BUENA PARK, Calif. — The Oscars honor great motion pictures. In the world of printing, distinguished publications receive a Premier Print Award, popularly known as a Benny in honor of colonial-era printer and founding father Benjamin Franklin. Recognizing the quality of Yamaha Entertainment Group's All Access magazine, a bi-annual backstage look at Yamaha artists and the instruments they use to create their sound, the Printing Industries of America, the world's largest graphic arts trade association, recently bestowed its coveted Benny to All Access in the category of Fashion/Popular Culture Magazine.
The magazine's printer, Dual Graphics of Brea, California, nominated All Access for the honor. The Benny Award is "held in high esteem amongst our industry," said Paul Carney, sales manager at Dual Graphics. "All Access is put together by people at Yamaha who really know what they're doing. There are dark, saturated colors, which can be a challenge, but they deliver it to us so that we can apply our knowledge and technique to achieve the top-of-the-line quality that won first prize. It's a beautiful magazine."
The award represents a team achievement between Yamaha Entertainment Group, which publishes the magazine and provides content for the publication, and Yamaha's Customer Experience Group, which is responsible for the design and print specifications.
"It starts with Yamaha Entertainment Group producing quality, interesting photography, which lends itself to good design and a sense of freedom," said Jeff Pagano, Creative Manager with the Yamaha Corporation of America's Customer Experience Group, who lays out the magazine and consults closely with Yamaha Entertainment Group on the final design. "They let us do some technical things that we don't get to do often, including ink tints that give an opacity to the look along with spot and dull varnishes, which lets you design gloss and dull effects onto the page."
The Premier Print Awards, the graphic arts industry's largest and most prestigious worldwide printing competition, recognizes outstanding achievement in print production. The awards are the industry's oldest and largest worldwide graphic arts competition, hosted by Printing Industries of America. In its 62nd year, the annual contest recognizes those responsible for the creation and production of superior print communications.
View the magazine, go behind the scenes of the photo shoots and watch the making of the magazine at YamahaAllAccess.com.
