On Friday the team celebrated excellence in our field at the 2022 Pride in Print Awards with the best in the industry from around the country. We netted 8 golds and 10 highly commended awards, including the prestigious business award for sustainability. We have also now reached a grand total of 50 Pride in Print Awards!
The business awards are intended to highlight the businesses that are driving the future of the print industry. We have done a lot of work when it comes to print and sustainability, and we’re excited by what the combined offering from the recent merge will further achieve in our sustainable practices.
The judges commented on Soar’s long-standing commitment to sustainability, the breadth of the actions taken across the business to achieve our goals and the positive outcomes this has had for the company, our customers and the environment.
Winning a gold medal in the Publications category was Dwelling in the Margins by Katie Kerr’s GLORIA Books.
A 318 PUR bound jacketed- cover book that captures the essence of art book publishing. This highly experimental book required weeks of personal input and obsessive checking of substrates and print process from all angles. We recognise that this type of job is an opportunity to demonstrate our prowess with the most challenging types of print and finishing processes.
“I wanted to create a ductile jacket that wrapped around the book like vinyl. The book is small in size but bold in thought, so the cover needed to be really vibrant to reflect that. Screen-printing allowed us to print a canary yellow ink onto vinyl-like paper. It was an experimental process, but one worthy of a book on art publishing,” says Katie.
Publications that received Highly Commended were;
Bride & Groom Magazine Summer 21/22
MAS Centenary Book
BTW – Whau the people
Piki Toi
In the Business Print category we won a gold medal for the BLIA New Zealand Annual Report.
Not just your average annual report, the International Buddhist Temple of New Zealand chose 270gsm Mohawk felt cover stock in pure white by BJ Ball which gives the painterly cover image a textured feel.
Highly Commended in the Business Print category were;
Barfoot & Thompson May Insite catalogue
University of Auckland Annual report to Donors
Winning Gold in the labels category was Carbon 6ix Takapuna Gin – dark chocolate label.
Expertly executed by our team at Rocket Print, these stunning labels have been finished with a rough touch laminate, offering their consumer sensory engagement with the packaging – a great way to differentiate your product on the shelf.
Receiving highly commended awards for the labels category were;
Culley’s King Pin Exotic Pork Rub
Culley’s Fire Water
Madam’s Sriracha – Culley’s x Madam Woo
Receiving gold in the Paper & Board Packaging category was the Good George Wood Pecker Gin box.
Created as their Father’s Day special edition Big Pecker Barrel Aged Gin. This packaging was one of the first collaborations between ICG and Soar Print following the announcement of the merge. We went to great lengths to create the packaging using PMS metallic gold ink and spot UV over gloss with an anti-scuff laminate to give this beautifully designed box a point of difference.
Winning gold for Print Finishing and Highly Commended for publications was Piki Toi.
This publication was written and produced through a partnership between Lifewise Trust, Unitec Institute of Technology, Waitemata Local Board, and Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa. The stunning casebound book was expertly foiled back, front, and spine by The Book Binding Press with Kurz foil metallic red. The cover image is printed on a clear acrylic dust jacket, designed to create the contrast between text block and the clear-cut acrylic cover.
Another gold win for Print Finishing as well as Paper & Board Packaging was the Kaupapa Board Game.
Opting for sustainable materials and eco-friendly printing processes, it was important to Kura Rehia to support our local economy and make sustainable choices with Papatuanuku in mind. Because of this, the creators chose Colorplan card in Vermillion Red for their internal packaging which is a 100% recycled and eco-friendly premium paper stock which was then embellished with a metallic red foil. The outer box was screen-printed on E4 Flute Kraft stock.
Also receiving a highly commended for Print Finishing was:
Clark Coastals catalogue by Summerset.
For us, the print awards are all about the ongoing investment we make in keeping our people sharp. ‘Craft & Pride’ is one of our core values, so this is an important validation.
If you’d like to pick our brains about your next print job, feel free to drop us a line on 09 360 5700.