Gold Ink Awards

Now in its 21st year, the Gold Ink Awards call attention to the print industry’s finest projects. 2008 was no exception, as North American Publishing Co. (NAPCO; parent company of both the Gold Ink Awards and Book Business) received more than 1,400 entries for this year’s competition. As always, a talented team of judges hailing from diverse backgrounds across the industry poured through the submissions, awarding Gold, Silver, Bronze and Pewter honors in 46 categories. In all, 488 entries were selected for awards.

Nearly two-dozen judges sorted and sifted through the finest print pieces, submitted by publishers and printers alike, over the course of four days in June at NAPCO’s Philadelphia headquarters. A few first-time judges joined the process this year, including Russ Gazzara, president of Warkulwiz Design Associates, who points to the awards’ lofty place within the industry as cause for his participation.

“I think the Gold Ink Awards help our industry in a few very important ways,” he says. “Most of all, they provide a valuable reality check to both printers and designers alike. And they help preserve quality standards by providing tangible examples of the creativity, technology and craftsmanship that define the very best collaborators in the graphic arts.”

Gazzara says he and his fellow judges often found it difficult to settle on just one Gold winner in a category.

“This year’s submissions were not always about big budgets and fancy techniques—many of the winning entries simply stood out by the way they communicated more with less, and how the combination of presswork, paper and finishing came together successfully to enhance the concept, design and, most of all, the … [entry’s] message,” he adds.

“This year’s submissions displayed an impressive range of aesthetic charm and top-notch production values, from the clever and complex to the simple yet elegant,” says Gold Ink judge John McGurk, production manager at Quirk Books.