Letterpress triumphs at Pride In Print

GTO Printers, a niche printing business from Auckland’s North Shore, has beaten the big companies to win the Pride In Print supreme award for 2014.

Graham Judd, owner at GTO, has headed a revival in letterpress over the past decade. Head of the Letterpress Association, Judd runs courses in the craft from the Birkenhead premises and has devoted an enormous amount of his spare time to keeping Letterpress alive. He couldn’t make the awards event last Friday night, having shouted his family a trip to New York to celebrate his birthday.

Instead, Jane Cain, assistant manager at GTO (pictured above), stepped up to accept the supreme award for Judd. She says, “It is a wonderful reward. I have worked for Graham for 19 years and he is so passionate about printing. He’ll never retire; he loves it.”

The set of four prints, printed in black and brown on a 47-year-old one-colour press, won unanimous approval from the judges for craftsmanship,

technical mastery and high-art appeal. Judges’ comments included: “It doesn’t get better than this,” “A brilliant retention of the finest details, particularly considering the impact process in the press,” “Stunningly beautiful prints, “An amazing job.”

Judge Symon Yendoll says, “In all my years as a Pride In Print judge I have never seen any entry with so many positive comments from judges. Everyone gave it 10 out of 10. If you are talking about craft achievements, this is unbelievable. Craft-wise, letterpress is as hard as it gets. The level of detail is incredible. In one print, one of the bird’s eyes is open. It is tiny, like a pinprick and yet it is as clear as can be. That is extremely difficult to do.

“The end result is a virtual 3D effect.”

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