Gravure Allure

Published: August 01, 2006, By Edited by Yolanda Simonsis Associate Publisher/Editor

This year's winners of the Gravure Assn. of America Golden Cylinder Awards demonstrate the allure of gravure for brand owners that value high quality graphics as intrinsic to product and packaging appeal. An awards ceremony held May 11 at the Marriott in Richmond, VA, acknowledged 24 “best of the best” winners in 23 categories. More than 110 submissions came from around the world to compete for recognition during the organization's 2006 GAA Annual Convention.

After two days of deliberation in Rochester, NY, in February, seven judges bestowed awards on exemplary models of gravure's wide-ranging capabilities. Below are some of the noteworthy winners.

Holiday Dressing

Printer Sonoco Flexible Packaging achieved a Technical Innovation award for its rendition of a pouch topped with a glittering bow for Masterfoods Holiday Messages M&Ms. Judges felt the package “popped off the shelf” in its holiday dress, employing a patented technology that combines ink and cylinder technology to align specific cylinder engraving patterns and design manipulations. The result imbued a metallized appearance to the package. Cited in conjunction with the winner are substrate supplier AET; ink supplier Sun Chemical; engraver and separator Keating North America; press manufacturer Cerutti; and designer Masterfoods USA.

Tan in a Flexpack

International Playing Cards & Label Co. earned an award in Flexible Packaging — Film for printing Carnivale Dual Bronzer self-tanning product. Replacing an originally flexo-printed package, the customer reportedly decided upon review that rotogravure might better lend its strengths to the overall goal. The alluring graphics and unusual flexible package for this product genre garnered special attention from the judges, who were equally impressed with a ten-day delivery turnaround that promotes gravure's capabilities. The packaging team comprised substrate supplier Pilcher Hamilton; ink supplier Sun Chemical; engraver and separator International Playing Cards & Label Co.; and press manufacturer Schiavi/The Bobst Group.

Packaging Scents

Shorewood Packaging merited an award in Packaging — Paperboard for printing Victoria's Secret Garden Eau de Toilette floral scents. Judges felt the packaging conveyed “attention-grabbing shelf presence” with floral images starkly outlined against a gold background. Despite the challenge of a difficult substrate, Shorewood achieved deep saturation and very smooth ink laydown. Supplier names were unavailable at presstime.

For complete list of winners visit www.gaa.org.