Narrow web converters from across North America submitted nearly 200 entries for this year’s TLMI Annual Print Awards Competition. Winners were announced at the recent TLMI Annual Meeting held in Naples, FL, USA, by Paul Teachout, judging committee chair and business development manager, narrow web, for Anderson & Vreeland.

A panel of 12 judges, each representing a different TLMI supplier member, gathered near TLMI’s headquarters in Cincinnati this fall to closely examine all converter submissions and to ultimately award seven Best in Class entries and one Best in Show.

The TLMI Annual Awards Competition honors best-in-class package printing in a range of print process categories including flexography, letterpress, offset, multi-process printing and digital. The non-pressure sensitive categories of unsupported roll labels and cut & stack are also represented. There was a total of 59 awards presented, including 33 First-Place winners, 26 Second-Place winners, seven Best in Class winners and one Best in Show.

Linnea Keen, TLMI president, comments, “It was such a pleasure being able to witness the Print Awards selection and judging process for the first time as the association’s president. I was amazed at the overall quality of the submissions and the all the hard work that goes into judging each blind entry on its own merit and then watching as the judges narrowed submissions down to each class of winner and finally, Best in Show. I want to thank Paul Teachout and his team of judges for the two days they spent in Cincinnati, and I want to also congratulate each and every Print Award winner.”

The Best in Show Award was presented to McDowell – A Resource Label Group Co., for its Straight Rye Whiskey prime label. The label was also awarded the Best in Class honors in the Wine & Spirits – Color Process – Prime category making it eligible for the Best in Show honor.

True to its roots, McDowell’s Best of Show label mimics the textured processing papers from the prohibition era. The judges were impressed by the way that the use of a proprietary coating gave the label the look and feel of an aged historical document. The print job’s registration was extremely tight, and the application included solid foil stamping and doming, as well.