Sanpo-yoshi Communication
Sanpo-yoshi Communication
Sticker Label Contest
We recently received the announcement for the 30th Seal Label Contest. (Submissions open on July 1; deadline is August 20.)
I’ve participated in this contest six times in a row, starting with the 24th edition, and it’s been a great learning experience. The label contest features two categories: the “Open Category,” where participants compete with actual stickers and labels they’ve created and used—with no design restrictions—and the “Prescribed Category,” which showcases the technical skills of letterpress printing (using rotary and flatbed sticker printing presses).
The “mandatory challenges” are designed to push the limits of letterpress printing technology. Since the challenge creators are printing engineers themselves, they set extremely difficult designs for letterpress printing every time. Because we pay meticulous attention to every detail—from the plates and ink to the machine adjustments—in order to challenge the limits of letterpress printing, we gain new insights every time.
In the past, the team leader would submit the entry, but last year, as a first-time experiment, we invited applications from part-time printing operators, held an in-house preliminary round, and submitted the work of the person who performed the best.
We asked our printing operators—who typically focus on both quality and productivity—to take on the challenge of printing with a special emphasis on quality. The works they created for the preliminary round were even more impressive than we had imagined, and we were amazed by their high potential. As a result, they won first place in Japan for the fourth time in the “Standard Category.”
I was surprised at how much my skills improved just because of that one opportunity.
For the “Open Category,” I will submit two or three labels created over the past year that presented technical challenges. Over the past six years, I have won three Grand Prizes and two Special Awards in various categories at the World Label Contest, and at the Japan Label Contest, I have won first place overall once, second place overall once, and two top-tier awards.
We hold a contest every year, but a year goes by in the blink of an eye. When we receive inquiries from customers about label usage or come across innovative designs that seem like a good match for the items they’ll be applied to, we shift into “label contest mode.” Winning international or domestic label contests can also lead to coverage in some media outlets. We hope that by winning awards with our customers’ label designs, we can help promote their businesses and boost their sales.
Last year, for a label design project brought in by a client—which was intended for export—we focused on creating a product with the goal of winning the world’s top label contest. The product’s packaging itself was intriguing, and we tackled various challenges: how to incorporate the title and ingredient list, whether to include a Japanese aesthetic given the export nature of the product, and what new technologies to incorporate into the label design. Although the product wasn’t ultimately commercialized, it was a valuable experience to work together with the client, much like a club activity, to bring a single product to life. The techniques we developed during that project have also provided valuable insights for creating other products. I’m truly grateful.
We look forward to continuing to create interesting labels together with our customers. If we find a label that seems suitable for exhibition, we will ask you to submit it. We appreciate your cooperation in such cases.