FESPA is a federation of trade associations and an organizer of exhibitions and conferences for the screen and digital printing industry. They hold an annual exhibition, which includes a gala, awards ceremony to showcase and recognize the best printers in the world. McGowans triumphed in the digital print category of Point of Purchase Products – Paper & Board.
The award was presented in Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam in the Netherlands on Wednesday 9th March 2016.
The entry was a palette arch produced for Coca Cola Ireland specifically for the Christmas market. Designed to draw attention to Coca Cola products in stores around Ireland, the arch proved so successful it even went viral for Coke on their social media platforms.
Designed by Gillian Barry, senior designer at McGowans using Adobe’s creative cloud suite of products, predominantly Adobe Illustrator, the structural side of the project was produced by Chris O’Brien of McGowans using Artios CAD and over 30 years of experience.
Printed on the Durst 1030, a large format inkjet flatbed printer that is capable of producing quality unrivalled in the digital print industry and cut on the Konsberg XP digital cutting table. 40% of the points awarded were based on print quality and colour appearance so Durst can to take some of the credit for this Gold Award.
McGowans print has been in business for more than a quarter of century and has grown from a small city centre shop to an industry leading giant employing over 100 people between its two locations in Belfast and its enormous facility in North Dublin. Boasting cutting edge equipment capable of printing everything from business cards to banners, it had a turnover of over €12 million last year. Continued reinvestment will see McGowans remaining as Ireland’s leading digital printer for many years to come.
