Registrations are now open for the inaugural 2020 HP National Sign & Display Conference, and the associated HP Awards for Excellence, presented by ASGA and FESPA Australia, that will take place at Visual Impact Gold Coast. Award entries in 22 categories have been extended to 9 March.
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| Gold Coast Convention Centre after dark |
The inaugural National Conference for sign and display professionals will coincide with the Visual Impact Expo at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre at Broadbeach from 29 April, and is themed A Shared Vision – Better Business Together.
The two-day program will feature information sessions, keynote speakers and plenty of networking opportunities, all set at one of Australia’s most iconic locations, the beautiful Queensland Gold Coast.
Co-hosts FESPA Australia and ASGA recently announced the new conference, saying it was a ‘logical extension’ of their activities and reflected the strong cooperative relationship between the two industry organisations, which both work to support businesses in the sign, display, engraving, wide-format, screen and broader graphics sector.
The conference will commence with a Welcome Cocktail Party on the evening of Wednesday 29 April, followed by two days of conference sessions on Thursday 30 April and Friday 1 May.
Michael Punch, general manager of ASGA, says the program will address some of the industry’s most pressing issues, including legislative changes and hot topics like the impact of fire ratings and the challenges of sustainability.
“There will also be plenty of business insights, discussions on topics like leadership, digital marketing, stress and burnout, and we’re also looking forward to hearing from four-time Olympian and Winter Olympic Gold Medallist, Steve Bradbury, with a keynote message on motivation,” Punch said.
On the evening of Friday 1 May, ASGA and FESPA Australia will host the 2020 HP Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner, which organisers are calling the industry’s ‘night of nights’.
Award entries close: 11.59pm on Monday 9 March, 2020. Enter here. For enquiries, please contact jennyh@visualconnections.org.au
“The Awards will be a fantastic opportunity to get together with your industry colleagues and peers, to recognise and reward the achievement of excellence and to celebrate our diverse, exciting and dynamic industry,” says Nigel Davies, CEO of FESPA Australia, adding that a special ‘Recovery Breakfast’ has been scheduled for the following morning.
Providing value for conference delegates is the co-location with Visual Impact Gold Coast, which will showcase latest equipment, systems and solutions from leading industry suppliers, including many of the conference sponsors.
HP is the principal sponsor of both the conference and the awards. Gold sponsors include 3M, Amari Visual Solutions, Avery Dennison, FESPA, Epson, Euro Poles, Graphic Art Mart, and Visual Connections, while the list of Silver sponsors includes Adzon, Ball & Doggett, ChromaLuxe, Hosking Trade, Orafol, Sign Manufacturers’ Insurance Brokers (SMIB) and Trotec.
Those intending to attend the expo, conference or awards dinner can use the same, simple online system via the Visual Impact registration panel at www.visualconnections.org.au to enter their details and select a registration option.
For more information, and to view the conference brochure, go to www.visualimpact.org.au/gold-coast-exhibition-2020.
CATEGORIES
1. DIGITAL MEDIA (LED & LCD)
This Award covers signs that successfully integrate digital media such as LED or LCD or interactive mechanisms into a total signage solution. Entries will be indoor and outdoor signs that have scheduling, updating or content management capabilities. The ability of the signmaker to skilfully incorporate quality digital componentry into a sign with particular attention to the quality of the design craftsmanship and finish is important along with the “wow” factor to the viewer.
The entry must show the variety of the digital changes occurring in the sign. Signs may include pylon, directional, wayfinding, advertising and architectural applications.
- DIRECTIONAL & WAYFINDING SIGNS
This Award assesses the overall directional or wayfinding signage project and may include proprietary or non-proprietary signage systems or products, and signage can comprise any form.
- ENGRAVING
This Award covers any engraved sign or image using a rotary engraving machine or any laser produced sign or image using a CO2 laser machine. Output would include directories, nameplates, mimic panels, presentations and awards etc on any selected material.
- FABRICATION
This Award may include 3D fabricated letters, free standing plinth signs and may include metals, plastics and timber, hand carved or machine carved (or sculpted) signage in any material.
- FABRICATION – LARGE PYLON & SKY SIGNS
This Award includes pylon signs and sky signs and may include metals, plastics and timber, etc.
