Welch Printing Company of Louisville, Kentucky Wins Best of Show Award 

Nashville, TN – The Printing Industry Association of the South, Inc. (PIAS) announced the winners of its 2016 Graphic Awards at a special presentation on June 14, 2016, during the PIAS Annual Convention at the Hilton SanDestin Beach Resort in Destin, Florida.

The PIAS Graphic Awards competition, held annually, is designed to recognize and appropriately honor those responsible for the creation, design and production of top-quality printed materials; those which have impact, appeal and effectiveness as sales/marketing, communications or educational medium.

Entries were submitted in one of four divisions:  Printers with less than 25 employees; Printers with 25 to 75 employees; Printers with more than 75 employees; and Trade Houses specializing in Binding & Finishing Services.  The judges determined which would receive: the coveted Best of Show Award; one of four Best of Division Awards; mounted certificates for Best of Category; or unmounted certificates for Award of Excellence.  One special award winners was also decided for the best Self-Advertising piece.  In total, 456 awards were presented this year, including: 149 Best of Category awards; and 456 Awards of Excellence; in addition to the Self-Promotion Award, Best of Division, and Best of Show awards.

The PIAS Graphic Awards Competition is judged by a panel of 3 experts using a point system. A printed piece must earn a certain number of points based on set criteria to receive an Award of Excellence. The judges evaluate each entry based upon the following criteria: degree of difficulty; quality and technique of reproduction; excellence in creativity, design, typography and general layout; and, if appropriate, unusual applications such as special effects, etc. The entry receiving the highest composite score within each category will receive the Best of Category Award. After judging is completed for each category within a division, all of the Best of Category winners from that division are grouped together and judged again to determine which entry is to receive the Best of Division award. After judging is completed for all divisions, all of the Best of Division winners are grouped together and judged again to determine which entry is to receive the top honor - the Best of Show trophy.

The trophy winners are:

BEST OF SHOW:

Welch Printing Company of Louisville, Kentucky for the “University of Kentucky See Blue Book”

BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WITH LESS THAN 25 EMPLOYEES:

McComb Printing Company of McComb, Mississippi for “Flags Along the Way” 

BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WITH 25 TO 75 EMPLOYEES:

Welch Printing Company of Louisville, Kentucky for the “University of Kentucky See Blue Book”

BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WTIH MORE THAN 75 EMPLOYEES:

Publishers Press of Shepherdsville, Kentucky for “The Bourbon Review”

BEST OF DIVISION – TRADE HOUSES –  BINDING & FINISHING SERVICES:

Bindtech, Inc. of Nashville, Tennessee for “A. T. Kearney”

SELF ADVERTISING AWARD:

Hot Graphics Printing of Memphis, Tennessee for their “50^th Anniversary Gift Box”

The overall winners, by state and city, are:

ALABAMA

BIRMINGHAM

Craftsman Printing, for:

      5 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

BOAZ

BPI Media Group, for:

13 Awards of Excellence, and 5 Best of Category awards 

ARKANSAS

JONESBORO

Master Print Group, for:

5 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

LITTLE ROCK

Arkansas Graphics for:

2 Awards of Excellence 

Democrat Printing & Lithographing, for: 

7 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

Magna IV, for:

8 Awards of Excellence and 3 Best of Category awards

KENTUCKY

LEXINGTON

Harp Enterprises. for:

      13 Awards of Excellence and 3 Best of Category awards

LOUISVILLE

Gateway Press, Inc. for:

4 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

The Merrick Printing Company, for:

34 Awards of Excellence and 5 Best of Category awards

Vivid Impact Corporation, for:

1 Awards of Excellence

Welch Printing Company, for:

39 Awards of Excellence, 9 Best of Category awards, 1 Best of Division award and 

1 Best of Show award 

SHEPHERDSVILLE

Publishers Press for:

5 Awards of Excellence, 1 Best of Category award and

1 Best of Division award

LOUISIANA

BATON ROUGE

Baton Rouge Printing, for: 

25 Awards of Excellence and 9 Best of Category awards 

MISSISSIPPI

BILOXI

Knight-Abbey Commercial Printing & Direct Mail, for: 

35 Awards of Excellence and 9 Best of Category awards

MCCOMB

      McComb Printing Company for:

4 Awards of Excellence, 2 Best of Category awards and 1 Best of Division award

RIDGELAND

Hederman Brothers, for: 

20 Awards of Excellence and 12 Best of Category awards 

TENNESSEE

CHATTANOOGA

Arcade Beauty, for:

3 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

Adams Lithographing for:

12 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards

Starkey Printing Company, for:

23 Awards of Excellence and 6 Best of Category awards

TPC Printing & Packaging, for:

12 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards 

JOHNSON CITY

Katz Americas, for: 

4 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

LEWISBURG

Lewisburg Printing Company, for:

2 Awards of Excellence

MEMPHIS

      Hot Graphics Printing, for:

22 Awards of Excellence, 3 Best of Category awards and 1 Overall 

Self-Promotion award

      Toof American Digital, for:

2 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

NASHVILLE

Allen Printing for:

1 Award of Excellence

Ambrose Printing Company, for:

3 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

Arena Imprints, for:

2 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

Bindtech, for:

12 Awards of Excellence, 6 Best of Category awards and 1 Best of Division award

ColorStream Digital, for:

13 Awards of Excellence and 7 Best of Category awards

Falcon Press, for:

11 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards

Lithographics, Inc., for:

35 Awards of Excellence and 16 Best of Category awards,

Marshall & Bruce Company, for:

12 Awards of Excellence and 5 Best of Category awards

McGraphics, Inc., for:

5 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

Parris Printing, for:

15 Award of Excellences and 2 Best of Category awards

Randall House Publications, for:

8 Awards of Excellence

Tru Color Litho, for:

39 Awards of Excellence and 9 Best of Category awards 

PIAS is a graphic arts trade association representing more than 500 member companies in their seven stat