According to Blythe, the piece is ‘a truly stunning piece of print’ that utilises ‘amazing’ photography, multi-colour separations, metallic inks and state of the art stochastic and cross modulation screening.

"Agfa’s corporate vision statement says ‘that in the future, imaging will increasingly hold the key to communication’, and I’m pleased to say the winning entry of our award embodies our vision statement perfectly," Blythe said.

The Agfa award is presented for the best example of a print piece that demonstrates ‘creativity’ as part of the imaging process, allowing a work to be judged for the way it is created and not just how it looks. ‘D&D&U’ was selected because of the creative imaging techniques used to produce it, such as the multi-colour separations and :Sublima cross-modulation and :Cristal Raster stochastic screening technologies.

"We took a creative approach from beginning to end, from the photography, graphic design, and prepress, to the printing and finishing," explains Zorec. "The idea of the piece was to show what capabilities and processes we can offer the market place, including some emerging, unique technologies." These innovations include D&D’s patented Multi Colour Process (MCP) that allows printing of up to 12 process colours plus metallic inks giving improved colour depth and brilliance, and the new :Sublima cross-modulation technology from Agfa (which combines AM and FM screening across shadows and highlights to provide more detail and fine tonal variations).

The ‘D&D&U’ brochure is a complex A4 multi-page booklet that includes double gatefold internal pages. Binding techniques combine saddle stitching and some hand bound and sewn sections. CPI supplies the media gloss paper, and the specially-formulated inks are environmentally-friendly. It is overprinted with a special varnish.

"Every part of the process has been done internally by D&D staff," boasts Zorec. "Nothing has been sent outside the company - the concept, design, prepress, printing and binding has all been done here. We wanted to show that we are no longer just a printing company, we are a global, cross-media group, and we can do everything from A to Z."

D&D Global Group is an innovative print and communication company that has found its niche as a leading producer of high quality printed products. The company is no stranger to awards, having received 75 national and international honours for print excellence since it was established in 1977. On May 11 this year the company was also inducted into the Victorian Manufacturers Hall of Fame.

The ‘D&D&U’ promotional brochure itself has already received international recognition. Last year, it was awarded three prestigious ‘Benny’s’ (statuettes in the likeness of early American printer Benjamin Franklin) from the Print Industry of America, being recognised as the ‘best of’ example in three categories - Service Booklets and Brochures - 4 or More Colours; Stochastic Printing; and Use of Environmentally Sound Materials. It also received Recognition Awards for Print and Graphic Arts Self Promotion, and Special Innovation Printing.

"D&D Global Group is a printing company that realises there is more to printing than simply putting ink on paper," says Blythe. "Of the samples I have seen, every piece is a creative and beautifully-crafted communications piece."