster Hotel on October 10th was attended by hundreds of business leaders and staff from the greeting card industry. The awards were presented by Tom Stade, star of BBC’s Live at the Apollo and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, and the band – MadHen – was sponsored this year by Carte Blanche.
