Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, 16 August 2012
Print excellence was celebrated at the 2012 Sappi African Printers of the Year event held in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg on 16 August 2012. The event highlighted Sappi’s philosophy and tagline Inspired by life. The theme was emphasised by Chief Executive Officer Sappi Southern Africa, Alex Thiel: “Tonight’s celebration of excellence is not just about patting each other on the back – it is about inspired print that is vital to show paper’s best characteristics. Few alternatives can stand up to paper’s ability to enthral, to entice and to connect physically and emotionally with the reader.”
A total of 200 entries, in 11 categories, were received from the Africa and Indian Ocean Island region. After a rigorous two days of judging, 10 Gold awards, 19 Silver awards and 33 Bronze award winners were selected.
The gold award winners will represent the Africa region at the 2012 Sappi International Printers of the Year awards, the ‘Oscars’ of print, in September, where they will compete against the gold award winners from North America, Europe and the Sappi Trading region (including Central and South America, Asia and Australasia).
The independent panel of judging experts consisted of Mike Lumb (Mike Lumb Consulting), Neill Moross (Troika Imagineering Works), Erich Kühl (Erich Kühl Consulting), Cynthia Morton (Paarl Media Paarl) and Lucrezia Wolfaardt (New Media).
The judges commented that overall the quality of the entries was excellent with good use of challenging techniques on the selected substrates which enhanced the visual appeal of the publications and the consistent use of colour and varnishing applied in the winning entries.
Alex Thiel further commented: “Your work is an inspiration to all of us in the industry, whether we are your suppliers, your customers, your peers – but most importantly your work inspires the intended target audiences and moves them to action.” Thiel also explained how Sappi’s recent restructuring was geared to ensure staying relevant to customers, providing them with products that would enhance their businesses and ultimately sustainability and profitability for them and for Sappi.
2012 Award winners
Gold award winners:
Annual Reports – Colors for Thrip Annual and Impact reports
Books – Ultra Litho for ‘Focused’
Brochures – Ultra Litho for ‘the new Audi A6’
Calendars – Multiprint Litho for ‘Eskom 2011’
Catalogues – Kolorgraphix for ‘DairyBelle – have a ding dong day’
Digital Print – Précigraph (Mauritius) for ‘Double Regard’
General Print – Multiprint Litho for ‘The imaginarium of extraordinary ideas’
Magazine Sheetfed – Graphica (Réunion) for ‘Buz Buz’
Magazine Web – Uniprint for ‘Mitshubishi Xplore Issue 19’
Printer’s Own Promotion – House of Print for ‘House of Print’
Silver award winners:
Associated Printing Group in the Brochures category
Atlas Printers in the Catalogues category
Bhubezi Printers in the General Print category
Colors in the General Print category
Graphica (Réunion) in the Digital Print and Magazines Sheetfed categories
Impremerie & Papeterie Commerciale (Mauritius) in the Magazines Sheetfed and Printer’s Own Promotion categories
Ince in the Annual Report category
Pro Print in the Catalogues category
RA Print in the Calendars category
Trident Press in the Books, Brochures and Calendars categories
Ultra Litho in the Books and Catalogues categories
Bronze award winners:
24 Hour Photobooks in the Digital Print category
Atlas Printers in the Calendars and General Print categories
Business Print in the Annual Report category
Colors in the Brochures and General Print categories
Fishwicks Printers in the Brochures, Catalogues and Printer’s Own Promotion categories
Graphica (Réunion) in the Digital Print and Magazines Sheetfed categories
Hansa Print in the Catalogues category
Hirt & Carter in the Calendars category
Impremerie & Papeterie Commerciale (Mauritius) in the Books category
Ince in the Annual Report category
Intrepid Printers in the Magazines Sheetfed category
Multiprint Litho in the Books, Brochures and General Print categories
Paarl Media KZN in the Magazines Web category
Précigraph (Mauritius) in the Annual Reports and Books categories
Pro Print in the General Print category
RA Print in the Brochures and Catalogues categories
Shumani Printers in the Digital Print category
Trident Press in the Annual Report and Calendars categories
Ultra Litho in the Catalogues category
Uniprint in the Magazines Web category
Further information and photographs of the award winners and the event will be available onhttp://www.sappi.com/regions/sa/SupportAndSponsorships/SappiPrintersoftheYear/
ENDS
About Sappi
Sappi Southern Africa is inspired to create, develop and market products that are sustainable and relevant to our customers. All of our products originate from a renewable resource – woodfibre. We are the world’s largest producer and exporter of chemical cellulose which is used to make clothing and a wide range of health, food, beauty and industrial products. We produce newsprint, coated and uncoated fine papers speciality papers, cardboard boxing and durable packaging papers. Sappi supplies 70% of our own woodfibre requirements, all of which is Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™) and ISO 9000 certified. 150,000 hectares of our land is conserved for natural habitat and biodiversity protection. Sappi Southern Africa is a division of Sappi Limited (JSE: SAP; NYSE:SPP) a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with over 14,500 employees, manufacturing operations on four continents and customers in over 100 countries worldwide. More at www.sappi.com
About Sappi Printers of the Year
The Sappi Printers of the Year Awards are the world’s most prestigious accolades of excellence in print. The competition enables printers from around the globe to test themselves against not only the best in their respective regions, but also against the best printers globally. In a world where the average or the mediocre is too often accepted, print excellence adds demonstrable value to the communication efforts of the client. Printers compete regionally (Africa; Europe; North America; Trading (rest of the world)) for bronze, silver and gold awards across 11 categories (Annual Reports; Books; Brochures; Calendars; Catalogues; Digital Print; General Print; Magazines Sheetfed; Magazines Web; Packaging and Labels; Printer’s Own Promotion). Regional gold award winners compete against each other in their respective categories for the title of international winner and are judged by an independent panel of international judges, ensuring impartiality and the broadest spectrum of technical expertise in print. Each entry is judged on overall appearance, quality of finishing and 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. The awards recognise, reward and honour the printers’ craftsmanship and attention to their work. Each international winner receives a coveted cast-bronze elephant trophy created by world-renowned sculptor Donald Greig, symbolising Sappi’s South African heritage. The international awards are traditionally announced at the end of September. The Sappi Printers of the Year Awards originated in Africa over 30 years ago, and was introduced in Europe 19 years ago, in North America 15 years ago and in the Trading region 12 years ago. Further information regarding the competition, past winners, judging criteria and how to enter can be found at http://www.sappi.com/regions/sa/SupportAndSponsorships/SappiPrintersoftheYear/Pages/default.aspx
For further information
Madelaine Fourie
Communications Manager: Brand Management
Sappi Limited
Tel +27 (0)11 407 8190
Fax +27 (0)11 403 8236
Madelaine.Fourie@sappi.com
