Lowen Color Graphics of Kansas Wins ‘Best in Show’ Award; Australia’s Origin Publishing Cited for ‘Best in Digital Creativity’ PALM SPRINGS, CA–Representing the best work produced in digital printing and imaging, winners of the André Schellenberg Awards Competition were announced at the tenth annual Conference & Exhibit of the Digital Printing & Imaging Association (DPI), held here March 6-9. Named in honor of one of DPI’s founders, the Schellenberg Competition and Gallery of Digital Art is a graphic highlight of the Association’s Conference & Exhibit. Two awards were possible in each of six categories, one for entries submitted by Regular members (technology users) and another for entries from Associate members (manufacturers, suppliers and distributors). All entries were automatically considered for "Best in Show" and "Best in Digital Creativity" awards. A total of 11 awards were presented. The names and descriptions of the award winners follow: Best in Show. "Lepidoptera," Lowen Color Graphics’ (Hutchinson, KS) winning entry was a project featuring the image of a butterfly that combines a variety of substrates, including opaque vinyl and frosted vinyl text mounted to three layers of Lexan for a layered effect. The digital artist, Chad Beatty, used Cactus software and printed the image on a thermal inkjet printer at 600 dpi. Best in Digital Creativity. "Bouquet of Casa Blanca," Origin Publishing International’s (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) winning entry was a watercolor produced by digital artist Darryl Trott using Photoshop and Color Mark Pro 3000 software output on a Colorspan Giclee Printmaker F.A. at 600 dpi onto Hahnemuhle 285 gm Torchon fine art paper. The mottled effect of the art paper helped achieve the end result, with colors true and accurate when compared to the original. The print is guaranteed a long life on acid free paper with high rag content. Winner – Electrostatic Award – Regular Members. "Face," Dye Into Print’s (Clifton, NJ) winning entry was the image of an Elizabethan woman on metallic mesh, output on a Rastergraphics 5442 at 300 dpi using Cactus software. Winner – Inkjet Award – Regular Members. "Rush Hour," DigiTech Strategy/Brightcube’s (El Segundo, CA) winning entry was a work that was created by importing the original photograph by Anders Jonsson into Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and applying a dry brush filter. The work was printed at 200 dpi on an Epson Stylus Pro 10000 using Brightcub Eclipse on a satine softwhite 300 gsm substrate. Winner – Inkjet Award – Associate Members. "In Rust We Trust," HiLord Chemical Corporation’s (Hauppauge, NJ) winning entry was a chair, cushion and carpet tiles created by a UK design agency with a recycling theme for the reception area of a major European Salvage Co. HiLord designed the carpet tiles and woven polyester fabric for the chair and cushion using Adobe Photoshop and Postershop 5.5 on a Colorgrafx X2 54" printer with HiLord dye sublimation inks at 360 dpi. Finishing was heat transfer. Winner – Textile: Transfer or Direct Print Award – Regular Members. "Illusion," Dye Into Print’s (Clifton, NJ) winning entry was the image of a woman printed on sheer fabric and backed by the image of chain-link textures printed on polypoplin using a Rastergraphics 5442 printer at 300 dpi. The images were created using Cactus software. Winner – Textile: Transfer or Direct Print Award – Associate Members. "Scarf Set," Color Textiles’ (Las Vegas, NV) winning entry was created by digital artist Lori Dvir Djerassi using Photoshop software and output on an Encad Pro 42E at 300 dpi onto silk crepe de chine and silk chiffon Color Plus Fabrics with Lyson inks. The scarves, featuring images of a lion, a tiger, and women in soft brown tones required no finishing, according to Djerassi, just "print and sew." Winner – Unique Applications Award – Regular Members. "The Digital CD-Ticket," Secure Media Products’ (Baltimore, MD) winning entry was a series on event tickets, from an N’Sync concert to the running of the Preakness, that were digitally printed images on polycarbonate CDs using Quark software and Photoshop, output on a Digitran Xeikon at 600 dpi by digital artist Matt Regan. The images included variable information, such as section, row and seat numbers, serial numbers, dates and readable bar codes. Winner – Unique Applications Award – Associate Members. "Pinot Grigrio Picnic," Roland DGA Corporation’s (Irvine, CA) winning entry incorporated all graphic elements of a picnic scene, from tablecloth to wine box in digital printing. Artist Bryan Ballreich used Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Roland Color Choice software to design the ensemble using a Roland CAMMJET Printer/Cutter at 720 dpi onto polysilk soft cloth, waterfast matte vinyl and box prototype media. The entry shows the versatility that designers have to print and cut their own designs before actual production begins. Winner – Fine Art Award – Regular Members. "Venomous Vision," Origin Publishing International’s (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) winning entry was a watercolor of a sea creature produced by digital artist Kim Michelle Toft using Photoshop/Colormark Pro 3000 software output on a Colorspan Giclee Printmaker F.A. at 600 dpi onto Hahnemuhle 310 gm German etching fine art paper. The watercolor artist was looking to keep colors in this work bright and vivid, but not at the expense of the archival life of the glicee print. Winner – Fine Art Award – Associate Members. "Napoleon Jacket," Color Textiles’ (Las Vegas, NV) winning entry is a rich and regal rendering of Napoleon as Emperor on a cotton twill fabric jacket created by digital artist Lori Dvir Djerassi. She used Photoshop software and output the image with Lyson inks on an Encad Printer at 300 dpi onto Color Textiles’ Color Plus Fabric. Again, no finishing was necessary ("just print and sew"). All 11 awards were presented at an Awards luncheon on Friday, March 8 in Palm Springs. Contact DPI at 10015 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22031-3489 USA. Telephone: 703-385-1339. Fax: 703-359-1336. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.dpia.org.