Here Comes the Judge
I had the opportunity to head out to Phoenix at the end of last week to take part once again as a judge in the MACtac Awards program, judging the North American entries. Apart from loving the warmth of Arizona when it was about 10 degrees back home in New York, it’s always a pleasure to do something fun like this.
There were more entries this year than there were two years ago and I have to say that there were some really great entries into the contest. From vehicle and fleet graphics, to interiors (lots of home décor applications which were very cool) and outdoor applications, the entries covered it all.
It’s always so interesting—to me at least—to be able to see what shops can do with the materials and the equipment they’re given. They might be working with their own in-house design department or an ad agency, but they still have to make the project work and make the client happy with the finished product. The graphic has to be able to effectively communicate the advertising message. It needs to be visually appealing without being too busy. It needs to be installed well. It needs to be functional. It needs to made sense in terms of venue and audience. If it’s a great graphic but it reaches the wrong people, the project isn’t a success because it failed its primary purpose.
Bottom line: It needs to work.
Most, if not all, of the entries in the MACtac Awards worked—which made it equally difficult to judge them. But then, that’s where all the fun is.
Coming up in the next few months in addition to the travel, I have the honor and pleasure to be a part of a new Awards program sponsored by Oce North America. The “Green Reprographer of the Year” award will be announced on May 14, and will recognize the print-for-pay reprographer who has made the most compelling strides to incorporate environmentally conscious practices into its business operations. For more info, make sure you click over to the website http://www.oceusa.com/greenreproaward.
And this award is in addition to Wide-Format Imaging’s own Reprographic Shop of the Year award that we’ll present at the IRgA convention in May. We’re looking forward to wading through all of the nominations (due March 19th!). You can find more on the Awards here: http://www.wide-formatimaging.com/web/online/Industry-NewsTrends/Wide-Format-Imaging-Announces-Call-for-Entries/1$2462. A PDF nomination form is available on the website or in the March issue.
Also, next week—courtesy of HP—I’ll be winging my way to Israel for HP’s pre-drupa briefing and I was asked to be a special guest blogger on the HP website regarding my thoughts on the announcements planned for this special pre-show press conference. I’ll be sure to share my comments here as well.