2026 Winners
Supreme Award Winner
New Zealand Bird Series
~ Business Print
Category: Business Print
Printed By: Brebner Print
Entered By:
Brebner Print
Judges Comments:
Through foiling and three-dimensional sculptured embossing embellishments, these stamps have been absolutely-flawlessly printed. When you view most jobs with an eye glass you see a dot – with this work you simply see more detail. The embossing, which registers perfectly with the foiling, is about as deep as you can possibly get on this TruWhite Litho Gummed 110gsm stock – such depth would usually cause at least some wrinkling distortion to the sheets, yet this entry has none. The stamps have been printed at 600lpi, yet the plates technically max-out at 400lpi – so they are essentially printing 50% more dots per inch than the manufacturer’s maximum. This print firm is delivering an extremely-high level of quality in this work, with every stamp needing to be checked before it goes to the customer, given the huge penalties for any supplied with defects. Being able to consistently achieve such a standard is incredible. We cannot talk this job up enough – just incredible, beautiful and absolutely perfect.
Category Winners
Heineken Electric Ave Pallet Display
SIGN & DISPLAY PRINT
Printed By: APC Innovate
Entered By: APC Innovate
Judges Comments:
Using lights and a three-dimensional design, this display stand succeeds in creating the effect of being at a concert. Well printed and well die-cut, this display is also insanely good from a structural perspective.
New Zealand Bird Series
BUSINESS PRINT
Printed By: Brebner Print
Entered By: Brebner Print
Judges Comments:
When you look at most jobs with an eye glass you see a dot – with these stamps you simply see more detail. Deep embossing also registers perfectly with the foiling. It’s just absolutely-incredible work.
Sage Journal
PUBLICATIONS - MAGAZINES
Printed By: Blue Star Auckland Print & Packaging
Entered By: Blue Star Auckland Print & Packaging
Judges Comments:
On excellent stock choices, the blacks have been captured really well, there is stylish use of a very clean cover foil and arresting colour definition throughout – this is an absolutely beautiful print job.
SolarBurst - The Colour Build Collection
INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT & CREATIVITY
Printed By: MCC Albany
Entered By: MCC Albany
Judges Comments:
A new layer of customer differentiation has been demonstrated in this card collection, with each having a unique colour-changing effect created with high-build lamination. Also delivering a nice tactile finish, this is a very clever and innovative piece of promotional print.
Whittaker's Caramel/Banana Presentation Box
STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Printed By: ABC Original Print
Entered By: ABC Original Print
Judges Comments:
Created through multiple print and finishing platforms, this very well-assembled presentation box unveils in several steps when opened – it simply has a wow factor and we couldn’t find a fault anywhere.
WOW 2026 Calendar
PROMOTIONAL PRINT
Printed By: Blue Star Wellington
Entered By: Blue Star Wellington
Judges Comments:
Every element, from the perfect registration and rich colour reproduction to the carefully-executed finishing, reflect a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail. Flawless gold foiling on the cover provides an additional elegant final touch.
Cheddar Natural Slices 200g
FLEXIBLE PACKAGING
Printed By: Sealed Air Hamilton
Entered By: Sealed Air Hamilton
Judges Comments:
On an inherently-difficult substrate to print, this mastery of technology has delivered a highly-detailed image in great register, even across the small type. An impressive piece of work that stands out from other entries.
Whittaker's Brandy Snap
PACKAGING : ALL OTHER MATERIALS
Printed By: Gravure Packaging
Entered By: Gravure Packaging
Judges Comments:
With brilliant registration on a difficult substrate, this wrapper features great detail in a small image with the manufacturer’s gold particularly standing out – a beautiful print and an easy choice to win.
Otago Daily Times - 17 February 2025
PUBLICATIONS - NEWSPAPERS
Printed By: Allied Press
Entered By: Allied Press
Judges Comments:
Despite very tight deadline pressures and with presses ticking over at about 35,000 copies per hour, this traditional broadsheet with multiple sections has been produced in vibrant colours, in great registration – a fantastic paper.
Logick Playing Cards Set
PRINT INDUSTRY PROMOTION
Printed By: Logick Print & Graphics
Entered By: Logick Print & Graphics Ltd
Judges Comments:
An excellent example of what print can do when craftsmanship and production planning are treated as part of the creative. Crafted with great attention to fit, construction and tolerance, these playing cards deliver strong visual and tactile appeal.
Vaione Gin Gift Cartons
PAPER & BOARD PACKAGING
Printed By: Valley Print 2020
Entered By: Valley Print 2020
Judges Comments:
Expert colour-matching of laminated outsides with uncoated interiors, alongside flawless spot UV and foiling, this set of four gin boxes has many features that could have gone wrong but all four entered are perfect.
