Long-term industry identity signed off his tenure with an emotive speech to the industry at the 2014 Victorian Awards dinner last Friday.
In a moving valedictory delivery he acknowledged the difficult year the industry has passed through, including the largest company collapse in the its history. “It’s been a difficult year. There are fewer companies around today than this time last year. Many printers have not survived,” he said.
“Looking ahead, I hope that 2014 will confirm that we are now over the worst of our ‘industry winter’ and, while there may still be some chilly mornings and bouts of wild weather to come, I think we are all looking forward to calmer skies and a brighter outlook. I believe the challenges that have chilled us over the past few years are behind us and we are starting to see some ‘blue sky’ again. Slowly, but surely, the mood of the industry seems to be lifting,” said Hone.
He confirmed he would not be standing as Chairman of the PICA committee next year and thanked the industry for its support. He left the sage to a warm round of applause and appreciation.
A good turnout saw the results of the new PICA judging panel under Graeme Barnes who gave appropriate recognition to his predecessor, Rod Urquhart.
The culmination of the Awards was the presentation of the coveted Judge’s Award to Robert Soutar of Adams Print for The Extraordinary Life of Sir Charles Lloyd Jones, a case-bound book from Macmillan Publishers Australia. Designed by Jenny Zimmer and Chales Teuma and produced in a joint effort between Optimo Desings (prepress), Adams Print (printing on KW Doggett Fine Paper stocks), The Bindery (finishing) and Avon Graphics (embellishment).
“The selection of the Judges’ Award for Excellence is the final task on the busy judging day and it came down to three gold medal winning entries,” said Barnes. “After some discussion, it was a unanimous decision that the entry selected is a very worthy recipient.”
Pandora’s Boxes took out the major sponsor award, the Currie Group Award, for The Colonial Heritage Collection, printed by Intelligent Media. This Limited Edition boxed book was designed by Australia Post – Philatelic for the client, Tonic Print Production. Pandora’s Boxes did the print finishing and embellishment.
The Media Super Young Achievers Award, created to recognise and reward exceptional young employees who show exemplary promise as future industry leaders, went to Danielle Spicer from Blue Star Digital.