April 14, 2003 -- With Wisconsin's state animal being the badger and its state bird being the robin, it seems oddly prophetic (but no less pleasing) that Quad/Graphics, the state's premier printer, should be honored with a 2003 Badger award. The award recognizes our high-quality work on Royal Robbins' Outdoor Travel & Clothing magazine inserts. The Badger award is the Best of Category distinction of the Printing Industries of Wisconsin's Annual Graphics Excellence Awards. Only the most outstanding entry in each category — in Royal Robbins' case, it was the four-color Magazine Inserts category — walks away with the Badger. We're talking turnkey The Royal Robbins win is particularly notable because it highlights our expertise as a turnkey print-production provider. "It was really the turnkey effort that made this project an award winner," said Joan Moran, QuadCreative Sales. "This piece truly represents the strength of Quad/Graphics' network to effortlessly guide our clients through all phases of their projects." The QuadCreative Group designed the eight-page catalog with Anaheim Quad/Photo providing the majority of the photography. Files were prepped across our Imaging sites in Anaheim, Sussex and West Allis. The press-pasted catalog, featuring a perforated spine, was printed custom-web in West Allis and ultimately delivered for binding into a special-interest magazine. (Another portion was printed without the perforation and mailed.) The Printing Industries of Wisconsin, the state's trade association for printing and the graphic arts, opens the competition to pieces printed in the state during the previous year. Out-of-state judges then rate the pieces on technical expertise and quality. Design features and overall graphic appeal are considered second. Now in its third year, the print competition recognizes work that demonstrates the high standards of Wisconsin's printing industry, which is ranked as eighth largest in the nation. In addition to the Badger, Quad/Graphics garnered six honorable mentions in 2003. An Award of Excellence was issued for the Winter 2003 issue of Lexus magazine, and Certificates of Merit were received for our work on Andrews McMeel Publishing's Stay Tuned; Islands' January/February 2003 issue; the October 25, 2002, issue of our internal newspaper, Quadnews; Dillard's Find the Perfect Fragrance retail insert; and the Spring 2002 Eastbay's Jordan Two catalog. Awards were formally presented at the 2003 Graphics Excellence Awards Gala held on April 10 in Milwaukee. Badger winners are automatically entered into the upcoming Premier Print Awards, a national print competition sponsored by the Printing Industries of America. Wisconsin printers employ 47,000 people in more than 1,195 establishments and their annual sales exceed $6.6 billion.