Spirits are high in the printing industry after GASA’s night of nights, the Printovation Awards, held in the glow of city lights at Sydney’s Darling Harbour. Seven winners took home the coveted glass trophies for innovation in print. In the offset category, Eleven Eleven Design’s Justus Magazine, described as ‘flawlessly compiled’ by judges, came out on top. Momento Pro continued the theme of quality book printing with its 52 Suburbs Around the World (Limited Edition) publication, a winner in the digital non-variable class, matched by Carbon8’s The Journey – Sydney Airport in the embellishment category.
Libby Hams (centre), chair of the awards, with embellishment winners from Carbon8, a digital print house and design studio in Alexandria, Sydney.
Look Print’s PosterCandy brought personal photography from the digital world to life in the digital variable category, while Nulab Group brought a touch of class with its Lamborghini print in the wide format section. Victorian print media company Immij took out the offset (point of sale) award for its Berri Aisle displays, printed on a clear substrate, while New Zealand’s Arria Design scored the general award for its Great Barrier Reef postcard, screen printed on both opaque and transparent sections. This year’s awards saw a 30 per cent rise in entries, and double the numbers of 2011. Libby Hams, chairperson of the awards, says, “We have had another great year for Printovation, with a 30 per cent increase in entrants, which only goes to show that these awards are gaining traction and momentum in the market. It also goes to show how important they are for the future of print and communications. “I think it is important to note the passion of everyone in the market. Without that passion, without taking the time to push a job a little further, we would not have the innovation that we see each year or the success that we still see in the print industry.”
Checking out the competition: entries on display after the presentation
Recognised as highly commended in this year’s presentation are Digitalpress NSW, for their digital variable Postcard with an App; the Cancer Council NSW and SOS Print + Media Group’s joint offset submission, The Healthy Lunchbox Kit; Carbon8 for their digital non-variable Fox Classics Brand Bible; and Metropolis Inc’s offset textured book Rise at Divercity. Garry Knespal, general manager of GASA, says, “Printovation is about identifying, encouraging and fostering innovation in print. Quality is a given. “We want to help the industry in a constructive, collaborative way. Our main focus is reaching out to the design and creative community and helping printers to understand their motives, and also to help creatives understand the power and effectiveness of print.” Sponsoring the awards for the second year running was BJ Ball’s Icon digital printing papers, with Tony Bertrand, ?marketing and business development manager at BJ Ball Group, committing to sponsor the awards for the next five years.
The 2013 Printovation winners
Bertrand says, “We believe in this industry. Print is alive and strong. And as much as we like to think about the industry as being somewhat challenging, it is about innovative people who think about print differently. “Charles Darwin said it is not the smartest or the strongest who will be successful; it is the ones who embrace change the fastest. I think that is really profound for the printing industry. Change is upon us and we need to embrace it quickly. We have used that as our mantra at BJ Ball – we are moving fast.”
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