Ripon, Wis. – Ripon Printers and its client, Lake County Press, won a Silver Award in the Sappi 2018 Printer of the Year contest for an Indy 500 commemorative book. Created by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway marketing department’s internal design team and printed on Somerset Gloss Web, the book won in the general category.

Regarded as the world's most respected accolade of excellence in printed communications, the Sappi Printer of the Year award recognizes superior innovation and creativity in print for work produced on Sappi papers. The 2018 winners were chosen as the most outstanding print submissions from over 1,500 entries.

"Over the last 20 years, we’ve received more than 50,000 individual entries from over 8,500 North American printers. We’ve seen some of the most innovative and inspiring printing in our industry,” said Patti Groh, Director of Marketing Communications, Sappi North America.

A panel of highly regarded print professionals selected the winning entries based on the overall impact of the piece, degree of difficulty in printing techniques and technical excellence. Entrants competed in a variety of categories from books and brochures to direct mail, activated print and catalogs.

“The Indy 500 book presented a number of challenges that benefited from early collaboration between our teams,” says Ripon Printers’ President Julie Newhouse. “The book contained 30 3D images as well as tear-out, die-cut 3D glasses. The finished piece was stunning and a fun, interactive read. We’re honored to be part of such an innovative and collaborative production process,” Newhouse concluded. 

Doug Dewitt, Regional VP Sales for Lake County Press, agrees, adding, "It was a full collaboration between our two companies in delivering the program for the biggest single day sporting event in the world - The Indianapolis 500 Mile Race."