The fearsome dragon from Peter Jackson's Hobbit movie on the fuselage of an Air New Zealand 777 wins the Best of the Best Award for the Hamilton-based printer.
'The Desolation of Smaug' proved a winner for the New Zealand company at the Specialist Graphic Industry Association (SGIA) Golden Image Awards held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Admark submitted four entries, won an award for each of them, and was presented the supreme accolade; 2014 Best in Show: Digital Creativity.
According to Laurie Pilling, CEO, the honour recognises Admark Visual Imaging as "the best printer in the world.
"It’s a marvellous accomplishment for a New Zealand business to be selected as the best digital printer in the world," he said. "The commitment and expertise within the Admark team is remarkable and makes us all very proud.
"When we win awards on the world stage, it demonstrates that Admark is among an elite group of companies in the world of printing excellence. To win the Supreme Award in the world is like winning the Best Picture at the Oscars, an achievement that we are all incredibly proud of.”
The 54-metre long graphic made up of 372 panels was produced on the company's 3M Scotchprint 2000 electrostatic printer at its Hamilton factory. Designed by David Taylor, who works closely with the Jackson studio in Wellington, the image has to withstand the freezing temperature of down to minus 70 degrees.
It took four days for the Admark team to apply the "most sophisticated sticky label" to the aeroplane, which travels a regular rout from Auckland to London via LA, with side trips to Tokyo. It is the latest in a long series of aircraft graphics by Admark, which has also worked with Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar, to name a few.
"We are the world's leading aircraft graphic producers. Our design, printing and production methods mean that Admark can print on almost anything from food and product labels, to large-scale graphics for tankers, boats and aircraft. If you can dream it, we can print it, " said Pilling.
In addition to aircraft graphics, the Hamilton company of more than 50 employees, produces labels and screen printing. In addition to the fairly rare 3M electrostatic printer that produced the Smaug image it also uses, Epson, HP Latex and Vutek technology. After knuckling down to get through the financial crisis, it is now in good shape and looking to expand again. "We came through the financial crisis very well. We changed our strategy at the time to one of survival. Now we're ready to grow," he said.
The SGIA Golden Image Awards attract entries from all corners of the world. They are recognised as the global standard for excellence in screen and large format digital printing. Several judges said this year’s awards were one of the toughest competitions they’ve judged and any award given out is an extraordinary achievement. Only one Gold medal is awarded in each category each year.
“Receiving one of these awards places the winner at the very top of the world’s leading printers,” said Johnny Shell, SGIA’s Vice President of Technical Services. “Achieving such high quality indicates remarkable control and ability!”