Judging print's bright superstars for PrintWeek India Awards 2010
The judges were clearly pleased by the overall quality of the 247 entries for Awards but the winning entries were truly distinctive, says Samir Lukka who was present at the Grand Hyatt on 31 July 2010
03 Aug 2010 | By Samir Lukka
 PRINTWEEK INDIA AWARDS JURY Sitting (L to R)
Standing (L to R)
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This year's shortlist includes the who's who of the Indian Print Industry like Comart Lithographers, Gopsons Papers, International Print-O-Pac, Jak Printers, Mail Order Solutions, Manipal Press, New Jack, Pragati Offset, Replika Press, Silverpoint Press, Spectrum Scan, Spenta Multimedia, Thomson Press and others.
"After the success of the inaugural awards last year we were keen to repeat the exercise. I am delighted to say that our sponsors were equally keen and so was the industry in terms of entries we have received," said Jim James, director at Haymarket Media India and publisher of PrintWeek India.
This year’s judging, held on 28 July 2010 at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai, had a 21-member strong jury that boasted of top management from corporates, design specialists from top advertising agencies and print specialists who considered 247 entries submitted by 91 printers in 24 categories.
Overall to start with, the sheer number of entries was marginally down then the previous years count the number of printers participating went up from 80 to 91.
"With the popularity of the awards growing, fierce competition was expected in all the categories. Printers knew that these awards have to be taken seriously," said James.
New set of judges
The jury panel followed the pattern of the inaugural Awards in 2009 which saw 23-members, but this time around there were new faces which added fresh perspective to the team of judges.
"That we were looking for print jobs worthy of the title is something that we considered while deciding on the jury. The jury that comprised to decide the winners are themselves role models and leaders capable of showing creativity and drive; and most significantly are contributing to the growth of markets for print in India," said James.
The informed and opinionated judges divided into four groups, closeted in different segmented areas during the day looked at the samples and with each of the entries, discussed and dialogued about which of the samples were good enough for getting an award.
Trending setting entries
With the green shoots of global economic revival in sight, one could see renewed optimism in print, packaging, converting and signage industry. This was aptly reflected in almost all the entries that were received.
Among the quality categories, the Packaging, the Book Printer, and Brochure categories were more heavily subscribed, which shows that these are the growing area of interest for the printers.
Karan Arora, who judged the Innovation and Social Stationery categories, said: "The samples that I evaluated were not only extremely attractive, but also highly innovative and the ideas exceptional, out of the ordinary. The entries truly had an international flair to it."
Mukund Moghe, who judged the Packaging category, said: "I liked most of the jobs, and in particular the treatment of the design and the consistency of print that went with it."
The judges were overwhelmed after judging the work of Indian printers. Dipti Nagpaul-D’Souza, sr features writer, Indian Express: "It was exciting to see awe-inspiring quality, but it was not an easy task to choose winners, for every entry clearly demonstrated work full of ideas, creativity and skill, underlining the increased standards of innovation and excellence in Indian print."
Click here to see the shortlist for six categories in Performance Awards
Click here to see the shortlist for 18 categories in Quality Awards
Click here to see the photogallery of the Judging Day on 28 July 2010
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