This year’s Print Futures Awards, boosted by a £30,000 cash injection from The Printing Charity, attracted a record number of applications and winners. The 17 winners were presented with their awards at The Printing Charity’s reception for the industry hosted by Baroness Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde on 23 July at the House of Lords.
Judging this year took place over two days in June at the St Bride Foundation. The 22 applicants shortlisted from the 60 who applied included young people undertaking apprenticeships in the printing industry, design courses at university through to studying for an MA in journalism.
“The winners impressed the judges with their passion for printing methods, design, all aspects of packaging, colour technology, writing, the feel of a printed book in their hands and the smell of ink on paper,” said Stephen Gilbert, chief executive of The Printing Charity.
The annual Print Futures Awards, now in their tenth year, are sponsored by The Printing Charity, Unite the Union and the British Printing Industries Federation. They are for cash grants of up to £1,500 each for young people aged 16 to 30 years to help pay for any costs associated with a training course for a job in printing, publishing or graphic arts in the UK.
This year’s winners are:
Jennifer Chattaway
Jennifer has won a place on the City University MA course in magazine journalism after gaining 2.1 in English at Nottingham. She loves creative writing and hopes for a future job on a national consumer magazine.
Charlotte Corner
Just graduating with a first class honours degree in journalism, Charlotte declares “a passion and burning desire for print”. She has founded and edited the Cheerleader, a magazine for the cheerleading community, with limited resources. She will use her Award to help develop the magazine as a viable publishing project. Her enthusiasm to create a professional magazine from scratch has earned her Award.
Daniel Crossfield
Daniel comes from Wakefield and has completed a BTec in Information Technology and now plans a BTec in Business Studies at Barnsley College. “My parents have had a printing business from before I was born,” he says.
Sarah Green
Another Leeds student completing her BA in Design & Colour Technology, Sarah says she loves the printing industry from a design point of view. “Now I have to ensure my skills match my determination,” she says. Sarah’s award will fund a laptop and software to help her develop a strong portfolio.
Oliver Griffin
Oliver has a 2.1 in English Literature and now plans to study for an MA in magazine journalism at City University. His long-term interest is in travel and travel news. “I have always admired writers who can entertain and captivate me. Now I want to captivate readers of my own!”
Alex Gross
Alex is a student at the London College of Communication where he is reading for a BA in Graphic & Media Design. He has just finished his second year and now plans a series of internships in London and Amsterdam and an additional Diploma in Professional Studies. He is fascinated by the letterpress process, having recently acquired an ancient 8X5 Adana machine.
Michael Hood
Michael is a trainee customer adviser with Severnprint and is studying print administration under the watchful eye of BPIF Training. He plans to go on an account management course and ultimately gain a place on his company’s sales team.
Anita Hossain
Just completing her final year of a Design & Colour Technology BA at the University of Leeds, Anita has now won a prized, one-year unpaid internship with cosmetics giant Estée Lauder - the cosmetics industry being her chosen target. This now means a move to London and the Award will fund her greatly increased costs.
Calum Jacobs
Calum is a Design & Colour Technology student at the University of Leeds, just finishing his second year. He is from Dorset and his father runs a direct mailing company. Calum is looking for industry placements to further his experience. “I see my future being heavily involved in print,” he says.
Chris Jeeves
Chris is another Shillington College design graduate who, as well as winning a Print Futures Award, has just secured a job as a junior designer with a top estate agent in its London head office. He already has a BA Hons in English Studies and Philosophy from Oxford Brookes.
Ralph Jones
Ralph has given up his job as a production assistant with a publisher to move to London and study for an MA in magazine journalism at City University. “Writing is something I cannot imagine being without,” he told the Print Futures Awards’ judges.
Andrei Kazak
Andrei, a final year Design & Colour Technology student from the University of Leeds, hails from landlocked Belarus. For him colour science neatly twins together art and science and for the future he has his eye on the packaging industry. Andrei has previously studied theology, psychology and Spanish.
Benjamin Levermore
Ben has given up work to study graphic design full-time at Shillington College (“I’m loving it!” he told the judges.) He has a very varied background, including a BTec in music where he achieved a raft of merits and distinctions.
Katie Martin
Katie, a graphic designer, plans a career in “sustainable design”. She is at the end of her second year of a BA Graphic & Communication Design at the University of Leeds and will now take a year out in industry, including unpaid work at the Sydney Festival, using her Award to help pay her air fare and living expenses.
Natalie Metcalfe
Natalie has recently completed a design course at Shillington College, Manchester. After a BA Hons in Business IT at Huddersfield and five years as a secondary school teacher, she admits she was on the wrong path and is now delighted to be on course for a career in graphic design.
Dominic Novelli
A digital print, print and mail apprentice at Fujitsu IcI Computers in Cheshire, Dominic first came before the judges in 2012. He so impressed the panel that he was invited to apply again in 2013 after another year’s industry experience.
Laura Price
Laura, from Huddersfield, begins a City University MA in magazine journalism in September after working for eight years at Bloomberg and Facebook. Her goal is to be the editor of a national consumer magazine. She already has a BA Hons in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies and a Diploma in Translation from the Institute of Linguistics.
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