The awards, which are open to any printer in the world, will culminate in a prize-giving ceremony at Fespa’s Gala Dinner on 9 March 2016.
Fespa head of events Duncan MacOwan said: "This is the 33rd year we have run the competition and expect the calibre of entries to be just as great, if not greater, than in 2015.
“There were some extremely valuable works of art in terms of the fine art entries in 2015 and also some really innovative pieces in both the garments category and the point of purchase category, so we’re hoping that we’ll see bigger and better stuff in 2016.”
He added: "The Fespa Awards are a great way to showcase the success and creativity of print across digital, screen and textile disciplines.
“It is a platform to inspire our global print community and to motivate other printers to push the boundaries of print."
The awards will consist of 15 categories covering a variety of application themes, including in-store, fine art, decals, outdoor and vehicle decoration, special effects, garment and wearables, interior decor, and industrial and functional printing. There is also a new category for non-printed signage.
“We’ve seen an increase in people attending the European Sign Expo, which is focused on non-printed signage and there’s a lot of exciting work done in that space,” said MacOwan.
“There’s a whole raft of activity out there for signmakers, and indeed printers, which is non-printed but which we feel should be recognised for excellence as well.”
MacOwan said Fespa has consolidated the number of categories from 21 last year to 15 “to make better sense to the entrants and to be as relevant as possible”.
Each category can be entered with work created using a digital print process, a screen print process or a combination of any print process.
Entrants have until 29 January 2016 to submit their work, which will be judged by an independent panel of global industry experts.
Judges already confirmed are Jacek Stencel, founder of print and finishing business PASJA, and screen printing specialist Josep Tobella.
Outside of the application-led categories, there are three other separate categories; Young Star, Best in Show and People's Choice.
The Young Star award is open to any employee or student in a print-related discipline aged between 16 and 25. Best in Show is decided by the judges, from the shortlisted entries, for the piece of work that offers the most outstanding example of print.
The Fespa community votes for the People’s Choice award online. Voting will open on 15 February 2016.
"Winning a Fespa Award offers significant credibility to a print business providing the perfect platform to showcase their skill and expertise, which enables printers to instill confidence in their customers and support new business ventures," said MacOwan.
“There are definitely examples of winners that have picked up work from both the exposure they’ve received for winning the award and also through people feeling reassured by the work that they’ve done and the recognition it’s received.
“All of the entrants also receive feedback from the judges about what they like and what they could improve or think about for the future when doing future projects.”
For more information, visit: www.fespa.com/awards.
