Winner
Beamglow
www.beamglow.co.uk 01480 465012
Having been commended last year, we should all raise a glass to Beamglow's success this time around, which was thanks to its excellent work for whisky-makers The Edrington Group and Whyte and Mackay. The Cambridgeshire-based packaging printer won high praise for its "excellent use of foiling", "high-quality print" and its use of embossing and UV varnish, which gave "a feeling of exclusivity". Special mention was given to The Dalmore Gran Reserva carton and The Macallan Whisky Makers Edition packaging, the latter of which tested Beamglow to the limit, requiring three print passes, two hot-foil stamping passes and an embossing pass to achieve the required finish. The first print pass alone required two hits of white, gold for the small textured square on the front panel, light red and dark red for the background pattern, brown, black and then an all-over high-gloss varnish. The second pass was for selective matt and machine varnishes required to enhance the background pattern, while the third print pass was for the inside print. All three print passes were done on a Komori seven-colour with coater, while both hot-foil stamping passes, one for the gold and one for the metallic red, were carried out on a Bobst Speria Foilmaster. The cartons were embossed, die-cut and creased on a Bobst Evoline, before being folded and glued using a Bobst Alpina. The effort was worth it, however, as the judges unanimously voted Beamglow "the best in category", adding that its whisky cartons were "a very good example of high-end packaging". "They look prestigious, solid, and feature good use of materials making them feel luxurious," they said. While one judge memorably noted that "the printing and varnishing skills shown on the Macallan box are very impressive - does the printer have any spare filled samples?".

Finalists
Beamglow
Benson Group
CPC Packaging UK

Sponsored by
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