Australian print companies Body of Work and Offset Alpine have scooped 14 awards between them at the 2015 Premier Print Awards gala in Chicago, USA. The Printing Industries of America Premier (PIA) Print Awards gives recognition to the highest quality printed products from around the globe, with its highest honour, the Benny statue, going to the best of the best. The competition, held at the Chicago Marriot last week, attracted some 2400 entries from countries around the world. Aussie photography and print house Body of Work scored 13 Benny awards and a special silver award as well as 21 second prizes and five third from a total of 39 entries.
Winners: (l-r) Hannah Fraser, model; Bob Armstrong, Body of Work creative director; Juan Rivas, Mexican print mogul; Naomi Lindsay, model
Body of Work has now won 51 Bennys in just four years, and a total of 208 international awards for design, photography and print since 2006. Speaking with Australian Printer, Bob Armstrong, Body of Work creative director, says this year’s award night was the most impactful of all the previous ceremonies he has attended. Armstrong says, “Normally, they call out the awards one by one in each category but this year they called us up on the stage and presented all the awards in a row. The whole room was buzzing with applause and at the end we got a standing ovation, so this year it was great.” He says while Body of Work has won several international awards they have not meant a great deal in Australia. Armstrong says, “No one knows about the awards here. We are known more overseas for the work we do than here. “But now we are going to launch a marketing campaign to get the benefits of being a world renowned company in Australia. “We won more awards than anyone else this year – more than the Chinese, who won eight and the Mexicans, who won four awards.” He says while the company has not reaped the benefits of winning awards in monetary terms it does however prove that the products are endorsed by the industry. Armstrong says, “Body of Work is a bespoke product and with all bespoke products it must be endorsed as best of breed. It is essential in developing a bespoke product that it be continually benchmarked and the Premier Print Awards is the ultimate international benchmark. “The chairman said that the PIA had never before seen anything like Body of Work. However benchmarking alone is not sufficient now comes the hard marketing of an exclusive, expensive product. “Several years ago we were faced with the decision to go cheaper or go better – we chose to go better and this is the result. But after 51 Bennys we are only just starting the adventure.” 
Offset Alpine was the other Australian print company that won one award in the Booklet or Brochure series for its work with iconic Australian swimwear label Seafolly. Michael Bartlett, Offset Alpine general manager, says: “It’s an honor to be recognized by the international industry as a company that produces award-winning print. “As part of IPMG, we are always striving to achieve world’s best and thrive when working with like-minded clients such as Seafolly.” Michael Makin, president and CEO of Printing Industries of America, says: “The Benny winners represent the best our industry has to offer. “This year’s entries were outstanding. There were entries from companies in eight countries. Despite the fierce competition, Australian company Offset Alpine Printing, through hard work and dedicated craftsmanship, produced a series worthy of the Benny.”
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