Zero Ink® concepts break the boundaries of traditional printing - robotic printers and social media crawlers win first place

BEDFORD, MASS., JULY 15, 2009 -- ZINK Imaging, makers of the award-winning ZINK® Zero Ink® digital printing technology, today publicly announced the winners of their first annual Zero Boundaries™ product design competition.

The contest participants leveraged the power of the ZINK Technology to challenge conventional printing norms with “uniquely ZINK” designs that provide new means for individual and commercial expression, enhance freedom and mobility, and make every day life better. Entrants were asked to design for two categories: the digital and mobile world of today’s youth and more forward-looking solutions for the designers' target of choice.

The top six winning design solutions were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges and a People’s Choice winner was chosen by the general public, with more than $25,000 in cash and prizes being awarded. The winners include both design firms and students of design, as well as represent the global design community, hailing from China, USA, Romania, Brazil, and the Netherlands. The winning solutions were judged and selected based on how they leveraged the benefits of the ZINK® Technology, more easily or uniquely fulfilled by ZINK vs. other printing technologies, brought relevance to a physical print in a digital age, and appealed to the target market.

ZINK MIX was the first place winner in the youth category, demonstrating keen insight into the youth market and the world of social networking. The ZINK MIX is an iPhone docking station with embedded ZINK printer that together with a ZINK iPhone app pioneers the social management of the hectic lifestyles and complex relationships of today’s youth. The ZINK MIX makes the gathering and printing of online content simple, fresh, and automatic thereby unlocking their digital world. The winning designer is Patrick Schuur from the design firm Maketropolis in the Netherlands. “The design challenge, that the youths live a second life online, is a very current and realistic one. In order to find an answer to the design problem I thought out a concept that appeals to the youths, is easy to carry around, is a meaningful application of ZINK’s printing technology, and is not too expensive and/or too difficult to manufacture.”

The Mini Giant was first place winner in the future category for breaking the traditional bonds between printer and paper. The Mini Giant is a robotic printer that self-propels itself over a sheet of ZINK Paper® of any size to create a print. Imagine, with the Mini Giant, a large format poster printer can now fit in the palm of your hand! The winning designer is Paula Adina Sumalan, a recently graduated design student from Romania. “Participating in the ZINK Zero Boundaries™ Design Competition and being selected as a finalist is proof for me that my work does have a value. Even though I am at the beginning of my career as a designer and I have not yet gathered much experience in this field, this accomplishment at a worldwide scale can be a starting point for me.”

Winners of second and third place in the youth category are the ZINK FIB, designed by Axis Design in the U.S., and the Phiary, designed by Guo Xiaolin, a Chinese design student.

Winners of second and third place in the future category are the Hanshi, designed by Axis Design, and the ZINK Pen, designed by the team of Jeffrey Gerlach and Nicholas Matarese, design students from Syracuse University in the U.S.

Winner of the People’s Choice award is the SmartBC, designed by Arthur Ditlef from Brazil.

“I would like to thank all the designers that participated in our first design contest,” said Wendy Caswell, CEO of ZINK Imaging. “The designs were incredibly well thought-through and truly showcase the breadth and disruptive nature of the future of printing that only ZINK can enable. The competition was very strong with so many great entries, making it very difficult for the judges to select the top winners.”

Check out the first place winners:
http://zinkzeroboundaries.com/zinkmix.html

http://ZINKZeroBoundaries.com/minigiant.html

View the entire Winners Gallery:
http://ZINKZeroBoundaries.com/winners.html

View the contest web site:
http://ZINKZeroBoundaries.com/index.html

Learn about ZINK and ZINK Imaging:
www.ZINK.com

About ZINK Imaging:
ZINK Imaging Inc., a privately held company, was founded to enable millions of customers to enjoy the magic of ZINK® Zero Ink® products. ZINK Imaging invented, manufactures, and is an OEM supplier of the ZINK Printing Technology and the award winning ZINK Paper® to partners that will bring ZINK-enabled products to market under their respective brands. ZINK Imaging’s headquarters and research and development labs are in Massachusetts, with a state of the art manufacturing facility in Whitsett, North Carolina. For more information, please visit www.ZINK.com.

The ZINK® Technology and ZINK® trademarks are owned by ZINK Imaging, Inc.