Click here to see the full list of winners.
This year marked just the fourth time that the national awards were chosen exclusively from the gold medal winners at the state-based Printing Industries Craftsmanship Awards (PICAs) – and the new format proved its worth as printers from every state took to the stage.
Click here for the winners photo gallery.
Victorian firms seemed to have the home state advantage, with eight golds – the most of any state. This were followed by a tie between New South Wales and South Australia/North Territory, with each region taking to the stage six times.
There were five golds for Western Australia, two for Queensland and a single gold for Davies Bros, which prints Tasmania’s Mercury newspaper.
The silverware was awarded to a mix of new faces and perennial winners. Those select companies who walked away with two golds each are well known on the awards circuit: Geon Group, Offset Alpine Printing, Adams Print, Percival Print & Packaging and Platypus Graphics, which secured both the golds for Queensland.
These bright stars on the industry landscape were applauded by 450 guests in the Palladium Ballroom on Friday 20 April 20 for the 29th annual NPA presentation.
Familiar winners included Michael Warshall’s Melbourne company, Picpress, which picked up gold in the ‘book printing, digitally printed’ category for its HP Indigo 5500 printing of Greg Hotson’s two-volume work, Cuba.
Warshall said Hotson’s work “combines traditional skills in premium photography with the innovation that a digitally presented platform – attractively presented, quality photobooks – can bring”.
Digital printing and photography were easy partners at this year’s NPAs. Western Australia’s Imatec Digital took gold in the ‘digital printing, non-inkjet’ category for its Photography & Design book, while Sydney-based Momento Pro took a gold in ‘digital printing, inkjet’ as well as the inaugural Fuji Xerox sponsor award, which acknowledged the ‘most effective use of printing technologies’.
Another digital outfit to get the nod on the night included Adelaide-based Visualcom for the wide-format printing it produced for the Saatchi exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Other top awards went to Evolve Printing, LPI Graphic Services, Immij NSW, Courtney Colour Graphics, Bambra Press, RA Printing, Avon Graphics, Print Impressions, Finsbury Green, Amcor Closure Systems, CCL Labels and Studio Labels.
The Currie Group Award for ‘most innovative use of imaging in printing’ was presented to Imatec Digital, WA, while the Heidelberg Award for Excellence in Craft went to Geon Group Perth for the Rio Tinto Diamonds Calendar – the second time in four years the Bassendean plant has taken the top award.
NPA chairman John Wanless said challenging economic times called for innovation but also solidarity, as shown on industry nights like the NPAs: “You people are proud of your industry and our industry’s proud of positive people who stand up for it.”
In his speech, Printing Industries chief executive Bill Healey urged guests to get behind the Two Sides campaign, which promotes the facts about print and paper’s environmental credentials.
He also updated the industry on plans to amalgamate the peak body with GASAA, joking that it was a pity that Heidelberg managing director Andy Vels Jensen was absent from the ceremony, as Vels Jensen has used past NPA speeches to bemoan that there are “too many associations”.
A Greatest Hits theme underpinned the night, with winners quizzed by host Julia Zemiro of SBS TV show RocKwiz about their first-ever concert experience, and stand-up laughsmith Tommy Little entertained the crowd.
If there was a downside to the night, it was that there were no golds awarded for five categories, including one of the most hotly contested: ‘booklets, catalogues and magazines saddlestitched’.
Wanless told ProPrint: “It’s always been the case that if there is no entry deemed good enough to win a gold award, then a gold award will not be presented.
“Sometimes an entry might come through from the PICAs that may not be considered good enough when reviewed by a different set of eyes for the NPAs.”
However, he added: “The NPA reviews categories each year, and I will ensure that we have a full judging review and will make the outcome known so that people’s expectations are met on the night.”
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