What makes an award winning print project?
Every print project has something unique about it, whether it’s design, content or special printing effects. But what are the things that make a project really stand out from the rest? What are the award winning techniques organizations want that differentiate their project from others? We’ve broken it down into 4 categories:
1. Complexity
Packaging and unique product presentation are the intricate projects that require specialty designers and printers who have the capability to take on such projects. A good example of this is a project like Edgenuity. This project involved partnership on many levels between design and print in order to ensure the packaging included all of the necessary components like the custom USB drive, new student orientation book, and custom phone charger.
2. Substrate (what your project prints on):
Utilizing non-traditional substrates earns your project more appeal that printing on traditional paper stocks. For example, this DMB Realty Network project we worked on is another award winning piece in the non-hardbound category largely because of the substrate of the cover and the wonderful text pages. The cover acts more like a hardbound book with a fabric material that makes a statement when in your hands. Other popular substrates that produce amazing print projects include using aqueous coating – see an example of what we did for the Fiesta Bowl that produced impressive results.
3. Special Effects
Throwing in something like a unique foil stamp, die-cut feature, Non-traditional Binding style, clear raised ink…the ideas go on, but the point is that special effects provide something more to a print project compared to the usual.
For incredible examples of special effects, check out these projects:
– Die Cut: Arizona State University Greeting Card
– Foil Stamp: Casino Del Sol Invitation
– Non-traditional Binding: Phoenix Design Week Program
– Clear Raised Ink: Mellody Farm Brochure
4. Partnership
Award winning print projects are not possible to produce without lasting partnerships between all parties involved. The award winning projects we’ve produced have come from collaborating and working closely together with clients to achieve a shared goal of using the craft of printing to tell a story and create something tangible for the world to see.
Do you have a project that you’d like to talk about? Please contact us below to get started!