The Printing Industries Association of Australia (PIAA) has brought on a panel of international print experts to judge the National Print Awards, Sprinter can exclusively reveal.

As chief executive officer Andrew Macaulay explains, the goal is to raise the standard of the NPAs to meet a truly global benchmark. 

The judging process for the National Print Awards, which consists of the winners of the state-based Printing Industry Creativity Awards (PICAs), will involve a points-based system with technical, creative, and commercial outcomes that must be met. For awards where no entrants secure enough points to meet the bar, there is no Gold awarded.

Macaulay adds, “We will be releasing the judges’ notes to those who compete, so that they can see where they can improve and where they excelled. It is about helping printers, the winners of the NPAs can then go to their customers and say, ‘We have the world’s best standards, that is the process we have been through’.

“One of those judges is a highly respected individual from Japan, who came to us through a Japanese printing federation, which we have been collaborating with on other projects including sustainability,” he says. 

The judges come from high-technology, innovative markets, including Japan, Singapore, and New Zealand.

“Two are regarded internationally as experts in their field, and have operated in Europe and the US for decades,” Macaulay says.

“They are the ducks’ guts, they provide real expertise.”

While the names of the judges are still under wraps due to an agreement, all is set to be revealed at PrintEx, taking place August 13-16.

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