"A
vintage year". That was the common consensus
of opinion at the 2004 Sappi International Printer
of the Year awards, where Pragati Offset from
India was named the 2004 Sappi Trading Printer
of the Year.
Pragati Offset won this fiercely contested title
for the book '88 Husains in Oils', printed on
HannoArt Silk 200g/m². Judges commented
on the excellent stochastic screening of the
pictures and the meticulous hand stitching.
Winners were announced on 22 October 2004 at a gala
event attended by printers and leading designers from
around the world. At the ceremony, Sappi also presented
awards to Ultra Litho from South Africa - Sappi African
Printer of the Year, Anderson Lithograph - Sappi North
American Printer of the Year and Fontegrafica from Italy
– Sappi European Printer of the Year.
The event was held at the
historic Vergelegen wine estate in Cape Town. "Like
winemaking, papermaking and printing still essentially
follow the same methods used for centuries,"
commented Sappi's Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan
Leslie.
"While machines and technology have made these
processes easier and faster, still they are very much
driven by the skill and passion of the individual.
Which is why Vergelegen is such an appropriate venue
for this award, which is focused on recognising, honouring
and rewarding excellence."
Truly global, the awards are held in four different
regions around the world – Africa, Sappi's trading
region (Asia, Australasia, Central and South America),
Europe and North America.
Each regional competition,
held earlier in the year, comprises up to seven categories,
including annual reports, books, brochures, catalogues
(in North America), calendars and posters, packaging
and labels, magazines and general. Regional judging
panels make gold, silver and bronze awards in each
category if appropriate.
These four regional gold
winners then go forward to compete for the print industry's
supreme honour, the title of Sappi International Printer
of the Year.
Entries are judged in the week of the gala event by
an independent panel of judges, who are all highly
qualified and experienced industry experts. Representing
Africa, the Sappi Trading region, North America and
Europe respectively, the judges were:
Eugene
Brandt, a director of CTP Web, has served on the
Printing Industries Federation of SA Cape Chamber
and has been chairman of both the Printing Workers
Committee and of Young Management Printers. Eugene
is currently the Examiner/Assessor for the Rotary
Offset Printing Federation in South Africa.
Greg
Grace, a Fellow of the LIA (Lithographic Institute
of Australia) and manager of the Print Media Academy
at Heidelberg, Sydney, Australia. Greg serves on
the panel of judges for the Queensland, Tasmanian,
South and Western Australia PiCA awards and is a
consultant to the National Print Awards.
Robert
Chung, a faculty member of the School of Print Media,
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) since 1980.
Active in research, Bob has published over 30 technical
papers in leading industry journals. At the beginning
of 2004, Bob was appointed the first RIT Gravure
Research Professor.
Philippe
Jourdan, a member of the FEGI Association (Graphic
Industry Exchange Federation) and Chevalier of the
European Order of Gutenberg, which honours the influence
of French civilization through printing. Philippe
is director in charge of the production department
of one of the world's leading publishers of consumer
magazines.
Entries
were judged on overall appearance, quality of the finishing
and the general difficulty of the print job, as well
as factors such as dot sharpness, ink density, registration,
sheet size, paper weight, screen ruling, stitching and
die cutting.
But none of these are judged
in isolation. It is how these elements are combined
that defines a print work and creates something that
is greater than the sum of the parts.
About Sappi Trading
Sappi - the South African Paper and Pulp International, is the largest manufacturer of coated paper in the world. The Printer of the Year Awards have been held by Sappi for over 20 years to celebrate print and honour printers who produce extraodinary work.
"Click
here to check out other winners of the SAPPI
Printer of the year Awards"
