Judging took place over two days at Printing Industries‘ Melbourne headquarters, with the competition embarking on its first year in a ‘best of the best’ format.

“This year’s entries represent the best produced in each State and Territory during the competition year,” said NPA chairman of judges Rod Urquhart. “The new NPA format means every entry in your local competition automatically has the chance to be judged as the best in the national arena.”

“2008/2009 is a transitional year for the Awards, and it was not possible to fully align competition categories and dates across all States and Territories in one NPA year. This means we did not get a full complement of entries from some areas, but now that the new format is fully in place, categories in all State PICAs will be coordinated by next year.”

82 medals – 28 gold, 29 silver and 25 bronze – were awarded from a total of 208 entries, with Urquhart describing the task as “as tough as ever”.

“It is a constant challenge to judge the ‘most perfect’ from a series of ‘near perfect’ entries, and this year has been no exception,” he said. “Overall, quality standards continue to improve while the number of flaws decreases – often the final selection comes down to the tiniest detail, so every entrant can be very proud of what they have achieved and of the role they are playing in raising standards in the Australian industry.”

Tickets for the NPA Presentation Dinner are available by calling the National Print Awards office on (03) 8541 7333 or emailing printawards@printnet.com.au.

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