BYU, UNT top winners of the In-Print 2011 Best of Show awards in offset and non-offset

In a ceremony on June 8 in Charleston, S.C., the winners of the In-Print 2011 Best of Show awards were revealed. Brigham Young University was honored with the top award out of all the Gold winners in the offset categories, while the University of North Texas won the Best of Show award for the second year in a row in the non-offset categories.

The two winners were announced at the end of the awards ceremony, after all of the Gold winners were recognized. Prior to the ceremony, all of the Gold, Silver and Bronze plaques were on display at a reception, along with samples of the printed pieces that won.

"It was awesome!" enthused BYU's Doug Maxwell. "I was really pleased. It was a challenging piece for us."

Challenging because each of the winning BYU booklet's eight pages had an intricate die-cut, all of them done in-house. Similarly challenging with the non-offset Best of Show winner produced by UNT, a glossy invitation with a perfect gatefold.

"It was a tough piece," remarked UNT's Jimmy Friend. "I felt that if we had a chance, it would be with that piece." (Watch a video of IPG's Bob Neubauer interviewing BYU's Doug Maxwell and UNT's Jimmy Friend immediately after they received their awards.)

To reveal the winners, IPG Editor Bob Neubauer played two videos for the crowd showing the judges selecting each of the two Best of Show winners (links to videos below). The non-offset contest was particularly close, with an excellent Briggs & Stratton piece providing some very tough competition for the winning UNT piece. The judges took a very long time to make their decision.

"To see it get down to the final two...it was just really exciting," says Friend.
On the offset side, the winning BYU piece beat out a photo-filled book from the University of Oklahoma thanks to the complexity of its many die-cuts.

"It's nice to work at a place where you get opportunities to do pieces like this occasionally," said Maxwell.

Watch the judges select the Best of Show winners in these videos: