NEWS RELEASE

SDC Colour Innovation Award 2008

• International Colour Competition Attracts Record Breaking Entry
• SDC Announces Finalists’ Names

The finalists for this year’s SDC Colour Innovation Award, the fifth biennial competition of its type run by the Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC), have now been announced. An unprecedented number of entries were received from 17 countries across the globe, including for the first time entries from Brazil, Italy and Slovenia, with the number of entries received from the USA being the second highest after the UK.

Entries were invited from seven sectors: science & technology, manufacturing & retailing and – for the first time – design, education & media. All entries offered a unique contribution to colour and focused on innovations right across the spectrum, including incorporating colour-change ink and electronics into textiles, the novel coloration of plastics and leather, the innovative use of coloured lights, the study of colour in nature leading to applications development for use in cosmetics, and varying educational approaches to colour, from a cross-disciplinary approach to a resource for historians and conservators.

The judging of this competition took place earlier this month with the expert contributions of: Adrian Abel (pigment specialist), Wayne Hemingway (designer), Dr Ian Holme (author and lecturer), Prof. David Lewis (dye chemist), Janet Robinson (fabric technologist) and Sue Williams (colour consultant). The three finalists selected by the judges are:

– Dyeable Polypropylene Fibre
BASF (Germany)
– Neutral Grey-Colouring Photochromic Dyes
James Robinson Ltd (UK)
– Novacron NC Reactive Dyes
Huntsman Textile Effects (Switzerland)

The overall winner will be announced on Friday 18 April at the awards dinner in Bradford following on from the Society’s Day of Celebration. A prize of £1500 will go to the winning organisation, to be spent on education and training in the field of colour, as well as the SDC Colour Innovation Award trophy and two years' free membership of the SDC Patron Supporter Scheme.

Further information about the awards dinner can be obtained from the SDC. Email |tel: +44(0)1274 725138 ext. 203

For more information about this release contact the SDC press office.