Queensland quartet take PICA top spot

By Wayne Robinson | 28 July 2021

ColourChiefs, Fast Proof Press, Kuhn Corp and Sunprint took the plaudits at the Queensland Printing Industry Creativity Awards (PICAs), each treble gold winners in the annual state printing awards.

*Gold: Stephen Hall from Sunprint with Tom Eckersley and the company's swag of awards*

The Queensland print industry has come together to celebrate the achievement of print perfection at the Tattersalls Club in Brisbane, with 90 printers gathered for a cocktail celebration, in a night where catching up with industry colleagues over drinks and bountiful finger-food was almost as important as the main event – the presentation of the PICAs.

*Gold: Tom Eckersley (left), PVCA, presents a Gold award to Paul Brown from Colorchiefs*

Colour Chiefs was a triple-gold winner, with top gongs for Book Printing – Digital and Booklets, Catalogues & Magazines – Digital, and Large Format.

Fast Proof Press was named Printer of the Year in the Digital category, and added to its Gold tally with a category win in Booklets, Catalogues & Magazines, Offset; and another in Self-Promotion.

Gold: Kuhn Corp was a big winner at the Queensland PICAs.jpg — *Gold: Kuhn Corp was a big winner at the Queensland PICAs*

Kuhn Corp took out the Printer of the Year for both Offset and Packaging, and the Small Business Printer of the Year Award up to 12 Employees.

Sunprint also took out three Golds – for Book Printing, Offset, Limited Editions, and Regional Printer of the Year up to 12 Employees.

Joining the quartet in the Gold winners podium were Eckersley Print Group with a win in the Leaflets, Flyers & Brochures, Offset category; Heaney’s Performers in Print who took out the Stationery Printing award; Multi-Color Queensland, which won Printer of the Year for Labelling; DMS Creative, which won the Branding & Identity category; and Saturate, who took out Designer of the Year.

*Winner: Ashleigh Jones, Queensland LIA Apprentice of the Year (right) with her employer Renee McInnes from digital synergy*

The Lithographic Institute of Australia also presented the Heidelberg LIA Graduate of the Year Awards for 2020 and 2021. The Awards, which recognise the state’s leading apprentices, were presented to Ashleigh Jones from Digital Synergy for 2020, and Joshua West from Multi-Color Corporation for 2021.

Peter Harper, CEO of Visual Connections, which organised the event on behalf of hosts the Print & Visual Communications Association (PVCA) said: “It was wonderful to see the industry able to gather together, and we sincerely thank all those who entered and attended, and warmly congratulate all the winners."

Similar celebrations are to be held in other state capitals over the coming weeks, as restrictions ease, with some of the date shaving changed recently. The remaining State PICAs are:

Western Australia - Saturday 31 July, Crown
Victoria – Friday 6 August, The Sheraton, Melbourne
South Australia – Thursday 26 August, National Wine Centre of Australia, Adelaide
New South Wales – Friday 17 September, Ovolo, Woolloomooloo, Sydney

To book for your local event, click here or go to https://www.trybooking.com/eventlist/pica.

*Convivial company: (l-r) Steven Gardner, Susan Heaney, John Strangeland, and Paul Brown catch up at the Queensland PICAs*