Print Week Awards 2011

2010 Winner

Pureprint Group

Commended
Northend Creative Print Solutions

Finalists
Empress Litho
Granite
Hampton Printing (Bristol)
Northend Creative Print Solutions
Pureprint Group
St Ives Westerham Press

To see further details on the 2010 winner and commended please click here

The book sector has been through a challenging time in recent years but, while UK-produced books may be under attack from cheaper imports and digital editions, the value of home-produced, beautifully printed and bound books remains undiminished. Books printed in the UK are renowned for their quality across the globe, and this award celebrates all that is great about UK book printing.

Judges will be looking for the highest quality of printing married to precision in binding. Books printed sheetfed or digitally may be entered and judges will take into account the production implications of each technology. Here the judges are looking at the quality of the work produced. All entries need to include a single copy example of four different books either case bound or paperback or both. Each entry will consist of an entry form, four different books printed since 1 July 2010 and a 250-word production summary for each sample. If any part of the job was produced by a different company, for example a special finish – remember to credit the company that undertook it. Also, because the finishing of the books is of critical importance in this category, where the binding has not been done in-house the trade bindery/ies used must be declared on the production sheet.

1 Entries must be commercial production runs and must have been printed or produced since 1 July 2010.

2 Please submit your 250-word summary for each of the four samples submitted on a separate sheet of paper. Please do not supply on letterheaded paper. Note: Entries without this summary may be marked down accordingly.

3 Any entry that does not comply with category criteria may be disqualified. Please supply only the number of samples requested.

4 You may enter as many different categories as you wish, however, you may only enter the same category once.

5 All material should be clearly labelled. If you enter the same jobs in more than one category, we will need a full set of examples and supporting material for each category entered.

6 The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

7 Confidentiality: all material will remain confidential to the judges, but winning case studies may be written up and published in PrintWeek based on the material provided. If the work entered is under embargo, the embargo must expire before 17 October 2011 (unless special dispensation is agreed prior to entry – contact event manager Kate Collins for more information - 020 8267 8188/kate.collins@haymarket.com). 

8 All entrants must be registered companies in the UK and all work entered must have been produced in the UK.

9 The entrant must have been consistently trading solvently since 1 July 2009.

Please note; Whilst every care is taken with entries, PrintWeek and Haymarket Media Group cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage, whatever the cause. Please pack your entries carefully so that they arrive in good condition.

Entries will not be returned. They will be held until 4 November 2011 for you to arrange collection. Contact the Awards team on 020 8267 4312 to arrange. Please make sure you indicate on your entry form if you wish to collect your entries.

Remember to enter the best examples of each of the four different books; samples that are damaged or have imperfections will be marked down – this award focuses on production excellence after all.

Remember that the quality of the binding has equally importance to the quality of print in this category.

Use your 250-word production summary for each of the four books not only to detail the equipment used to produce each stage of the job, but also highlight any challenges you faced to produce it, for example tight turnaround times, working closely with external suppliers, difficult substrates or simply the demanding nature of the client.

While fine art books may make up part of the entry in this category, if all of the books submitted fall into the fine art category you should probably consider entering the Fine Art Printer of the Year category instead.

Client testimonials are always helpful.

• Three copies of the completed entry form
• Four different books
• Three copies of each of your four 250-word summaries