June 5, 2002 -- Rochester, NY -- On May 21, 2002, the Gravure Association of America gathered for the sixteenth time to recognize the Best of the Best in gravure printing. The presentation of the 2002 Golden Cylinder Awards took place in a ceremony at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort, Ponte Vedra, Florida, as part of the association’s Annual Convention. Judging for the Golden Cylinder Awards took place on February 28, 2002, in Rochester, New York. The winners were selected from among 120 entries in 22 categories. Five judges reviewed this year’s entries. They were Tom Galt, Quebecor World; Carol Durgan, Sun Chemical; Paul Sharkey, FLXON, Inc.; Elaine Lippe, Packaging Corporation of America; Eric Bell, Bobst Group. The winners in each category are: Agency/Advertising Design/Packaging RJR Packaging - Camel Turkish Jade Cigarette Packaging Family Camel Turkish Jade is a direct result of the marketplace requesting a menthol version of the very popular Camel Turkish Gold product. In keeping with the Turkish Gold design, Turkish Jade also takes elements of the classic Camel design and mixes them with new colors and graphics to create a product that really stands out in retail. The design is printed with four-color process, a line green, and a metallic. Printing of the four-color process required refined fingerprinting to deliver the richness the background green demanded while still allowing the pastel colors of the "oasis" to shine through. Four-color process is not typically seen in cigarette packaging due to the desire to have rich, saturated color. Enhanced graphics and special image techniques allowed this pack to have it all. The final product is the result of a very focused team effort and reflects the brand’s overall positioning in the marketplace—part classic, part contemporary. "It’s exotic. It’s mellow. It’s menthol. It’s Camel Turkish Jade." The judges were impressed with the process-printed rich jade green colors and the sharp, crisp printing that helped reposition an old brand as a new winner. Agency/Advertising Design/Product Plus Mark Inc./American Greeting - Gilded Elegance Gilded Elegance is another winner using process printing to successfully replace traditional line printing. The printer emphasized the need for press fingerprinting to insure the successful transition. This entry provided real curb appeal and lost nothing from the use of specially developed low-VOC water-based inks! Outstanding design and print execution made this entry a winner. Agency/Advertising Design/Publication Reclamebureau van Heertum B.V. & Gestel Printing Company B.V. - Tobacco Journal International The cover design for the next entry was specifically created to symbolize the crowning achievement in gravure. Gravure’s high quality is very consistent. The high level of pigment displacement during the printing of gold or silver gets near to the technique of bronzing. Moreover, the number of printing actions is lower; which saves a considerable amount of time. The first sheet to leave the printing press is exactly the same as the last when you use gravure. Delicate lines are and remain perfectly tight, even on rough-textured paperboard or cardboard. The judges were impressed with the overall quality of print and the richness of colors achieved with this sheet-fed gravure-printed journal cover. The unsurpassed quality of print was simply eye-catching. Packaging /Paper Printpack Inc. - Nabisco ET Chip Ahoy The Nabisco ET Chip Ahoy entry achieved premium package aesthetics by printing on metallized paper, replacing the use of more expensive metallized ink systems. This out-of-this world winning entry demonstrated the versatility of gravure printing to achieve market objectives. Packaging/Film RJR Packaging - Maui Kaanapali Coffee Think of Hawaii, and the images that come to mind are lush green landscapes, exotic flowers, and beautiful blue oceans. One look at the Maui Kaanapali coffee bag and you can see that pure tropical paradise!. Mixing duotones, four-color process, vignetted tones, and backprint copy was no easy challenge and required many hours of testing on a proof press in order to achieve the desired effect. Utilizing a full press load that included nine colors, two backprints, and an adhesive, it was imperative to follow the standard operating procedures established in fingerprinting trials to ensure a quality printed product. The judges praised the "flawless reproduction with extraordinary detail" of this package. The "image quality" combined with the appealing choice of colors executed with the gravure’s "pop" made this exotic entry a winner. Packaging/Paperboard RJR Packaging - Winston (S2) Cigarette Packaging Family The introduction of Winston’s new S2 line extension prompted an enhancement to the already modern appeal of the rest of the packaging family—a sleek presentation in total. Embossed silver highlights were added to current packaging in keeping with S2’s need to match the new offering. Eye-catching