The 6th Asian Print Awards took place at the Shangri La Hotel in Singapore on the November 28th night, at a gathering of Asia’s leading print professionals and print manufacturers.
The event featured 20 awards with over 700 participants witnessing first hand the creme de la creme of Asian printers.
Paul Callaghan, Chairman of Asian Print Awards (APA) said, “Print is relevant to most businesses. Such a visual industry requires the recognition and support from its peer members to encourage higher standards and the continual pursuit of the highest possible quality. The event is a platform to showcase the works of even the most humble business alongside with the main industry players to allow a true exhibition of the capabilities present in Asia.
“The objectives set out by the Asian Print Awards are to recognise the best Asia has to offer in all areas of print and packaging production. ‘Achieving excellence’ and being awarded a medal is the ultimate accolade that Asian companies can strive for. To ensure the value of the awards, fair play is strictly enforced and entries are judged through coded entry numbers to guarantee that neutrality takes place.”
The 6th APA has always enjoyed strong support in the Asian print community from countries such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. This year there is also a huge influx of entries from Japan; an estimate of 250 more entries than the previous year as the awards gain more recognition in Asia. Winning gold at the APA took more on quality than before as jurors said that relevance and excellence were just basics for consideration. Entries have to ensure an element of precise print fineness to win gold.
“It must be remembered that this competition is judged on the quality of the print, it does not matter how fancy or clever a design may be or the number of processes used, the ultimate goal is to achieve print excellence,” said Alf Carrigan, chairman of the judging panel for APA.
This evening of celebration has covered all areas of print production, with special focuses on Platinum Sponsor Awards including: Best in digital colour proofing – Epson; Best use of the digital printing process – Fuji Xerox; Best application of creative colour – GMG, Best in Sheetfed offset – Heidelberg; Best in innovative printing – Kodak; Best in more than one production process – Phoenix Blankets; Environmental Printer Awards – technotrans; Best in web offset printing – UPM; and Best in packaging printing and converting processes – Bottcher Systems.