Osmosis Blemish Control Essentials Kit
PRINT FINISHING
Printed By: StudioQ / Laserfoil
Entered By: Studio Q / Laserfoil
Judges Comments:
A very well thought out and formed presentation box, this is a nice, clean job throughout. Corners are flawless in the tray with beautiful foiling in fine lines on the sleeve – it really catches the eye.
Kolo Pinot Noir 2022
LABELS
Printed By: MCC Albany
Entered By: MCC Albany
Judges Comments:
Featuring a nice, clean matt foil on coated stock, with great depth and detail in the embossing/debossing and very clean type for such a small font, this is definitely a standout label.
Well Worn Publication
PUBLICATIONS - BOOKS
Printed By: Gravitas Media
Entered By: Gravitas Media
Judges Comments:
This super-interesting design has taken an original clothes pattern and wrapped it around a book with beautiful stitching, gluing and binding, as well as with notably-clean print – this has gone from an awesome concept to a very well executed publication.
Wella - Fine Art Screen Print
SPECIALTY PRODUCTS
Printed By: Southan Print
Entered By: Southan Print
Judges Comments:
An extremely-high level of definition has been achieved in this print – notably in the model’s hair and even dimples on her arms – despite using a traditional, very-manual printing process. This is true craftsmanship.
Business Awards - Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY
Printed By:
Entered By: SCG
Judges Comments:
SCG were early adopters of sustainability initiatives in the printing industry and they have never stopped to rest on their laurels. They have strived to continue to achieve better outcomes and not only have they done so, but they have done so well ahead of targeted timelines. They are, quite simply, the best example of environmental excellence our industry has.
Process Winners
WOW Programme 2025
Printed By: Blue Star Wellington
Entered By: Blue Star Wellington
Judges Comments:
A very well-printed book, featuring top-notch registration and well-planned colour splits throughout, excellent demonstration of polyurethane reactive binding, and the use of a scratch-free laminate, gold foil and spot UV adding a premium feel.
The Post Your Weekend - 28 June 2025
Printed By: Stuff Wellington
Entered By: Stuff Wellington
Judges Comments:
Impressive print, stitch and trim, lovely colour reproduction and just amazing accuracy for registration on a notoriously-difficult press, made this great job one of the first that all judges agreed on.
Franklin Times - 10 October 2025
Printed By: Webstar Auckland
Entered By: Webstar Auckland
Judges Comments:
Exceptional colour reproduction with vibrant, punchy tones, sharp detail as well perfect stitching and square alignment in the finishing saw this fantastic paper achieve a level of consistency well above standard production.
Whittaker's Brandy Snap
Printed By: Gravure Packaging
Entered By: Gravure Packaging
Judges Comments:
Great depth of detail has been achieved in what is a very small image, with the manufacturer’s distinctive gold logo a particular stand out, all in perfect registration – a beautiful print.
Cheddar Natural Slices 200g
Printed By: Sealed Air Hamilton
Entered By: Sealed Air Hamilton
Judges Comments:
Cheese has been brought to life in this highly-detailed wrapper created through the mastery of Vortex technology and in fantastic registration, even across small type.
Heyday Snow Leopard IPA
Printed By: Leading Label Co. Ltd
Entered By: Leading Label Co. Ltd
Judges Comments:
Excellent screen gloss registration and laydown of lamination were highlights in this very careful production – the snow leopard’s eyes fix you with their gaze in this exceptional label that will really stand out on the store shelf.
Putiki Estate
Printed By: The Armarie Room
Entered By: The Armarie Room
Judges Comments:
Achieving high-depth of impression consistently across all pieces – with the embossing of menu headings a particularly unique and memorable quality – this beautiful wedding stationery demonstrates outstanding control, refinement and respect for the Letterpress process.
Wella - Fine Art Screen Print
Printed By: Southan Print
Entered By: Southan Print
Judges Comments:
Produced via one hand-mixed colour at a time being manually squeegeed through a mesh onto a substrate, this print represents a true mastery of craftsmanship – the level of real-life definition is astonishing.
Dunhuang Culture in New Zealand Silk Dual-Layer Fabric Display
Printed By: iProduction
Entered By: iProduction
Judges Comments:
Amazing quality has been achieved despite the challenges of using a latex ink on a stock not technically designed for the printer – we don’t quite know how they managed to deliver that result given the inputs.
Highly Commended & Gold Winning Work
2026 Gold & Highly Commended
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