embossed silver and black with a combination of matte and gloss finishes emphasize the "No Boundaries, No Bull" positioning. Matte and gloss lacquers on transfer-metallized board and embossing on the entire family deliver a look that is new to the cigarette category. Contemporary and updated, S2’s position is embodied throughout the pack. The clean black and silver logo cigarette tipping, the embossed "S2" foil, and chrome-like innerframe support the bold exterior graphics. This packaging advances the use of flexible packaging, giving the impression of chrome and steel in a traditionally printed and packaged board stock. The wraparound design of these crush-proof boxes and cartons required outstanding execution of embossing, printing, and cutting to register to be successful. This entry provided a great example of sharp, crisp gravure printing combined with total process control—an award winning example of difficult designs executed to perfection. Packaging/Technical Innovation Seville Flexpack Corporation - Sunmaid Raisins Toons & Treats Promo The primary goal of any company is to make money from the sales of their product. Sunmaid’s Toons and Treats promotion used the gravure process and the patented Hide-A-Winner‚ process technology to give something away to enhance their sales. Instead of dropping a game piece into every package and slowing down productivity, the game piece is incorporated directly into the packaging material. In addition, the game piece is hidden so the prize cannot be seen from the front or back of the package. To reveal the prize, the consumer simply cuts along the dotted line and peels the film layers apart. To make this happen requires a combination of technologies including registered adhesive and view-block cylinders and multiple film laminations all done in line, which has the adhesive removed behind the game piece. Since the game rules must be printed on the package and would not fit on the face of the package, they were backside printed as well. Proof of the success of this award-winning technology is in the fact that this is the fifth year for this promotion, and each year the volume has grown thanks to the rotogravure process and Hide-A-Winner‚ technology. Product/Design Concept Reclamebureau van Heertum B.V. & Gestel Printing Company B.V - Brochure Gestel Printing Company B.V. Sheet-fed gravure proved to be a winner with this impressive Gestel Printing Company Brochure that is wrapped in a box displaying a Cartier cigarette carton. Because of the use of water-based varnish, Gravure was the Process of Choice. The judges thought the print quality was "fabulous," a great design executed at a level of quality that has no equals. This entry also demonstrated the ability of combining print processes with the sheet-fed process. The brochure is printed in 50 colors offset, 15 colors gravure, 2 colors gold foil, holographic and security foil, and several embosses. In many cases, the print processes were combined on the same image within the copy. Product/Product Production (non-porous substrate) Avery Dennison Security Print Division - Carnivorous Plants Stamps Combining the fine detail and continuous tone quality of the print with exact die-cutting registration made this entry an obvious winner. Producing the stamp was no small challenge. After reviewing the art, an offset printer returned the job as "to complex for their printing/die-cutting/finishing." The Avery Dennison Artwork Enhancement Team—made up of a cross-section of management, hourly employees, engraving supplier, and ink supplier—critiqued the art and decided it should be a four-color process job. Special attention was paid to the reverse type, density of color, application of a phosphor coating, and die-cutting/finishing. It was also decided there would be no traps in the stamp area, and more detail was added to enhance the realism. In addition to the graphic challenge, a special overcoat was required on only the stamp area and not the borders, necessitating the development and testing of a new coating in record time. The next challenge—die-cutting of the pane. When stamps are peeled from a pane, or stamps from other panes, they must appear identical as it relates to the die-cutting. This meant cut-to-print tolerances tighter than any current Postal Service requirements. By working with their engraver, the art, and a strong-willed group of employees, tolerances were successfully tightened throughout the process, while still achieving low waste levels. In awarding this Golden Cylinder, the judges were echoing the praise of the Postal Service/Art Director, the artist, and the public. Product/Product Production (porous substrate) Packaging Corporation of America - Toro 3340-509 Ultra Blower The goal for this entry was to keep the customer in the high end of the graphic packaging arena and still find ways for cost reduction for the packaging. This required lowering the basis weight of the substrate and adapting the engraving specs to accommodate