FESPA Awards 2019 judges share insight into what they are looking for this year part 4
FESPA has received fantastic Award entries from our valued print community. We speak to our esteemed judges, who have given us an insight into what they are looking for in your entries. In part 4, FESPA speaks to Graeme Richardson-Locke.
In our fourth part of our five-part series we speak to Graeme Richardson-Locke, another member of our respected judging panel. Graeme, FESPA's Technical Support Manager has worked in screen and digital printing for over 30 years and has managed his own print shops and businesses. Quality is inherent in his products as is why he will be requiring excellence in the Awards entries this year.
What made you want to be on the judging panel of the 2019 Awards?
“This will be my fourth consecutive year on the awards judging panel and as before I know that I will see some fantastic entries. I love the challenge of remaining as objective as possible and looking beyond the aesthetics to the production technique. As the weighting of the scoring system prioritises technical merit over the look, it is important to understand the methods used. The satisfaction comes from working amongst a team of very able and experienced people.”
What are you looking for in an entry?
“I look for innovation, as excellence is a must. I am also interested in how printers combine processes to produce amazing results.”
What is your favourite category to judge?
“Given that I have a long interest in screen printed fine art, this category is a favourite, however, I am interested in all the categories in the competition.”
Where do you see the future of print going?
“It is my view that print will remain strong across its wide range of applications, with inkjet growing in higher volume markets now that single pass presses are gaining ground. The challenge for printers is to prevent the race to the bottom on pricing by finding novel niche applications and be the best. Alternatively, you’ll have to be the fastest and cheapest in volume production to succeed. The value in the awards programme is maximising your PR from the validation you’ll get from a win.”
What is the biggest challenge that you feel entrants have?
“The entrants need to ensure that they present their work with good technical information. The more supportive information you provide, the better your chance of showing your talent to the judging panel.
Every year we see both small and large printers receiving accolades but following the rules in detail matters, don’t skip on the detail. Also, if your project is on a massive scale that prevents the whole thing being submitted, supply physical samples of key elements along with photos and footage.”
Graeme will judge the Awards entries in February at FESPA’s Head Office. There’s still time to enter the 2019 FESPA Awards, with entries closing on the 25th January 2019. Remember – you don’t have to supply your physical sample until the 20th February 2019.
Every year we see both small and large printers receiving accolades but following the rules in detail matters, don’t skip on the detail. Also, if your project is on a massive scale that prevents the whole thing being submitted, supply physical samples of key elements along with photos and footage.”
Graeme will judge the Awards entries in February at FESPA’s Head Office. There’s still time to enter the 2019 FESPA Awards, with entries closing on the 25th January 2019. Remember – you don’t have to supply your physical sample until the 20th February 2019.
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