The Awards attracted over 900 entries from printing companies across the South East Asia and Oceania region, with 21 Gold Medals given out in categories including offset, digital, security, screen, packaging, gravure and labels.

Among the Australian presence at the event, which was held at the Ritz Carlton in Singapore, were Rod Urquart, Australian National Printing Laboratories director and Australian National Print Awards chairman, and Alf Carrigan, Australian National Printing Laboratory chairman, who were both on the judging panel.

Of particular note to the judges was the blending of traditional and new technologies to produce innovative new designs and printing effects. Carrigan says, ” We encourage all printers to strive for excellence using our traditional craft and to also embrace new methodologies. How to get a print that is just the right balance of ink, that is even and defect free, that is sharp and in tight register, and to produce all these characteristics in a form that exactly meets the customer’s requirements takes a lot of skill and we saw many examples of that skill.”

However, not all entries impressed Carrigan, prompting him to give a word of advice to some entrants who had submitted work that displayed problems with quality.

“The judges can only assess the actual print sample submitted before them. It is, of course, not possible to look at a print and guess if the other 10,000 copies in a print run did not have a hickey, blemish, roller mark or misregistration,” says Carrigan.

“Our advice to all future entrants is straightforward: when you have a quality job that you consider a likely contender, review the print run and check carefully. Put aside the best sample to be submitted. Never rely on a job bag or what is on the shelf.”

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