a more porous base substrate. The challenge was to maintain a minimum print dot and great tone reproduction for the graphic image. Gravure was the answer! Achieving excellent reproduction quality on a very difficult-to-print substrate made this winning entry ever more impressive to the judges. Product/Technical Innovation The Bureau of Engraving & Printing & Southern Graphics Systems- United We Stand Stamp Collection This award-winning entry is an excellent example of sound technical preparation meeting an urgent demand. The United We Stand Stamp Collection demonstrates the coming together of people, technology, and the gravure process for outstanding results. It involved cooperation between printer, engraver, and ink supplier and illustrated the importance of fingerprinting and teamwork. Because the parties were prepared, motivated, and empowered, many barriers to getting product to market quickly were removed, showing the world that gravure is ready for and capable of producing the fast turnarounds demanded by today’s market. Publication/Newsprint Quebecor World/Mt. Morris, IL - Carnival September 2001 This award-winning entry solved a number of production challenges. How do you deliver a stitched product that a teacher can pull apart and hand out as eight-page sections to schoolchildren? How do you ensure the printed forms are selectively gathered, resulting in custom books meeting each school’s requirement? How do you keep paper costs down? The answer brought a number of factors together—customer-supplied PDF art files directly engraving to gravure cylinders on an MDC GS900, offset printing the cover, gravure-printing the body on newsprint paper, and inline assembly and gluing on the gravure press. Combine this with outstanding color control on a lightweight substrate and the Carnival entry was one that the judges could not ignore! Publication/Supercalendered R.R. Donnelley Company/Mattoon, IL - BrownCor International This entry was judged as an example of a difficult-to-print job executed well. The judges were particularly impressed by the print quality of the vignettes and the copy detail. The excellent register control required to achieve these qualities produced an award-winning entry. Publication/Lightweight Coated (under 40#) Quebecor World/Dyersburg, TN - Crate & Barrel Holiday Lite 2001 The Crate & Barrel Holiday Lite 2001is a high-quality catalog with an unusual size. Bwith both the head and foot shorter than most "mainstream" catalogs, it exemplifies the flexibility of the Gravure process in regards to the ability to print both large-format and small-sized catalogs. This award-winning entry displays great color, the result of combining outstanding color separation, cylinder engraving, and print execution. Publication/Coated (over 40#) Quebecor World/Corinth, MS - National Geographic – February 2001 National Geographic Magazine’s February 2001 editorial stories were produced using the most technical gravure innovation in the industry and illustrate the ability of the gravure process to reproduce pictures so vivid that they bring the reader into the stories. The pages use four process colors, as well as special colors to intensify the pictures’ contrasts and shapes. The gatefold pages demonstrate the gravure press’ ability for design innovation, and the pictures’ registration challenges illustrate the gravure press’ ability to hold continuous register throughout a long run. The photorealism of the print execution makes National Geographic a difficult entry to compete against. Once again, the quality of the separation, engraving, and print came together for award-winning results that epitomize the best of gravure. Publication/Technical Innovation UPM-Kymmene/Finland - The UPM-Kymmene Griffin Concept With gravure’s wider presses and jumbo print rolls coming into use, new challenges have emerged that have stretched the capabilities of current material-handling systems. Basic research conducted by UPM provides new, innovative alternatives for dealing with these challenges. The UPM-Kymmene Griffin Transport System is now in commercial use for some gravure printers in Europe, with no roll handling necessary between mill and printer. The transport flat is unique and corresponds to international container measurements for international transport of the flats. Flat transport is possible on rail, sea, and road. Jumbo rolls arrive in a damage-free condition, maximizing gravure press performance and minimizing slab waste. The concept also includes a clamp-truck clamp-force testing unit, an out-of-roundness measuring device, and a roll hit recorder. For their groundbreaking work, the judges selected this entry as the category winner. Supplier Innovation/Image Preparation AABACH USA, Inc. & AABACH Graphic Systems GmbH & Co. KG - Digra HI2002 & DI2001 Interfaces The Digra HI2002 & DI2001 Interfaces allow for the direct transfer of prepress files from any conventional system directly to a Hell, Ohio, or DIGRA engraving machine. Using