Winning Our Best of Wide Format Awards Isn’t Just Luck

HAPPY SPRING, PRINTERS!

Guess what? I raised a pig in high school. No, I wasn’t a farmer’s daughter; just a girl with one senior elective needed to graduate. So I took Ag and raised Tarzan from the time he was a little squeaker until the stock show. Much to the disdain of the real cowboys and cowgirls showing that year, I won Grand Champion/Best of Show. Pure luck.

If you’re like me, you love a good, healthy competition. It forces me to be my better self. So unlike my perfect pig, it wasn’t luck that got this year’s winners of the Sixth Annual Best of Wide Format Awards to be named the best in the industry. It was based on skill, innovation, creativity, and technical ability.

This year’s 10 winners represent the best of the best out of a slew of excellent nominees. The judging and winners’ decision wasn’t easy, but in this special ISA Sign Expo issue we present the 2024 winners. All will be honored at the ISA show in Orlando on April 10 at 4:00 p.m. in the Signs of the Times booth, #2900. If you’re attending the show, please join us in honoring these deserving printers in achieving this awesome honor.

I’d love to hear your feedback. Do you have a favorite? Let us know! Email me your thoughts any time at marcia.derryberry@smartworkmedia.com.

Also, consider joining our Brain Squad, a group of your printer peers who we survey to get insights into what’s going on in your world. Each month, we send a quick 5-minute survey for your responses. We frequently use the results in this magazine — so this is a great chance for you to be heard within the wide-format industry. Sign up at bigpicturemag.com/brainsquad.

Smart Tips From This Issue

In the Adobe programs, default RGB and CMYK working spaces are set to sRGB and U.S. Web Coated SWOP respectively. It is generally recommended that these be changed to Adobe RGB 1998 and Coated GRACoL 2006, both newer profiles with larger color gamuts. (Shelby Sapusek, 42)
Consume content at 1.5 times speed. Studies show that retention rate doesn’t start to drop until around 2X speed. (Tip Sheet, 38)
Jim Dittmer’s most influential book ever is a classic — How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Try recommending it to a young person in your business. (Do You Or Don’t You, 48)