The New Zealand printing industry’s night of nights sparkled last Friday as the Pride In Print Awards graced the Wellington Convention Centre.
With an entertainment theme inspired by the musical Chicago, Pride In Print honoured the industry’s finest as actors and dancers interlaced stories of printer’s work between award presentations. The awards dinner, attended by the 600 plus crowd, followed the presentations and took place at the Wellington Town Hall adjacent to the Convention Centre.
Major patrons Heidelberg, Fuji Xerox, Spicers Paper and Huber Group Hostmann Steinberg assisted with the presentation of the finalists and supreme awards. After taking out the Packaging Category, Amcor Cartons of Christchurch captured the supreme award with its 250g Cadbury’s Old Gold Carton. Laurie Lark, senior packaging judge Pride In Print, said of the work, “I would give it 10 out of 10 for difficulty but they have done very very well and I am most impressed with its quality.”
Other supreme finalists received praise from the judges as well. The Flexography Category winner was a pet food wrapper, Supercoat Kitten with Real Chicken & Rice 8kg, printed by Convex Plastics Ltd of Hamilton. Frank Brokken, flexography judge Pride In Print, said, “The flexographic world continues to look at New Zealand and wonders how we consistently do it. You could have sent this entry in to any flexography competition in the world and it would have done well. It is an example of skill from start to finish.”
The Labels Category prize, printed by Geon in Christchurch for Tranz Scenic, depicts the Tranz Alpine and its sister rail journeys, the Overlander and Tranz Coastal, against a background of snow-capped peaks. Andrew Durrans, general manager GEON Group accepted the award and said, “We have had success in areas such as sheet-fed printing and special processes, but to get an award for a label shows our range of expertise. You have to say we are batting above our average.”
Gravure Packaging of Petone won the Gravure Category with a wrapper for a traditional Whittaker’s Peanut Block. Brokken said, “We have looked over this job and can’t find a fault with it. The work that has gone into it is outstanding. It is in perfect register, the machinists have been in absolute control throughout.”
Printed by PMP Print Christchurch for Fairfax Magazines, an edition of Cuisine magazine took out the Web Heatset category honours. PMP Print’s Steve Thompson said his company genuinely expected the job to do well at this year’s Awards. He said, “I don’t want to sound arrogant about that, but we put a lot of effort into quality all the way through the organisation and that’s the way you look after and keep clients. Nothing was unique about it. We just applied the same processes as we would with any other job. But we had good material to start with in terms of the design and photography.”
Good Magazine, printed by Image Centre Ltd, won the Industry Development and Innovation category. The company monitored all the stages of its production in order to make a carbon-neutral claim about it. Damian Fleming, senior judge Pride In Print, said, ““These guys have been audited in terms of the paper they use, their inks, their production processes and so forth to establish their emissions output, and have been prepared to buy credits to offset those emissions. What this sets is a benchmark for others. There will be other print buyers who come to printing companies and say, ‘I want quality but I also want something that is environmentally sound’. This magazine has shown the way to answer that.”
The Duplicities of Familial Bliss book, printed by Kinetic 121 for Vanessa McRae Photographer, with Momento Photobooks Ltd of Wellington being the entrant, print buyer and also the finisher topped the Specialty Processes - Binding and Finishing category. Chris Woodhead, judge at Pride In Print, said, “What we have here is traditional materials being used with new print methodologies, and incorporating PUR binding where the book is milled and glued using polyurethane glue. Whoever did this job was extremely diligent.”
Ceiling panels, produced by Big Colour Imaging Limited of Auckland, took out the Digital Printing - Applied Graphics Category. The panels have become the centrepiece of a major tourist drawcard at the Aoraki/Mt Cook Visitor Centre. Matt Hall, senior judge Pride In Print, said that this is the first time judges had seen this kind of application. He said, “These ceiling panels demonstrate growth and development within the industry, and how the combination of digital print and some lateral thinking can result in some exciting innovations.”
A combined letterhead and membership card created for the New Zealand Police Association, and printed by Wickliffe Ltd in Auckland, topped the Business Forms category. Wickliffe’s Charles Miller said, “This job is as much about communication as it is about sheetfed printing labels. It’s about communicating an image and imparting credibility. Our customer base includes the Police, many Government departments and corporates, and security credibility protects their brands and we are proud to be a part of that.”
