Houston - Twenty-seven marketing and business leaders have been named finalists in the first annual Encore Awards presented by Consolidated Graphics, Inc., one of North America's leading commercial printing companies and the world's largest digital printer.

The Encore Awards were created to recognize the innovative ideas of Consolidated Graphics' customers and to showcase the many ways they deliver creative and effective print and marketing solutions to support their own customers and the markets they serve. The awards are a new component of emerge, Consolidated Graphic's annual customer conference and business expo, scheduled for May 17-20 in Dallas, TX.

"Our first-ever Encore Awards celebrate the new era of print, which due to technology and innovation requires comprehensive solutions that meet ongoing customer needs," said Aaron Grohs, executive vice president, Sales and Marketing, for Consolidated Graphics. "We received so many entries that our judges faced many tough decisions, but it just serves to illustrate the exceptional quality of work being done in our industry. We look forward to many years of Encore Awards, and we are honored to recognize excellence and breakout performance within the print industry."

An independent panel of six judges met February 17th, in Dallas, to review and discuss the merits of each entry, and three Crystal Award finalists were chosen for each award category from more than 500 submissions. Finalists' entries successfully incorporated a wide variety of technology, equipment and software from across Consolidated Graphics to meet the objectives of the showcased entry.

The Encore Award winner for each category will be selected from the announced finalists on May 18 at the Encore Awards gala in Dallas.

Categories & Finalists

- Books & Annual Reports:
          o Euro RSCG, San Francisco, CA
          o Minor Design Group, Houston, TX
          o Storyville Coffee Company, Seattle, WA
- Brochures:
          o Hanson Dodge Creative, Milwaukee, WI
          o Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, MI
          o Team Detroit, Detroit, MI
- Catalogs & Magazines:
          o Baron & Baron, Inc., New York, NY
          o Guess?,Inc., Los Angeles, CA
          o Tiffany & Co., New York, NY
- Digital:
          o Orion Developers, Ltd., Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
          o Quiksilver, Huntington Beach, CA
          o Zoo Valdes LLC, Columbia, SC
- Direct Mail:
          o The Hartford, Hartford, CT
          o MicroMass Communications, Inc., Cary, NC
          o Team Detroit, Detroit, MI
- Environmentally Friendly:
          o Gil Shuler Graphic Design, Mount Pleasant, SC
          o Centiva, Florence, AL
          o Weber Shandwick, Dallas, TX
- General:
          o Duncan Channon, Inc., San Francisco, CA
          o Greenlight, Dallas, TX
          o Sandbox Studio, Chicago, IL
- Packaging:
          o Edizen Corporation, Springfield, MA
          o Scottsdale League for the Arts, Scottsdale, AZ
          o Teague, Seattle, WA
- Print & Technology Solutions:
          o Kaiser Permanente, Burbank, CA
          o North Charles Street Design Organization, Baltimore, MD
          o Vera Bradley, Fort Wayne, IN

Judges for the awards included experts from marketing and design agencies, and included:

- Carol Caposino - Vice President/Production Manager, FKM, Houston, TX
- Alexander Duckworth - President, Point One Percent, New York, NY
- Paula Savage Hansen, CEO, Savage, Houston, TX
- Erik Herskind - Principal, Greenlight, Dallas, TX
- Stephanie Schoenrock - Director of Regional Operations, KK Bold, Bismarck, ND
- Mark Wright - President, Targetbase, Dallas, TX

"The quality of the submissions presented is a testament to the level of work being done in the print industry today. What we're seeing is a convergence of talent and technology that is making print more relevant to the consumer," said Alexander Duckworth, president of Point One Percent, a marketing agency that focuses on the wealthiest .1% of the population.

The finalists' entries will be displayed throughout the emerge conference where attendees can view them and cast votes for the People's Encore Award. The People's Encore Award will also be announced on May 18 at the Encore Awards gala.