Perfection in Print

The 18th annual Gold Ink Awards honor the truly exceptional among more than 200 pieces submitted in the book categories.

As the weather heated up in the early part of June, so did the excitement around the offices of North American Publishing Co. (BookTech's parent) as judges from varied backgrounds in the graphic arts industry convened to judge the 18th annual Gold Ink Awards.

This year's judges had their work cut out for them as almost 1,500 entries were submitted into the competition, with 203 pieces entered into the eight book categories alone. Over the course of four days, the esteemed judges pored over an array of submissions in 50 categories, examining and debating the print quality of each one.

Before the start of the contest, the judges were given instructions to consider the difficulty of printing the given project, the quality of the material used, and how well the materials were manufactured and integrated. And above all, the judges were told, as difficult as it was, to award a single Gold, Silver and Bronze winner in each category, as well as Pewter awards for those that didn't take home a Gold, Silver or Bronze, but are exceptional in print quality and worthy of an award.

While the judges yielded a single Gold and Silver winner in each book category, they elected to award multiple Bronze winners in the "Books, Fine Editions," "Children's Books" and "Hardcover Books" categories, as the quality of submissions entered were just too great to settle on a single Bronze winner.

Some other submissions were clear-cut winners. For example, the Gold winner in the "Children's Book" category, "Jungle Gym Jitters," was chosen for its "subtle printing on an excellent sheet choice, [which] elevates this book to the level of fine art," said judge Charles Hames, production manager at New York University Press.