the TIFF format, prepress data is directed to the engraver without time and manpower consuming intermediate work. The judges zeroed in on this entry for the way it provides a cost-effective solution that contributes to shortening the lead time for gravure printing. Supplier Innovation/Cylinder Manufacturing Chema Technology Inc. & RJR Packaging - DisCoP Technology The judges selected this entry as a winner because it demonstrates that persistence and a willingness to question traditional dogma can lead to significant progress for the industry. The copper- and chrome-plated printing cylinder has been the staple of gravure for many years, but the success of the process is both a boon and a millstone. The reliability of the process is hard to fault. The cost and process time, however, are always under analysis for improvement. Hubert Metzger’s new process reduces copper plating time by at least 35 percent, reduces variability, and improves quality. This combination of features makes DisCoP Technology an obvious Golden Cylinder winner. Supplier Innovation/Inks and Substrates Packaging Corporation of America - Lifetime Portable Basketball Systems Printing 55 by 57-inch photographic images is a large challenge. Printing the same images on coated kraft papers makes it a bigger challenge. And add in some metallic inks to make it even more interesting. Only gravure could meet this formidable task. The photographic imaging was an extremely large format, thus creating a large prepress file. Gravure’s capabilities were able to handle this. Special inks—heat resistant to 400 degrees F, manufactured without resins, and able to trap and print the quality required for the photographic images—were developed with Sun Chemical. These inks were able to handle downstream process variables of 800-fpm, face-down paper delivery to the 400 degrees F hotplates of the corrugator. The challenges that had to be overcome to produce this award-winner define innovation. Supplier Innovation/Press Bobst Group, Inc. & SCHIAVI spa- Schiavi SG-2000 Rotogravure Press Model The SG-2000 Printing Unit from Schiavi innovative features include: - Integrated on-press automatic washup system of the entire printing group (ink pan, ink pump, printing cylinder, ink hoses, and doctor blade) - Optional use of printing cylinder sleeves, with on-press sleeve change. - Enclosed inking group so that there are no ink splashes. The system requires only 1.5 gallons of ink to be operational. - Fully motorized doctor blade assembly that is automatically set (blade angle). - Press drive through Electronic Line Shaft. - A new register control for length and side print register that was developed in conjunction with Bobst Registron specifically for this press. - Press dryers redesigned for overall improved efficiency and accessibility. - Suitability for long-, medium-, and short-run productions. A press designed to run three jobs with associated changeovers in 35 minutes is the definition of short-run gravure. To the judges, it is also the definition of award winning. Supplier Innovation/Post press Packaging Corporation of America - Dysart BX 59 15# MiracleoGro The original box was printed rotogravure on film and laminated to SBS. PCA/Lux accepted the item and printed directly to SBS maintaining the print quality of film and a 1200 or higher rub resistance. The item was then laminated to single face, die-cut, and handles applied to the blank. After which, a registered tear tape was applied to the back. The judges felt this award winner demonstrated the best of gravure’s flexibility of substrate and convertibility with post-press processes. Published Research Grafikontrol America - NIRA Neptune 801 Automatic Analyzer In this new category, the judges were hard pressed to select a winner. Ultimately, the depth of detail and the potential value for this instrument to become a production tool made this the award-winning research paper. Having a press-side evaluation tool for retained VOC would make any operation concerned with this attribute more productive. One of the issues with new instruments is their reliability outside the laboratory environment. This research documents the evaluation of the NIRA Neptune 801 and demonstrates its value as a unique and economical production tool. Judge’s Pick for the "Best of the Best" Reclamebureau van Heertum B.V. & Gestel Printing Company B.V Tobacco Journal International & Brochure Gestel Printing Company B.V. For the judges, the "Best of the Best Award" was the easiest decision of the day. They unanimously agreed that the classic European style, superb print quality, fabulous design concepts, and sharpness of color, in addition to the excellent display of sheet-fed gravure displayed by these two entries, merited the coveted award. The finished products were outside the box for excellence considering the complexity of the assignments. Their unsurpassed quality of print was simply eye-catching and deserving of gravure’s top recognition for excellence.