LFP - Large-Format-Printing

Expert Jury For FESPA Digital Print Awards 2009 Reviews In Over 200 Entries

The Jury for the FESPA Digital Print Awards 2009 met in March in Amsterdam to review more than 200 entries to the Awards from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Winners will be announced at FESPA Digital 2009 in Amsterdam (12th – 14th May 2009). The jury, from left to right: Alain Vermeire, Grafisch Niews/Nouvelles Graphiques/M&C; Chris Hare, Gyro International; Barney Cox,PrintWeek/PrintingWorld/printweek.com (front); Uwe Heinisch, SIP (back); Bas Schuring, PK Media BV (back); Toob Alers, Buro Toob BV (front); Nigel Steffens, FESPA (back); Christian Duyckaerts, Print & Display(front); Michael Seidl Print & Publishing (back),; Agustin Torres, ProDigit@l (front); Lorenzo Villa, Italia Publishers/Large Format.

Wednesday 25. March 2009 - The independent jury for the third FESPA Digital Print Awards, met in Amsterdam in March to assess more than 200 entries from printers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

This year entries for the awards were submitted in six application categories: Exterior; Interior; Fine Art; Packaging & Manufactured Goods; Textile; and Vehicle.

Christian Duyckaerts, FESPA board member and owner of market-leading Belgian print service provider, Print & Display, chaired the jury session. A team of 10 other expert jurors helped to determine the award Category Winners and the overall Platinum Winner (see photo caption for details of all jurors).

Christian Duyckaerts comments: “The originality behind many of this year’s entries was striking. With jurors from various printing and media backgrounds and representing 7 countries, many of the entries sparked interesting debates about creativity and marketing value. Based on the submissions, we can see a clear evolution in the use of digital printing applications, particularly in decoration, architecture, retail and fashion. The FESPA Digital Print Awards are an excellent way of raising awareness and challenging the market with new concepts that strive to create the most added-value for customers.”

Juror Uwe Heinisch, editor-in-chief of German publication SIP expands this point: “This year we have seen a dramatic increase in the quality of entries for the Textile and Fine Art Categories. This is a clear reflection of the improvement in digital textile printing technology, which has enabled printers to expand their capability, highlighting the growing importance of digital textile printing in the market.”

Bas Schuring, juror and Production Manager at PK Media in The Netherlands, winner of the 2008 FESPA Digital Print Awards for the Interior Category and the 2007 Digital Print Award ‘Gold’ winner for the Benelux region comments: “The creativity and the high quality of the entries were very impressive. The possibilities with digital printing are vast, but the biggest challenge we face as printers is thinking up an inventive idea and devising a viable solution. I’m sure the winning entries will inspire other printers to be more creative and impress their clients – some of this year’s submissions have certainly given me a number of ideas and things that I can’t wait to try at PK Media.”

The six Category Winners and the overall Platinum Winner will be announced at FESPA Digital 2009 in Amsterdam (12-14th May 2009). The images of the winning entries will be displayed on a dedicated stand (C160) in Hall 6 at the RAI Exhibition Centre.

FESPA CEO Nigel Steffens concludes: “We are pleased to witness the ongoing improvement in the calibre of entries for each FESPA Digital Print Awards competition. We see enthusiastic printers constantly pushing the creative limits and revolutionising their businesses by gaining expertise in new application areas. We are delighted once again by the feedback that we’ve received from the print community across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and we’re sure that the display of winning entries at the show in Amsterdam will be an inspiration for our global community of printers.”