Four printers recently sprang into the national spotlight. Not only did they bring great honor to our under-publicized, under-appreciated and over-commoditized industry, they won the eternal gratitude of a certain editor, who was whirling like a dervish to keep pace with the traditional pre-Graph Expo frenzy and would otherwise have had to plagiarize something from Dick Vinocur's musty archives.

In recognition of these graphic-arts overachievers, I am proud to revive the AP Obie Awards. This award is shamelessly named after myself and inspired by the marketing principles of the great Earl Scheib. That's right. No ups, no extras. There's no fancy-pants dinner, no gaudy trophy and no elegantly inscribed certificate. Just this page, which is printed with TLC (not to mention soy ink) in Long Prairie, MN, and is eminently suitable for framing. And now, the 2003 Obie winners.

In the “Collect all 43 U.S. Presidents” category, we salute The Peerless Group of Graphic Services (Little Rock, AR). According to an Associated Press news story, The Peerless Group has printed a Bill Clinton trading card — the seventh in a series — on behalf of the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission. In addition to a photo of the card, the story also featured a photo of press operator Rick Styn and Greg Shira examining a sheet of the cards and noted that it took an hour “to print about 2,800 [preview] double-sided sheets, six cards wide and six cards long.”

Trade you two Bills for one Hillary

The first set of 300,000 Clinton cards was released in August 2001. The newest card features Clinton and his dog, Buddy. Will these free cards inspire tourists to flock to Hot Springs? Certainly, but it will obviously require a few million cards. (Yoo-hoo, PIANKO members, did you know eight U.S. presidents were born in Ohio?)

“Printing isn't Everything, It's the Only Thing” honors go to Ambrose Printing Co. (Nashville, TN). The printer was mentioned in a July 16 USA Today article on Georgia's football media guide. “In an innovation that is raising the bar in the world of college publications, Georgia boasts a three-dimensional cover with a variety of images,” writes reporter Thomas O'Toole. “In effect, there are two covers on one book.” Or, as those in the know would say, that's some darn fine lenticular printing.

But here's the really good part. Senior associate athletics director Claude Felton could not estimate the cost of the project “because the guide is part of a contract for all athletic publications.” Woo-hoo, Ambrose!

The 416-page book of statistics, history and biographies is given to media and football prospects and sold to fans for $20. The school printed 21,000, about 2,000 more than last year. Finally, a print run that isn't declining!

Rex Three (Sunrise, FL) wins “Hey, Let's Do This Every Month” accolades for its work on Folio:'s June 2003 cover. In his July editor's letter, Michael Learmonth explains that the cover was printed on metallized holographic paper. “It wouldn't have happened without some truly Herculean work by Rex Three,” he writes. “To make the image stick, Rex Three technicians hit the hologram with two coats of opaque white, then a pass of process white, then a pass of process ink and aqueous coating… The inks were custom-formulated… skilled press operators kept the inks from gumming up the press, and the press from scratching the holographic covers. The job was finished with 24 hours to spare. One problem: The inks take 48 hours to cure. So, to hit our ship deadline, Rex Three designed containers that allowed magazines to ship loose and dry on a truck over Memorial Day weekend.”

As we all know, editors specialize in complaints, not compliments. Kudos to Rex Three for going the extra mile and inspiring your customer to issue a public thank-you.

Put my ad on cover five

The “Your Ad Here” Obie goes to Concord Litho Group (Concord, NH) for creating Prevention magazine's novel “cover sleeve” advertising vehicle. Folio: reports that Jerry Wescott, vice president of direct-marketing services for Concord Litho, has developed a paper pocket with a small perforated tab that permits small pages to be securely held inside the cover of a magazine. Prevention's research indicates that 70 percent of its readers remember the cover sleeve, pull it out and interact with it. Now that's out-of-the-book thinking. Way to use the old noodle, Jerry!

Congratulations to all of our Obie Award winners. We're eagerly awaiting the 2004 nominations.