A new international award to celebrate creative industries
With a thriving global creative industry and numerous awards and prizes spanning various creative disciplines, the world seems saturated with accolades for design excellence. That might be true for some fields, such as web design or advertising, however, opportunities aren’t nearly as widespread for designers who specifically excel in design for print.
With a thriving global creative industry and numerous awards and prizes spanning various creative disciplines, the world seems saturated with accolades for design excellence. That might be true for some fields, such as web design or advertising, however, opportunities aren’t nearly as widespread for designers who specifically excel in design for print.
It begs the question of what designers can do to receive recognition for their creativity. To recognise excellence in designing for print, a level of expertise is crucial. It's more than just identifying a great idea, it's about seeing knowledge of the material, the skill of mastering complex print processes, and the resourcefulness to turn limitations into new possibilities.
With this in mind, Antalis decided to bring together a jury of industry experts who can recognise all the various aspects of great design for print and reach out to the vast creative community across the globe. Antalis realised it was perfectly placed to award designers and other stakeholders for their creativity in working with paper, as one of the world’s leading suppliers of creative papers, the company not only distributes vast amounts of paper in a wide variety of qualities but also nurtures knowledge and innovation within the creative industries through its Creative Power platform. Adding an award to that platform is a logical next step.
The Awards
The first edition of the Antalis Creative Power Awards is nothing less than impressive when you take notice of some of the numbers behind the project. With a total amount of submissions close to a thousand, there was an overwhelming interest within the community to share creative work. Antalis Creative Power received 770 printed, physical samples of work, ranging from brand identity packs to large, limited-edition posters and packaging collections. There was also a great representation of designers from the 30+ countries where Antalis is active.
The Awards are highly accessible, with no submission fee and a low participation requirement. One of the few criteria to be met is that projects use at least one of Antalis premium papers. It is hardly a limitation, as designers are spoilt for choice with the vast Antalis offering, with some of the industry's most loved paper stocks including Conqueror, Keaykolour, Curious Collection, Iggesund, MetsäBoard, Olin, and Pergraphica.
The jury convened in Paris to judge the projects entered into the Awards
The jury convened over two beautiful summer days in the centre of Paris, bringing together deeply knowledgeable experts with varying perspectives within the print industries. The jury consisted of experienced professionals from a wide range of design, communication and production roles: Yann Cloutier from Atelier Bulk, Emilios Theofanous from Monotype, Amy Nelson-Bennett from Positive Luxury, Martina Hahn Rodig from Hinderer + Mühlich, Elliott Moody from The Brand Identity, Laurent Nogues from Créanog, Golnar Roshan from Rive Roshan and Design & Practice and Laurence Chastaing from Chanel.
The jury sessions themselves embodied what Antalis Creative Power aims to achieve: to create a stage for creative experts to share perspectives, debate the developments in their field and share insights into future developments.
Awards Categories
Each category had its own winner’s trophy, designed by Maud Vantours
The Awards span eight categories – four focused on specific application typologies. The following have the most creative projects: Brand Identity & Stationery, Reports & Publishing, Packaging & Promotional, and Mailers & Invitations.
A selection of finalists for the categories for specific applications: Chinese New Year Red packet packaging by NowMatters Hong Kong,
Identity for LAB by Lobster Antwerp, and a pop-up book for glass company Lasvit by Studio Činčera
As Antalis is boosting its initiatives to support social and environmental best practices, four special prizes have been themed around critical topics which promote a more conscious and holistic approach in design and print.
One special prize for printed projects with a low environmental footprint was awarded as the Eco Conception award. With this prize, Antalis Creative Power wants to emphasise that the creative industries have the power to make a positive contribution towards reaching the world's climate goals.
Winner of the Eco-Conception category: a collaboration between MATH skincare and Miranda Printing to create packaging
with eco-focused materials and assembly that used no glue and minimal ink
In recent times, Creative Power has been running initiatives and articles under Design for Good. This is now one of the special prizes to applaud printed projects that use design to raise awareness around a specific cause or to support a charity or NGO.
The jury reviewing the Colours for Ukraine poster project, which won the Design for Good category
The Paper Stories category awards printed projects that tell a story through their paper choice, focusing on creativity’s emotional and narrative power. Choosing paper is a creative act and can be critical in setting a mood or expression within a design.
Coined by some as the prize among prizes, Print Excellence is the result of the jury choosing their favourite project from the selected finalists based on visual execution and printing techniques. All projects are automatically entered into this category.
Winner of the Print Excellence and Mailers & Invitations categories: Coffret Mémoire Poétique designed by Camille Vignaud,
a collection of flower photograms printed on cotton, woven and transparent papers
The Publication
A uniquely crafted publication was produced, featuring the work of all finalists and winners and documenting the work in photography and text to capture the breadth, diversity, and quality of the material these awards are centred around. This magazine aims to bring out the beauty and possibilities of print, with multiple creative papers used, including Olin Origins and Olin Design. The format – consisting of differently sized sections wrapping around each other – is designed to provide an instant view of this textural variety of papers.
Designed using multiple creative papers
Several of the jury members actively contributed to this magazine. Some of the articles on the winners were written by The Brand Identity, and the design of the publication was in the hands of Design & Practice. Hinderer + Mühlich produced the tool for the foil on the cover – a highly detailed micro-etched die to add visual depth and living proof of how well the paper receives this intricate hot foil pattern.
Details of the cover foiling and an inside spread from the Antalis Creative Power Awards Magazine
The impressive magazine is free and can be requested by anyone through the Antalis website. It contains a complete visual overview of the winners and finalists, background information about the Awards, an interview with the designer of the Awards, Maud Vantours, and more relevant information.
Pursuing to celebrate and support creative culture, the Antalis Awards will become an ever-growing platform with an ever-increasing reach, scale, and depth into the broader design community. As a biennial initiative, the next Awards will be around more quickly than you might think, so new opportunities for creative excellence are just around the corner!
Order your copy of the printed magazine for inspiration and to discover the creative expression involved.
