Good news has been a bit thin on the ground of late, what with the stresses and strains of an annoying pandemic to deal with, winning the big gong at New Zealand’s premier print competition has come as a welcome boost.
What did we win?
The Flex Media Group of companies (City Print, Wakefields Digital, and Uview) have won the highest accolade in our industry by taking out the Supreme Award in the 2021 New Zealand Pride In Print Awards, announced on Friday 25 June in Auckland.
The winning entry was a book called Christchurch Town Hall: A Conservation Story. It covers the refurbishment of the Christchurch Town Hall from 2015 to 2019. The pictures were taken by award-winning photographer, Olivia Spencer-Bower. She documented the project from start to finish, recording the transformation of this heritage building from its earthquake-damaged condition into a fully repaired venue for the performing arts. Spencer-Bower supplemented her monthly records with time-lapse photos from cameras located at strategic points around the complex.
Judges’ comments
Pride In Print judges said the glossy, limited edition, hand-finished, case-bound book “blew them away” with its craftsmanship and perfect centre spreads throughout. Johnny McHarg, for example, said, “The stunning photography in the book and the number of centre spreads, or crossovers that had been perfectly executed, was astounding. The complexity of these crossovers, and there are so many of them, that are 100 per cent perfect is very difficult to achieve. Some of them are next level.”
“This is a standout entry and miles ahead of every other print finishing job that we looked at. It is spectacular.” Another judge, Steve Watson, called the book a thing of beauty. He said, “What blew us away when we started going through the book (at judging) were those crossovers. A lot of them were like a single leaf, all the way through the book.
“The book is tightly sewn, which allows the line-ups and folding to give that effect, which came in page after page. Most judges have seen thousands of crossovers in their careers but never anything like the quality of this. This book is special.”
It’s ironic that we weren’t able to attend the Auckland prize giving due to Alert Level 2 in Wellington. That aside, I think the final product is truly a work of art. It’s the alignment of the plant with the skills and experience of all our team members working together – from account management to production staff who “work under the bonnet” that makes this type of result possible.
I know the same culture and passion is behind a simple run of 100 business cards, point of sale packaging, or a direct mail campaign with 100,000 pieces.
As our strapline goes, “Delivering quality and value in everything we do.”
