BOSTON— Burlington ON-based Battlefield Graphics has been named Sappi North America’s 2016 Printer of the Year in its 19th annual Printer of the Year competition. 

The awards recognize the superior innovation and creativity in print across 10 categories for work produced on Sappi papers. This year’s winners were chosen out of over 1,400 submissions.

"Printers are consistently finding groundbreaking ways to showcase the work of talented designers and marketers,” Patti Groh, director of marketing communications, Sappi North America, said. “All of the projects submitted this year were worthy of praise, and the competition was fierce. With our Printer of the Year competition, Sappi believes that these brilliant and visionary ideas are shaping the future of our industry."

Battlefield Graphics was selected for its book “Art of Rush,” printed for Showtech Merchandising Inc., which showcases the 40-year relationship of the band Rush and their artist and illustrator Hugh Syme. Art of Rush was printed on Sappi's McCoy Gloss Text and McCoy Silk Cover.

"The quality of the printing throughout the entirety of The Art of Rush was stellar,” Jim Tenorio, professor emeritus in the Cross-Media Graphics Management Program at University of Wisconsin-Stout and competition judge, said. “It was a challenging piece to create in that the content and images contained a lot of variety. It’s one thing to produce a good volume when the images are similar, but the stakes are raised when the content includes artwork with a variety of images, styles, and original media that spanned decades. The design and execution of the book binding complemented and unified the content into an exceptional example of the power of print."

The Canadian printer will receive $20,000 to support branding and marketing initiatives, as well as up to 5,000 pounds of Sappi paper. Gold Award winners will receive 5,000 pounds of paper and a spot on the list of preferred Sappi printers.

Other Canadian winners included Toronto’s Colour Innovations, Inc., who won Gold in the Direct Mail category of the competition, and Silver in the Digital Print category.

Burnaby, BC’s Hemlock Printers Ltd., took home Gold in the Magazines-Sheet category and Silver in the Books category.

Blanchette Press, based in Richmond BC, also won a Silver award in the Books category and a Silver in the General Print category.

This year’s top winners include: