Judges spot the difference with NSW Print Excellence Awards entries

Examining the many hundreds of entries submitted for the various printing industries annual awards often leaves judges seeing spots in front of their eyes; but not always from fatigue.

Usually the spots are paper spots and that can spell disaster for potentially winning entries.

Chairman of judges for the WorkCover NSW Print Excellence Awards, Warwick Roden (pictured) warned entrants that paper dust, paper or ink hickies, surface picking of the stock or mottling of the print are faults that can be easily seen and obviously detract from the appeal of the final product.

“Processing marks from the folding and binding or setoff and scuffing during printing, can cause unsightly marking,” Roden said.

“Many prestigious products are designed with large solid ink areas, broad panels of plain stipple or photographs with vast horizons of bright blue sky. The final printed result is let down by paper faults, poor housekeeping or the printer’s lack of attention to detail.

One or two marks throughout the submitted award samples can be enough to consign the job to the bin!”

With that in mind, NSW and Queensland printers have only until 25 September to clean up their entries or risk being cleaned out. ACT printers have until 6 November.

The WorkCover NSW Print Excellence Awards will be held on Friday 13 November, followed by the ACT PAGE Awards on Friday 20 November and the Queensland PICA on Saturday 28 November.

Entry and event booking information is available for each state award by calling 1800 227 425 or via the Print Recognition Awards section.