- FUNCTIONAL & INDUSTRIAL
This category will cover printed products such as printed electronics, membrane switches and overlays, electro-luminescent signage, In-Mold Decoration (IMD), solar cells, facias and interface products, glass and ceramic.
- ILLUMINATION – LEDs
This Award covers the design and application of LED technology in our industry scope. Entries must be accompanied by day and night photographs.
- ILLUMINATION – NEON
This Award covers applications of neon glass to illuminate signage or to create special lighting effects and may include signage on walls, advertising signs, shopfronts, skysigns, architectural applications etc. Entries must be accompanied by day and night photographs.
9. INSTALLATION
The skill and difficulty of installation and/or project management of installation projects: this could be in-house or a submission by the sub-contractor. If a sub-contractor has done the install, permission must have been obtained from the contracted principal company. Companies must describe the work that was performed by their staff and the work which was performed by sub- contractors.
10. LARGE FORMAT DIGITAL PRINT
This Award recognises and acknowledges the skill level based on accurately replicating the artwork provided including the colouring, its ‘wow’ factor and the strategic placement on a site to achieve maximum impact.
11. ORIGINAL IN-HOUSE DESIGN CONCEPT
This Award assesses the fundamental design aspects of a sign or display where the design concept was developed in-house, irrespective of whether the sign or display was manufactured in-house or contracted out to a third party.
12. PEOPLES’ CHOICE AWARD
This Award is separate from the main award categories in that it cannot be entered directly. All entries will be showcased online and judged by the community from Thursday 2 April to Thursday 30 April 2020. An entry which does not win in its original category or categories is still eligible to win this Award.
13. POINT OF PURCHASE PRODUCTS
This category will cover point of purchase displays printed on plastics, paper and board, fabrics. Can include backlit displays, lenticular and special effects.
14. PRINTED FABRICS & TEXTILES
This category will cover printed textiles & fabrics for soft signage, banners and flags, furnishings printed using direct to garment, sublimation.
15. RETAIL SIGN PACKAGE
This Award will recognise the skills involved in the design, manufacture and installation of the total signage package of a retail outlet. This can include the entire graphics package, even down to the stationery.
16. ROUTER OUTPUT
Entries for this Award need to be produced on a router and can be any sign, logo, image or output produced (excluding engraving see Category 6) where a sign, graphic or image is the main subject.
17. SMALL SIGN BUSINESS AWARD
This Award is open to businesses of five or fewer staff. It recognises small businesses who consistently turn out high quality work of any type of signage. Pictures should be included of work done between 1 July 2018 and 2 March 2020, which shows flair, expertise and quality workmanship (at least 4 projects). Provide a brief description of your business (how long trading, how many employees, type of services offered – eg design, manufacture, installation etc) along with some information on the difficulties overcome in the projects that you have showcased.
18. TRADITIONAL SIGNCRAFT SKILLS / AIRBRUSHING OR HANDPAINTED MURALS
This Award recognises and acknowledges the traditional hand skills still being practised in our industry today and may include hand lettering, mask and spray, signwriting, sandblasting, screen printing, gilding, glue chipping etc. Signage may include vehicles, walls, shopfronts, etc.
The Award also includes signage where airbrushing techniques or murals form a substantial part of the completed sign and may include signage on walls, vehicles, banners and general signage.
19. T-SHIRTS & GARMENTS
This category will cover T-Shirts and garments printed through screen printing, direct to garment, transfers and embroidery.
20. VEHICLE WRAPS – Full Vehicle
This Award recognises and encourages the specific skill required to design and apply signage known as “vehicle body wraps”. Vehicles may include cars, vans, buses, boats, trucks and bikes.
21. VINYL
This Award comprises signage predominantly made from “off the shelf” adhesive vinyls and may include signs on walls, vehicles, banners, shopfronts, stickers, decals and general signage. Vehicles may include cars, vans, buses, boats, trucks and bikes. It will include any design and application of a vehicle wrap and direct lettering.
22. YOUNG STAR AWARDS
This category will cover any outstanding work done across all the categories by those in our Training Centres in whatever year of their training.
