Winner
Graf (a Harlequin Group company)
www.graf-print.com 01707 636380
Graf absolutely blitzed the poster awards this year, emerging as the clear winner thanks to the superb quality running through all of its submissions. Its "outstanding" Hobbs poster shocked the judges by outperforming the proof. The poster, which featured images supplied by the client and processed via Mac, was printed digitally at 1,080dpi on the firm's Vutek QS 2000 in four-colour process, before trimming to size on a Zund cutter. "Brilliant," was the judges' assessment. "The print is better than the proof and with a very challenging image," they added. Also included in the Harlequin Group-subsidiary's entry was a Gap bike graphic, which was also printed in four colours on Graf's Vutek QS 2000, before being trimmed to size in two sections on a Zund cutter. Gap Girl and Moss Man posters rounded off the company's entry, maintaining the high standard it set with the Hobbs poster. The judges described the overall entry as "a very consistent set of posters with a couple of standouts across a range of different images".

Commended
Augustus Martin
www.augustusmartin.com 020 7537 4200
Augustus Martin has repeated its success of the past two years, making it three years in a row with this commendation. Its Lucozade Energy - Do More poster, printed for GSK, really stood out and impressed the judges with its bright vibrant bubbles alongside natural-looking content. The poster was printed in four colours on Augustus Martin's KBA Rapida 205 on 130gsm Matt Cartridge. Its other submissions included the 48-sheet Ribena Canoeing poster, which featured a bright, colourful river of Ribena and was printed on 115gsm Blueback.

Finalists
Augustus Martin
Graf (a Harlequin Group company)
SMP Group

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