Chatsworth, CA-Impress Communications ("Impress"), one of only 10 California printers on the Green Team Honor Roll, collected four awards including a Best of Category award and an Award of Excellence at the PIASC 2009 Print Excellence Awards Luncheon held April 14, 2009, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Impress' "Think Green" brochure received top honors as the Best of Category for Environmentally Sound Materials. This project used FSC-certified stock, savvy production techniques and no-VOC inks to convey Impress' sustainability message and its full scope of creative capabilities. Impress Executive Director Paul Marino noted, "This is a presentation piece that feels like plastic, but isn't. It is a delight to the eyes and senses that opens up dialogue on ways to meet design solutions distinctively and sustainably."

Impress also captured the Award of Excellence in Packaging Labels for its Nestle Seducción Premium Chocolate Bar candy wrappers. A series of five richly colored and embossed wrappers, printed with no-VOC inks, cover the new confection which was introduced for export to the Latin America marketplace several months ago. 

And, Certificates of Merit were earned for a four-color "Look Behind the Bottle" Wire-o bound book produced for salon brand leader, John Paul Mitchell Systems; and Impress' self-promotion brand campaign printed with soy inks.

The PIASC contest is open to any graphic arts firm located within the membership region and for print work produced within the state of California during 2008. Three tiers of awards were designated from Certificate of Merit to Award of Excellence and Best of Category.

A panel of distinguished professionals from the graphic arts industry judged the coded anonymous entries. Decisions were based on technical expertise, printing quality, design features, degree of difficulty, and the overall appearance of the entry. All the Best of Category award winning entries will now compete in the PIA/GATF Premier Print Awards, the printing industry's oldest and largest worldwide graphic arts competition. The competition promotes excellence in print communications and rewards companies and individuals who produce the best in print media with a highly coveted "Benny".