Pride In Print Awards A Passport To Exposure

Pride In Print Awards A Passport To International Exposure

Printing industry managers should view the Pride In Print Awards – for which the deadline for entries is Friday – as a passport to possible international marketing success and global exposure.

The experience of Auckland-based firm Logick Print & Graphics last year is a great example of what Pride In Print success can lead to. After becoming a Supreme Finalist in the packaging section of last year’s awards, Logick’s beautifully-crafted NZ Rox Jewellery Box went on to win a top prize at the world’s premier packaging awards, the Pentawards in Monaco.

Until the end of February the Rox Box is on display at the DesignPack Gallery very close to the Louvre in Paris and also has been shown in Shanghai.

Pride In Print Awards Manager Sue Archibald said the Logick exposure showed the potential marketing opportunity that the Awards offer – “Think of the value that firms get from the PR associated with such international recognition. The worth is enormous, and this all can accrue from just a $60 entry into Pride In Print. I strongly recommend firms to use these last few days to assemble their entries before the main deadline at the end of this week.

“There will be a late entry opportunity at the end of February but it will save time and money to get the bulk of entries in now.”

Entries are open for materials printed in New Zealand between January 1 and December 31. Entries can be from any printing process and can be made by any person or company associated with the production or purchase of print.

A number of category improvements have been introduced to bring the 2009 Awards even more closely in line with new trends in the print industry. In particular, Category 11, which is for “Industry Development – all processes”, is an opportunity to showcase products, processes and business developments that represent innovations within the NZ market.

To further assist entrants find the right category for their work, six sub-categories have been formed, namely:
 11(a) Self-Promotion for the Printing Industry
 11(b) Export Award
 11(c) Innovation in the Printed Product
 11(d) Innovation in the Print Business
 11(e) Innovative use or Design of a Barcode
 11(f) Innovation for the Environment

“The barcode category is an interesting one and shows how packaging designers in particular are moving towards incorporating barcodes within their designs in a fun and funky way while still having to ensure they are workable and fit for purpose,” says Ms Archibald.

“The Innovation for the Environment category is also a major step forward and entrants need to be aware that this is not for just entering a job that is printed on environmentally-friendly materials.

“What we are aiming to encourage here is for printers to tell the whole story of their work processes – how they are minimising emissions and encouraging improvements in their carbon footprint in entirety. Entrants need to define the improvement in environmental impact represented by the entry. What innovative environmental features does the entry include?

“The printing industry has a story to tell about its excellent strides towards carbon neutrality. This category encourages the industry to do just that.”

Another change is in Category 8 which used to cover only Business Forms. This has now been remodeled to cover the wider concept of ‘Business Print’. All types of business-oriented print jobs have now been brought into the one category, which groups together annual reports, stationery and forms both reelfed and sheetfed.

A further change is in Category 10c, which forms a sub-group of “Specialty Products and Processes”. Category 10c is now called “Personalisation – Creative use of Print in Direct Marketing”. This has been devised to accommodate direct marketing jobs which can include innovative postage, handling and distribution solutions.

The Pride In Print Awards judging involves expert judges from the Designers’ Institute of New Zealand, New Zealand Paperboard Packaging Association, New Zealand Business Forms Association, Plastics New Zealand, Print Finishers' Association, PrintNZ, Quick Printers’ and Copycentres’ Association, Self Adhesive Label Manufacturers’ Association, Single Web Users Group and barcode experts GS1.

Judging is based on technical excellence in all facets of the production process and allows for specialists to make a judgement based on the potential and the limits of that process and materials.

Elements of typography and good design are part of this judgement, as is the effective and innovative use of materials.

More than one Gold Medal may be presented in any category where the judges deem the entries to be of an equal high standard. However, if in the opinion of the judges, entries are below the achievable standard, no Award will is made.

A Category Winner in each area is selected from all Gold Medal-winning work in the various categories (Gravure, Flexographic Printing, Packaging, Web Offset, Screen Printing, Sheetfed Printing, Labels, Business Print, Digital Print, Specialty Products & Processes, Print Finishing and Industry Development & Innovation).

The Supreme Award is then chosen from the category winning jobs.

Full information and details about the Awards, the categories, the judging process and the overall Pride In Print concept can be found on the www.prideinprintawards.co.nz website.

ENDS

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