Entries under spotlight on Awards judgement day

Sridhar Kondiparthi (Pops), national creative director, Leo Burnett said, “Printers are converging and integrating number of innovative printing technologies and tricks to produce finest quality jobs that were once thought to be an impossible task.”

Kiran Prayagi, chairman, PM India and GATE too felt that the Indian print industry has matured enough to make use of the modern technologies that are available to them.


Innovative use of media

Few of the jury members felt that the printers and brands have slowly started moving beyond the use of Met Pet and varnishes. Yogesh Bambal was particularly impressed with a print sample submitted in the Packaging Convertor of the Year and felt that printers should connect with the consumers on an aesthetic level to produce more appealing print jobs. Praising its design he said, “The lenticular effect used on the sample was not only shelf-appealing but also doubled as an anti-counterfeiting option.”

 

Soma Roy, packaging executive - quality, Marico who was also part of last year’s jury panel of the PrintWeek India Awards felt that gold on gold, innovative usage of varnishes to infuse life to the print and breakthrough designs such as packaging of rice were few of the things that caught her eye.

 

Seconding Roy’s views, Hemal Kapadia, founder and design director, Olive Design said, “Sometime technology drives a designer and other times technology is created or tweaked to include the vision of certain design. Printing is not limited to paper and paper boards, new media have been used quite effectively to break through the clutter.”

 

Need to collaborate

Karan Rawat, executive creative director, Grey, felt that several entries could have become excellent pieces of communication if they had got the design elements right.  “This clearly illustrates how most advertising agencies have forgotten how to optimise one of the oldest forms of communication,” he said. The jury also felt that the printers and communication agencies need to collaborate more often to produce innovative designs that not only hold an aesthetic value but are also leave a lasting impact.

 

The Jury Day ended after the jury spent hours painstakingly checking each and every sample. After all, it takes a lot to be different from the crowd. And those who successfully did will receive the ultimate recognition in print excellence when PrintWeek India 2012 Awards will unveil the winners in each category.


Feedback from the jury
Jayshree Joshi, programme office, Goethe Institute/ Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai

Print is related to everyone and this is like print job showroom where you can get plenty of jobs with technical details and assistance. It’s like universe where you live for your entire life but when you explore, it amazes you. The entire selection of the processes and materials is fantastic. But some printers really need to improve in finishing and selection of media.

 

Pronoti Datta, assistant editor, Times of India, Mumbai
To judge these samples was a really a tough but interesting job. I am impressed with the layout and design especially of those samples which i felt were outsourced to specialist design studios. The samples with loud colour and designs were really eye-catchy and lively. Printers and manufacturers have taken care of minute details during finishing.

 

Vijay Sampath, chief executive officer, ACK Media

I judged each and every sample alone because did not want to get influenced my feelings and views by anyone. Printers must send their entries with appropriate sample for right entry. Consistent print quality in long run jobs is really a matter of concern.

 

KV Sridhar, national creative director, Leo Burnett

These are fine examples of the kind of printing work that is possible even in India. I was amazed at some of the customised printing opportunities available in the country. We have all seen the personalised calendars and diaries, but the opportunities are galore, and as agencies we need to look at using these for our clients.

 

Paulose Parakkadan, operations director, r-pac India

Awards are very crucial in keeping the industry dynamic and help set up benchmarks for the industry to achieve. I was very impressed by some of the packaging samples in Point of Purchase category which were based on corrugated material and targeted the retail industry.

 

Ashwini Ashish Deshpande, founder director and design practice head, Elephant Design

I witnessed a lot of variation in the usage of media. Printing is no longer limited to the conventional mediums such as paper and paperboard. Ribbons, cushions, mini-bar prototypes were few among the interesting innovations I saw.