The screen, display and Label winners in the NZ Pride in Print Awards.
Screen Printing:
The Kicking Imprint tee-shirt features a three-dimensional boot, complete with laces. It was entered by Screen Printing Solutions of Hamilton.
Judges speculated on the labour hours required to create such a striking piece of clothing.
Senior screen printing judge Chris Knuckey said that the tee-shirt was a well-executed example of a technique using a special ink which puffs up to create a three-dimensional effect.
“They added embellishments such as eyelets and laces on the boot. The text is sharp and there are no flaws. Doing all of this in any kind of big production run would be demanding in the extreme.
“This company is going from strength to strength each year,” he said. Screen Printing Solutions owner Stephen Wallace said that the company’s plan was to be an industry leader.
“Lot of hours were involved, specially for test printing. We had a vision, we sat down with the customer to create a 3D print and eventually we combined three print technologies which was a mission and a half.
“The customer response is ‘we are just absolutely stoked’. The textile market is smaller than the rest of print, so to get people to brand their product by using shirts is awesome. The staff are wonderful. They’re committed.”
The Kicking Imprint tee-shirt was entered in the textiles section of the Specialty Products Category, which also included sections for limited edition and fine art prints, specialty finishing products, personal stationery and printed industrial products.
Display Print Category and Digital Process
A swatch display for Colorsteel panels has won the Display Print Category and Digital Process prize in the Pride In Print Awards for Auckland company Digital River Limited.
The display featured swatches of Colorsteel representing the different colours available of the product, which had to be perfectly aligned and mounted on a printed display board.
Digital River managing director Rex Lee paid tribute to his staff for the final product.
“Once you got started, you had to keep going and carry it off perfectly. The operators did so and produced a fantastic finish. The customer was delighted with the finished product,” he said.
Senior judge Ron Cuddy said the job was impressive. “The finishing on this piece is outstanding. The swatches are perfectly aligned and square. They achieved very good colour density and beautiful drop shadows, with perfect registration. This was a very difficult job to complete well, involving two passes through the printer and an enormous amount of work to get it set up perfectly.
“It was a brave task for the company to undertake,” he said. The Display Print Category featured banners, posters, showcards, billboards and applied graphics.
Labels Category
A minimalist wine label design that has “consumer appeal on the supermarket shelf” has taken out the Labels Category in the Pride In Print Awards for Auckland company Panprint.
The Tiki Sauvignon Blanc 2009 label impressed judges with its quality of finishing and was said by senior labels judge Mike Davis to have achieved true excellence in its production.
“Anything that goes to market with a label is relying on that label to make an impact on the shelves. Designers strive to make something look different and stand out.“This label may be minimalist to the first look, but it the cleverness is in the finishing. In terms of a print job the registration and embossing is as perfect as you can get,” said Mr Davis.
Panprint general manager John Lowther said that the minimalist design reflected where the New Zealand wine industry was at. “The New World wines are different from the Old World. The French and Italian labels are more elaborate. But this label had to be simple and capture the essence of New Zealand, hence the Tiki concept. The customer feedback we got was that it was exactly what they wanted. It will be a thrill to ring them and tell them they have won and award,” he said.
