2008 PICA Victoria Diamond Award Winners

On a sparkling Spring evening in Melbourne, there are few places more pleasant than the deck of Carousel, looking out over the Albert Park Lake towards the city skyline, and it was against this backdrop that this year’s Victorian PICA Awards were set.
Commencing with drinks on the deck, the Awards night had a more relaxed feel than most, with the 350 guests given plenty of opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues which, as we all know, is one of the primary pleasures in such evenings.
The main point, however, is the opportunity to celebrate excellence and here again PICA Victoria delivered, with a classy and streamlined presentation ceremony.

Hosted by the delightful and gracious Gorgi Quill, the business end of the evening saw 29 Diamond, 30 Emerald and 29 Ruby Awards announced, together with two special awards and three major sponsor awards.

Without a doubt, the night’s biggest winner was Bambra Press, with the company’s John Wanless carrying home three classy Diamond Awards and the Heidelberg Award for Excellence in Craft, presented to him by Shane Hanlon from Heidelberg. The winning job, “Rhodes and Beckett, Summer 08”, was selected by Heidelberg representatives from all the night’s Diamond Award
Joining Bambra Press on the winners’ podium were numerous other multiple Diamond winners – Manark Printing and Toth Bienk, who also won three Diamonds each, and PMP Print, Eastern Press, Courtney, Hannanprint and Finsbury Green, who all won two.

Other winners included Geon Group Melbourne, Printgraphics, Adams Print, Blue Star Print Group, Redlabels, Energi Print, Aperio Finewrap Division (Oakleigh), STS Creative Printing, Whites Law Bindery and Avon Graphics, which took out the Embellishment category.

Brian Longmore from Spicers Paper, presented the Paperlinx Award for the Best Designed Entry, to Neil Lynch from Geon Group, for the company’s “Hayball Brochure”, while Mark Bennett collected the Agfa Award for the Most Innovative Use of Imaging in Printing from Agfa’s Garry Muratore, on behalf of Energi Print, for that company’s “ANZAC – Beersheeba – Israel Minisheet” for Australia Post.

Again, each of these entries was selected by a team from the sponsor company from all appropriate entries.
Two special awards were also presented on the night. Spectra Litho was named as best Small Printing Business with Less than 10 Staff while the Paper Round Environmental Award was taken out by Finsbury Green for its consistently high environmental standards and initiatives.

Worthy of mention is the message from Bernard Cassell, there with his Australasian Paper Industry Association (APIA) hat on, who exhorted the assembled crowd to take every opportunity to spruik the benefits of print to their clients, colleagues and the general public, and to vigorously challenge the many misconceptions about the industry’s environmental performance – a message which, he pointed out, is more important than ever in today’s more challenging and competitive environment.
The night also saw first year apprentice Tess O’Donoghue presented with the inaugural PICA Victoria Apprentice Encouragement Award, sponsored by the Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development. Launched this year, the Award is for the most outstanding first year graphic arts apprentice at RMIT University in Melbourne, as judged by teaching staff there, and was presented by Bob McCulloch from DIIRD.

With a record number of entries to present, it is pleasing to say that crowd noise during the presentations was at an absolute minimum, due in no small part to the charm of Gorgi Quill and, perhaps, to the more intimate feel of the venue which allowed all attendees an ‘up close and personal’ view of proceedings.

Importantly, the celebration gave guests the chance to throw off, for a few hours, the shadows cast by the financial crisis, the falling Aussie dollar, and bleak economic outlooks.

Once the business end of proceedings was over, they took up that opportunity with gusto, kicking up their heels to the sounds of ten-piece band Dejavu, or enjoying another couple of drinks while taking in the twinkling lights of the city reflected in the lake.
As PICA Victoria Chairman, Trevor Hone, said, “it is a chance to take time out from our efforts, to reflect on what we have achieved, and to celebrate our industry, before getting back to making a living on Monday.”

These awards, he pointed out, were just the second PICA Awards held in Melbourne for more than two decades, and the first in a new format which ties in more closely with the National Print Awards.

“All Diamond Award winning entries from these PICA Awards will be entered in the new National Print Awards ‘Best of the Best’ competition next year, and the quality we have seen tonight gives us every reason to be confident of an excellent outcome for Victoria in those Awards,” he says.

“Once again, the PICA Awards has demonstrated just what our industry is capable of – excellence of the very highest degree. It is something to be proud of as an industry, and a very compelling reason to have confidence in the future and to look forward to the NPA celebration at the conclusion of PacPrint next year.”

The following Special Awards were also made:

AGFA AWARD for the most innovative use of imaging in printing
Awarded to Energi Print for ANZAC – Beersheba – Israel Minisheet

PAPERLINX AWARD for best designed entry
Awarded to Geon Group for Hayball Brochure

HEIDELBERG AWARD for Excellence in Craft
Awarded to Bambra Press for Rhodes and Beckett Summer 08