Rosemont, Ill. – Using the well-known arsenal of fine finishing touches would not do when Dion Label sought to print an award-worthy digital label; the company had to invent its own on-press watermarking process.

Taking a cue from analog printing’s “bump plate” method, the Westfield, Mass., label converter made a black label stand out by adding black-ink-on-white watermark circles – and was rewarded last night as one of 11 top prize winners in the Fourth Annual HP Indigo Digital Labels and Packaging Awards Contest.

The label, for Bullwater Health & Fitness’s Pomology Anti-Aging neutraceutical supplement, was one of two Dion Label best-of-category wins in a competition honoring everything from an energy drink label with a macabre, intricately die-cut skull-and-sword design, to a security seal featuring variable text, bar codes and invisible ink.   

HP’s competition gets more competitive
HP announced the winners at a Sept. 15 gala held in Rosemont, Ill., during the Labelexpo Americas trade show. This year’s contest attracted 312 entries, 36 percent more than last year, from HP Indigo customers in 26 countries.

Categories for the contest included label printing for wine, alcoholic beverages, non-alcoholic beverages, food, nutraceutical, and health and beauty products. The contest honored the best shrink sleeve and flexible packaging entries as well as the best entry produced as a self-promotion of a converter’s own capabilities. HP also named four “judges’ recognition” winners for design, shelf appeal, security features and two-sided, clear film “sandwich” printing.

The contest’s independent panel of judges included Hanni Abudy, chair of the Graphic Designers Association of Israel; Dr. Samuel Ingram of Clemson University; Adi Levy of Peer Print Ltd.; Jean Poncet of Etiq&Pack magazine; and Yolanda Simonsis of Paper, Film & Foil Converter magazine.

“As the increase in industry participation in this contest shows, digital is more than holding its own in mainstream labels and packaging, as HP Indigo press capabilities and applications continue growing,” said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, Indigo division, HP. “Brands are realizing the tremendous value and versatility digital printing offers. As a result, we are seeing a wider variety of high-quality labels and packaging produced on our presses.”

Along with Dion Label, Australian converter Supa Stik Labels and U.S. converter Innovative Labeling Solutions (ILS) were top achievers in the contest. Supa Stik earned one best-of-category and one judges’ recognition award, and ILS took home two judges’ recognition awards. The complete list of top winners is below, with the winning category or categories for each firm shown in parentheses.
—    B.H. Barcode Ltd., Israel (health and beauty)
—    Digital Label Solutions, USA (non-alcoholic beverages)
—    Dion Label Printing, USA (neutraceutical labels, food labels)
—    Dow Industries, USA (specialty product labels)
—    Foster Packaging, Ireland (flexible packaging)
—    Innovative Labeling Solutions, USA (judges’ recognition for shelf appeal, judges’ recognition for sandwich printing)
—    Label World, USA (wine labels)
—    Obchodni tiskarny, a.s., Czech Republic (shrink sleeve packaging)
—    Servibarras Ltda., Colombia (judges’ recognition for security features)
—    Supa Stik Labels & Labeling Systems, Australia (alcoholic beverage labels, judges’ recognition for design)
—    Vibrant Graphics, USA (self-promotional printing)  

Entries from the contest are on display in HP’s exhibit at Labelexpo Americas. In addition, the contest’s winners will be highlighted in HP’s booth, No. 3225, at the Pack Expo trade show at McCormick Place in Chicago, Oct. 31 to Nov. 3.