NSW printers out in force at spirited PICA event

A large turn-out attended the NSW Printing Industry Creativity Awards in Sydney last night with many winners sharing their thoughts on the industry and the way forward as they collected their medals.

Gold, silver and bronze medalists were announced across a number of categories at the Pullman Hotel in the CBD with the gold winners qualifying for the National Print Awards and from there a chance to show their work at Print2Parliament later in the year.

Three international judges assessed each work individually before making their decision on the winners with the event supported by Media Super and Ball & Doggett.

A number of gold medal winners gave their insights into the Australian printing industry and where it needs to go as they accepted their medal with the central theme about valuing print and pricing it accordingly.

Rawson Print Co collected a number of golds on the night with managing director Andrew Price urging printers to recognize they form part of a significant industry in Australia.

“We represent a huge industry in Australia and I think it’s time to recognize that we can charge for that,” Price said.

“We continue to hammer prices down and all we are doing is eradicating the market which makes it hard for people to survive so let’s recognize that we do something that is really good in the industry and continue to champion that.”

The team from Carbon8 also took home some gold with director Kenneth Beck sharing his views on the industry, while also making it known Carbon8 now as the HP Indigo 12000 Digital Press up and running.

“This industry is tough. We all know it and we are all battling it for the same drink at that watering hole,” Beck said.

“I respect everybody here and I think we can see the quality of what’s being produced. I echo the sentiments from Rawson (Andrew Price). We all need to get together as an industry and support each other and not be a race to the bottom.”

Digitalpress owner Theo Pettaras had similar sentiments when he stepped up for his gold medals.

“Twenty years ago the rooms at the print awards were very different, there was a lot of egos,” Pettaras said.

“I really think we have become very humble which is great. We are quite happy to share the stories in our journeys. We have, at times, troubles in our businesses. It is challenging and we are not scared to share our stories and help each other and that is a great thing.”

Impact International Pty Ltd also won gold in the specialty printing category for its Marjorie, Craig and Sarah tubes, which are white and printed in spot colour.

The tubes also include anti-counterfeit technology which brand owners, like Blackmores, can use to scan in overseas markets, namely China, to check the authenticity of the product.

“We are trying to make print and packaging interactive and add value to the printing process by combining traditional print with new advancements in technology,” Impact International managing director Aleks Lajovic said.

The Victorian PICA event will be held in Melbourne on July 10, with the Perth event July 13 and the final state awards being held in Brisbane on July 24.

http://www.proprint.com.au/News/393125,sa-pica-winners-announced-in-adelaide.aspx

The National Print Awards will be held on August 15 during the week of PrintEx19.

Full winners from NSW:

AAB Holdings – Andrew Reichard and Paul Scheinflug

All Mounting and Die Cutting Services – Shawn Ballesty

Carbon8 – Kenneth Beck and Peter Musarra

Digitalpress – Theo Pettaras, Kassandra Pettaras, Karl Baker and Terry Magafas

Imagination Graphics – Emmanuel Buhagiar

Impact International – Aleks Lajovic and Clare Lajovic

Kwik Kopy Circular Quay – Nick Tuit

Intoprint – Grant Regan

Momento Pro – Geoff Hunt and Libby Jeffrey

Ovato – Peter Rimmer

Pegasus Print Group – Jenny Ranawake

Rawson Print Co – Andrew Price, Lani Draheim, Shane Wildash

Satellite Digital – Mark Clinton, Paul Culliver

WHO Printing – Daniel Ogle and Melanie Ogle

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