GAA announces winners of the 2008 Golden Cylinder Awards

At gala ceremonies on September 10, the Gravure Association of America bestowed 38 of its Golden Cylinder Awards on entries judged to be the best examples of gravure printing over the past year. Award categories encompassed all three segments of gravure’s capabilities as a printing process, including packaging (eight awards), product gravure (five), and publications (12).

GAA also recognized supplier innovations (12 awards), which ranged from advances in image preparation and cylinder manufacturing to press and post-press equipment and gravure production.

The association received nearly 100 entries in this year’s competition, which were judged by eight gravure specialists over a two-day period in May.

Recipients were honored at a banquet that was a highlight of GAA’s Leadership Summit conference held in Parsippany, New Jersey. All award winners will be showcased in the October issue of GAA’s Gravure Magazine and posted on the gaa.org web site.

From among 37 winning entries, judges selected a single gravure-printed product to receive the 2008 Best of the Best Golden Cylinder Award; it went to the ‘Bush’s Grillin’ Beans’ entry, submitted in the Packaging: Paper Labels & Wrappers category. Printer and color separator Mundet Tennessee used its 10-unit Schiavi gravure press to apply process and logo colors, true metallic gold, high-gloss black, and matte and gloss varnishes; a foil stamp outlines the Bush logo.

Judges praised the entry’s print richness, depth of color, consistency, and tonework with flame vignettes, all while achieving excellent edge quality for all small type and reversed copy.