The Printing Industry Association of the South, Inc. (PIAS) announced the winners of its 2012 Graphic Awards at a special presentation on June 25, 2012, during the PIAS Annual Convention at the Hilton SanDestin Beach Resort in Destin, Florida.

The PIAS Graphic Awards competition, held annually, is designed to recognize and appropriately honor those responsible for the creation, design and production of top-quality printed materials; those which have impact, appeal and effectiveness as sales/marketing, communications or educational medium.

Entries were submitted in one of four divisions:  Printers with less than 25 employees; Printers with 25 to 75 employees; Printers with more than 75 employees; and Trade Houses specializing in Binding & Finishing Services.  The judges determined which would receive: the coveted Golden Ben for Best of Show; one of five Silver Bens awarded for Best of Division; mounted certificates for Best of Category; or unmounted certificates for Excellence or Merit.  One special award winners was also decided for the best Self-Advertising piece.  In total, 571 awards were presented this year, including: 149 Best of Category awards; 542 Awards of Excellence; and 29 Awards of Merit; in addition to the Self-Promotion Award, Best of Division, and Best of Show awards.

The PIAS Graphic Awards Competition is judged by a panel of 3 experts using a point system. A printed piece must earn a certain number of points based on set criteria to receive an Award of Excellence. The entry receiving the highest composite score within each category will receive the Best of Category Award. After judging is completed for each category within a division, all of the Best of Category winners from that division are grouped together and judged again to determine which entry is to receive the Best of Division award, the Silver Ben. After judging is completed for all divisions, all of the Best of Division winners are grouped together and judged again to determine which entry is to receive the top honor - the Best of Show, the Golden Ben trophy.

The trophy winners are:

BEST OF SHOW:       

Vivid Impact Corporation of Louisville, Kentucky, for “KFC Chicken Mastery”

BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WITH LESS THAN 25 EMPLOYEES:

ColorStream Digital of Nashville, Tennessee, for “The Heart of the Story”

BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WITH 25 TO 75 EMPLOYEES:

Knight Abbey Printing & Direct Mail of Biloxi, Mississippi, for “Midnight Masquerade”

BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WTIH MORE THAN 75 EMPLOYEES:

Vivid Impact Corporation of Louisville, Kentucky, for “KFC Chicken Mastery”

BEST OF DIVISION – TRADE HOUSES –  BINDING & FINISHING SERVICES:

Bindtech, Inc. of Nashville, Tennessee for “Club Wyndham”

SELF ADVERTISING AWARD:

Katz Americas of Johnson City, Tennessee, for “Katz Americas Self Promotion Mailers”

The overall winners, by state and city, are:

ALABAMA  

      BIRMINGHAM

            Commercial Printing Company, for: 3 Awards of Excellence

            Craftsman Printing, for: 8 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

      BOAZ

            BPI Media Group, for: 6 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards 



ARKANSAS  

      JONESBORO

            Master Print Group, for: 12 Awards of Excellence and 7 Best of Category awards
                

      LITTLE ROCK

            Custom XM, for: 14 Awards of Excellence, and 5 Best of Category awards

            Democrat Printing & Lithographing, for: 9 Awards of Excellence

            Magna IV, for: 13 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards



KENTUCKY    

      LEXINGTON

            Harp Enterprises, for: 9 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards
    

      LOUISVILLE

            Gateway Press, Inc. for: 5 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

            The Merrick Printing Company, for: 7 Awards of Merit, 54 Awards of Excellence and 3 Best of Category awards

            Vivid Impact Corporation, for: 5 Awards of Merit; 43 Awards of Excellence, 11 Best of Category awards, 1 Best of Division award and 1 Best of Show award

            Welch Printing Company, for: 3 Awards of Merit; 29 Awards of Excellence, and 6 Best of Category awards


      SHEPHERDSVILLE

            Publishers Printing Company, for: 18 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award



LOUISIANA  

      BATON ROUGE

            Baton Rouge Printing, for: 14 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award



MISSISSIPPI  

      BILOXI

            Knight-Abbey Commercial Printing & Direct Mail, for: 2 Awards of Merit; 26 Awards of Excellence, 7 Best of Category awards and 1 Best of Division award

      McCOMB

            McComb Printing, for: 11 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards

      RIDGELAND

            Hederman Brothers, for: 2 Awards of Merit; 26 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards

NORTH CAROLINA  

      ASHEVILLE

            Blue Ridge Printing, for: 1 Award of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award



TENNESSEE  

      CHATTANOOGA

            Adams Lithographing, for: 13 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards

            Arcade Marketing, for: 4 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

            Diversified Companies, for: 8 Awards of Excellence and 3 Best of Category awards

            National Print Group, for: 4 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

            Starkey Printing Company, for: 12 Awards of Excellence, 18 Awards of Excellence and 5 Best of Category awards

            TPC Printing & Packaging, for: 16 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

            TrueBlue, Inc., for: 26 Awards of Excellence and 15 Best of Category awards

      JOHNSON CITY

            Katz Americas, for: 7 Awards of Excellence, 2 Best of Category awards and the Self Promotion Award

      MEMPHIS

            Paulsen Printing Company, for: 2 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award    

      NASHVILLE

            AMEC Sunday School Union, for: 2 Awards of Merit, 17 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

            Bindtech, for: 10 Awards of Excellence, 6 Best of Category awards and 1 Best of Division award          

            Color Stream Digital, for: 15 Awards of Excellence, 13 Best of Category awards and 1 Best of Division award

            Falcon Press, for: 8 Awards of Excellence and 3 Best of Category awards

            Lithographics, Inc., for: 8 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards,

            Marshall & Bruce Company, for: 5 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards

            McGraphics, Inc., for: 6 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award    

            McQuiddy/Classic Printing Company, for: 39 Awards of Excellence; 8 Best of Category awards and 1 Best of Division award

      Parris Printing, for: 3 Awards of Merit, 22 Award of Excellences and 5 Best of Category awards

            Randall House Publications, for: 7 Awards of Excellence

            State of TN Print Media Services, for: 5 Awards of Excellence and 3 Best of Category awards
          

      PULASKI

            Bert-Co Industries, for: 14 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

PIAS is a graphic arts trade association representing more than 500 member companies in their seven state region: Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia.