Wrapper with Meal Appeal Wins Supreme Print Accolade

Wrapper with Meal Appeal Wins Supreme Print Accolade

A food pouch that answers perfectly the main role of food packaging – giving its contents “meal appeal” to the supermarket shopper – has taken out the Supreme Award at the 2015 Pride In Print Awards.

At a glittering ceremony in Wellington’s TSB Arena before a large audience, the Farrah’s Multigrain wrap, printed by the Branston Street, Christchurch, branch of Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific, was announced the “best of the best” because, in the words of Awards Chairman Scott Porter, it went straight to the taste buds of the shopper.

“Many FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) decisions are made by customers in a matter of seconds, and these guys have not only met the brief, they have knocked it for six!” he said.

The wrapper was designed in such a way as to give the impression the photograph of the food contents is actually in front of the food pouch, sitting on it. In turn the wrapper appears as if it is sitting on a coloured table cloth.

Scott Porter went further, praising the tactile feel applied over some areas such as the recipes, to enhance the experience of the buyer – “These guys have found a way to stop work of this calibre going offshore. It rocks!”

The wrapper also won the Packaging Category prize.

Overall, the awards recognised and applauded the innovation and technical mastery of the print industry, and how printers, designers and companies are working together in the marketplace.

This year’s awards campaign theme - “Power of Print” - highlighted just what impact the printed media has on all of our lives, through every sector of New Zealand’s many industries.

This was reflected in the work of the various category winners.

The Pro Photographer Magazine June/July 2014, entered by McCollams Print of Auckland, was deemed by judges “as good as you can get as an ambassador for the New Zealand publications sector”.

The Publications Category Winner demonstrated the power of print, ensuring the photographer’s work is displayed to its maximum potential.

Senior judge Darren Gallot summarised the outstanding feature of the Pro Photographer Magazine as being the intensity of the colour - “It’s the kind of thing that would catch the eye of a consumer browsing in the airport news stand.”

A job that looked simple, but had every component done perfectly, landed the Business Print Category prize for Spectrum Print of Christchurch.

The Market Gardeners Ltd Annual Review 2014 was a masterpiece of print perfection, winning unstinting praise from judges who commented: “An excellent design and expertly-completed print job.”

Clever innovation was displayed in the Labels Category award.

When the Department of Conservation wanted to produce an easy-to-use measuring guide for anglers fishing for trout in the DOC Taupo Fishing District, it turned to Mesh Print of Petone for a solution.

The label had to show the legal minimum length of 40cm for the fish from the tip of the nose to the V of the tail. DOC had to be sure the finished decal would not shrink, as any shrinkage would mean it was not showing the correct legal length, nor could the printing fade.

Mesh Print’s solution to these challenges was to take a polyester self-adhesive label and use a screen print to apply the image of a trout at full size, with the legal length shown clearly. The decal sticks on to an easy-to-assemble wooden measuring block, for which assembly instructions were included.

Screen printing was the only process that would print successfully on to the polyester surface. Senior judge Richard Noakes commented: ““It is all done by hand – no machines at all. To come out with a result like this, is quite frankly staggering.”

Innovation was also to the fore in the stunning 3D window display of a large plastic spider holding a pair of Nike running shoes as its pointed fangs, which won the Display Print Category for Big Colour Imaging of Auckland.

The 3D spider was a multi-level window display which replicated a spider’s body, legs and web. The focal point was the brightly-coloured Nike shoes, to which the eye was drawn in the centre of the backlit display. It was used in shops in both Australia and New Zealand.

Senior judge Symon Yendoll commented: “The Nike Magista Spider is an excellent example of point of sale innovation.”

The famous World of Wearable Art (WOW) fashion show got a boost from wine labels from Auckland’s Panprint that in themselves had a WOW! factor for Pride In Print Judges. So much they were rated world-class.

The Brancott Estate World of Wearable Art Campaign wine labels carried off the Promotional Print category of the Awards with their extraordinary and classy finish – much like the garments that grace the catwalk of the WOW event.

The sets of labels feature foiling and “high build” embossing, giving them a tactile feel to attract the eye and touch of the wine buyer.

Judges praised the crisp and clean approach: “A wine label has to be eye-catching in order to have instant appeal to the customer. It is what makes them stop in the aisle, reach for the bottle and begin to browse. It is the label that gives the wine producer that competitive advantage in the marketplace.”

Art met print in the Tawharanui Waves limited edition print that won the Specialty Products category of the Awards.

Artist and printer worked together, in harmony, to produce fine art of a breathtaking quality. Artist Matt Payne worked with Artrite Screen Printing of Onehunga on site to get the print colours just right, so that he could faithfully recreate his original painting in a limited run of prints on cotton art paper that went for sale in the Matt Payne Galleries.

In all, 27 colours were mixed under the artist’s direction, with a single screen print pass for each in turn, until the artist was sure his original acrylic painting was being perfectly reproduced.

Awards Manager Sue Archibald said this represents a “fantastic use of screen print and merges craftsmanship with old and new technology.”

Companies with an environmental conscience have had a new avenue of print buying opened up to them by the Pride In Print Industry Development Category winner Live to Print.

The boutique Whangarei printery came up with the concept of a screen printing ink so environmentally-friendly that screen printing is presented in a new commercial light. Its Screeners Choice selection of vibrant colours prompted senior judge Angelique Sparnaay-Martin to say the commercial flow-on benefit of the inks is that they opened up screen printing to companies who previously had not considered it for their products.

“The main users now are schools of fine arts but many companies keen to do screen printing have been put off in the past. They are environmentally-friendly firms and don’t want to use chemicals. Today, this product has given them a new choice.”

The Awards recorded an approximate 20% increase in the number of entries from 2014 (777 entries in total), indicative of the New Zealand print industry having fought through tough economic conditions and now emerging with higher quality levels than ever before.

For over 20 years now, the Pride In Print Awards have been the key to raising the bar in quality standards, of showcasing the best that the New Zealand print industry has to offer and in so doing, demonstrating world-class quality.

Other interesting stats this year include:

• 35% increase in Publication Category entries

• 34% increase in Promotional Print entries

• 26% increase in Packaging Category entries

• 20% increase in Specialty Product entries

• 7% increase in Label, Display Print and Industry Development entries

• 31% entry increase recorded over the past four years

• the number of Gold Medals awarded annually as a percentage of entry has remained consistent, cementing Pride In Print as a sound and robust industry benchmark

Pride In Print Winners 2015

ENDS

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