Judges' tough talk proves gold for Lithoprint

Attending a Pride In Print judging seminar last year played a key part in winning five medals for Wellington's Lithoprint.

Anne Read, managing director, believes that the lessons which her and her staff learnt contributed to Lithoprint scoring three Gold medals and two Highly Commended citations. Most of all, she valued the judge's honesty.

"I really liked the bluntness of the judges in the seminar video," she said.

"The judges brutally out jobs aside with comments such as 'Look at this' ... which brings you down to the reality that you can't just enter any old thing; you have to examine it and check that the basics have been done perfectly."

Read said Lithoprint has also attempted to heed the judges' advice about targeting potential award-winning jobs during production.

"We'll ultimately get the job to the client first and then worry about awards issues, but since watching the DVD we have put in a few processes in the factory with regards to jobs with potential to enter into Pride In Print," she said.

"We have always said we only enter 'jobbing' work into Pride In Pride: if we win, we win on our everyday quality, but over the years the standards have increased."

Winning at Pride In Print has enhanced Lithprint's reputation, according to Read.

"It allows us to expand the expectation that our existing clients have and get them to challenge what they produce knowing that Lithoprint is able to print Pride In Print-winning work, and of course it's a great marketing tool for the sales staff," she said.