It’s another shining line-up across the pond, as the New Zealand printing industry celebrates its own night of nights, at this year’s Pride in Print awards. The tentpole event showcased the very best of NZ print, with supreme award going to the team at GTO Printers in a landslide win scoring solid tens across the board.
The awards night saw a strong turn-out, with around 700 guests rocking up for the evening at the Sky City Convention Centre last Friday. Up against the toughest competition in the country, in the end it was the small specialist printing company from Birkenhead on the North Shore that nabbed the top prize. GTO Printers brought it home with a set of four fine-art prints titled "2 Colour Letterpress Prints". The winning pieces were produced in black and brown on a 47-year-old one-colour press and, as well as the supreme, they also pulled the letterpress process and specialty products categories.
The judges’ decision was unanimous, with comments including, “…it doesn’t get better than this… a brilliant retention of the finest details, particularly considering the impact process in the press… stunningly beautiful prints… an amazing job.”
- A clean sweep - Jane Caine recieves the Supreme Award for 2 Colour Letterpress Prints by GTO Printers
Despite the high praise for the work GTO Printers’ principal Graham Judd missed out on the receiving the award in person. And quite right too, Judd was celebrating his 65
th birthday with his family in Manhattan. In his absence it fell to Jane Caine, GTO Printers’ assistant manager, to do the honours on the night.
“It is a wonderful reward. I have worked with Graham for 19 years and he is so passionate about printing. He’ll never retire, he loves it! He saw the potential for letterpress printing, saw a niche market for it with wedding invitations and ran with it and developed it. He went to the wedding shows, loved it and set up this letterpress exhibition,” said Caine.
According to awards judge Symon Yendoll the win was a standout for its sheer craft achievements, about which he says, "craft-wise, letterpress is as hard as it gets."
Yendoll adds, "The level of detail is incredible. In one print, one of the bird's eyes is open. It is tiny, like a pinprick, and yet it is as clear as can be. That is extremely difficult to do. The end result is a virtual 3D effect."
While the small team from Birkenhead swept the supreme board, the night was peppered with gems from across the industry. It was a diverse selection of companies and prints, big and small, but what they all shared in common was an eye for detail and flair for the creative. Below is the full list of golds, and a gallery of the winning entrants.
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PRIDE IN PRINT AWARDS 2014
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| SUPREME WINNER |
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| Category |
Entry name |
Entrant |
| Specialty |
2 Colour Letterpress Prints |
GTO Printers Ltd |
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| Category Winners |
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| Category |
Entry name |
Entrant |
| Publications |
Texts From Brazil |
Thames Publications |
| Business Print |
KPMG Fuelling Prosperity Launch Book |
Sentra Printing / Nicholson Print |
| Packaging |
Fishers Beef Sirloin |
Sealed Air Hamilton |
| Labels |
Mess-Defying Label |
Impressions International Ltd |
| Display Print |
Click Architects |
Flagmakers Ltd |
| Promotional Print |
Farmers Beauty |
Webstar (Masterton) |
| Specialty Products |
2 Colour Letterpress Prints |
GTO Printers Ltd |
| Industry Development |
Times Square- New York 'See-Thru' Postcard |
Foster Screenprinting |
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| Process Winners |
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| Process |
Entry name |
Entrant / Printer |
| Web |
Farmers Beauty |
Webstar (Masterton) |
| Offset |
Steinlager Challenger Pack |
Orora Cartons Wellington |
| Gravure |
So Crispy Classic Coating Mix |
Amcor Flexibles
Asia Pacific Branston St |
| Flexo |
Fishers Beef Sirloin |
Sealed Air Hamilton |
| Letterpress |
2 Colour Letterpress Prints |
GTO Printers Ltd |
| Finishing |
CCIA Calendar |
Color Communications /
Centurion Print |
| Digital |
India |
Wakefields Digital /
Momento Photobooks /
Kinetic |
| Inkjet |
Tony Fomison - 1971-1990 |
Wakefields Digital /
Momento Photobooks /
Kinetic |
| Screen |
Times Square- New York 'See-Thru' Postcard |
Foster Screenprinting |
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