Heidelberg  colour management  finishing  proofing  awards  ADMA 
Ducor Group gained the coveted Heidelberg Award for Excellence in Craft at the National Print Awards in Sydney on May 12 for an elegant, hand-bound, limited edition book, ‘Marsupials of Australia’. The book is fully handcrafted using genuine leather and buckram on its cover, which also features a blind-embossed illustration on the leather panel and gold blocking on the spine.

‘Marsupials Australia’ features 50 full-colour reproductions of artist Rosemary Woodford Ganf’s watercolours. There is also one black and white drawing. The volume is 276 pages and is limited to 500 copies hand numbered and signed by the artist.

Ducor Group’s business development manager, Michael Haycroft says, “The book is an example of true craftsmanship and we are delighted to have received the Heidelberg Award for this project.”

The book took many months to produce with the artist, publisher and designer checking every page at proofing stage and again on the press to ensure the colour fidelity and reproduction of the original paintings, which feature throughout this volume.

“Every single colour page is a true reproduction of the artist’s works,” explains Haycroft. “The team who worked on the book went to painstaking lengths to ensure the quality of this project which spent six months in pre-press alone and more than two weeks on the press.”

Lisa Stark, general manager, sales and marketing for Ducor Group says the result is a book, which clearly demonstrates the company’s capabilities in the production of high quality, complex colour work.

“The completed book is beautiful – a real credit to the skills of our people and partners, and excellent teamwork. We believed it would win us the Heidelberg Award for Excellence in Craft,” says Stark.

“Naturally, when we received the Award we were absolutely delighted. Winning this Award sends a strong message to the market that we have attained the very highest level of quality and precision printing.

“Delivering this job has demonstrated our ability to successfully work on complex fine art projects as well as commercial work. It is particularly exciting to have won this award the same year as winning the contract to print Australian Census for 2006. It shows the broad capability and diversity of our Group”

Ducor Group is an amalgamation of three companies – West End Press, Norcross and Colourcraft, which share over 200 years of printing experience. This is the first Heidelberg Award for Excellence in Craft Ducor has won; however, Colourcraft has been awarded the honour three times – an unparalleled record in Australia.

On the winning entry, Andy Vels Jensen, managing director, Heidelberg Australia and New Zealand notes, “the craftsmanship that has gone into the production of this fine volume is clearly evident in every aspect of the project, from the accuracy of the watercolour reproductions through to the intricacies of hand binding.

“The artist must have been over the moon with the result. The Heidelberg award honours craft in print and the effort by Ducor to produce this book certainly stands out as exceptional in this regard. We extend our congratulations to all concerned; from the artist to the ever important prepress, to the printer and the individuals involved in the beautiful finishing work.”