ImagesMagUK_October_2020

INDUSTRY NEWS www.images-magazine.com 20 images OCTOBER 2020 Mimaki Europe has appointed Takahiro Hiraki as its new managing director, with Ryosuke Nakayama named as his executive assistant. Takahiro Hiraki has over 20 years’ experience at the company, having joined Mimaki Engineering in 1997 as a sales representative for the Mimaki CF-series. He subsequently developed his expertise in Mimaki’s print-and-cut technology, occupying various senior sales positions, which included taking responsibility for larger teams and new and emerging markets. Takahiro commented: “My goal as MD for Mimaki Europe is to further develop relationships with our partners and customers to meet the evolving local needs of these businesses and take Mimaki Europe into its next phase of success.” Ryosuke Nakayama joined Mimaki Engineering in 2012. His extensive experience, expertise and diverse skill-set will be substantial assets to the Mimaki Europe management team, commented the company. imagesmag.uk/Hiraki- Nakayama CHANGING FACES Takahiro Hiraki Stay in the picture with our Instagram feed and stories: @imagesmaguk Banana Moon crowns winner of social distancing T-shirt competition Banana Moon has announced the winner of its competition to design a brand-inspired T-shirt promoting social distancing. In conjunction with the Bank of Creativity’s ‘One Minute Briefs’, Banana Moon challenged members of the UK’s creative industry to create a T-shirt design that used a well-known high-street brand of their choice to promote social distancing. The competition received over 275 entries, with Banana Moon crowning Bristol-based graphic designer Scott McIntosh as the winner with his Ikea T-shirt design, offering his own take on the brand’s iconic flat-pack instructions. Scott received a printed T-shirt featuring his winning design, as well as a £200 Banana Moon voucher. imagesmag.uk/Banana-Moon-IKEA Fespa Awards 2020 winners announced Fespa announced the winners of this year’s Fespa Awards during an online ceremony hosted by its technical support manager, Graeme Richardson-Locke. The awards received entries in 18 categories from companies across 27 countries. Gold award winners included Elixir Unlimited from India, in the ‘Special Effect on T-shirts, Garments and Other Textiles’ category, Russian company iMaika, which won the ‘Printed Garments’ category, and The Look Company from Qatar, winners of both the ‘Roll-to-roll Printed Textiles’ category and a Best in Show award for its entry ‘Anoc World Beach Games’. Entries were also invited for the Young Star category for junior print industry employees, trainees or students aged between 16 and 25. The 2020 Young Star winner was PVG’s Maharashtra Institute of Printing Technology in India for their entry ‘Save Tigers Before They are Silenced Forever’. imagesmag.uk/Fespa-Awards-2020 Scott McIntosh’s winning Ikea-inspired design UK government launches job creation scheme for under-24s Applications for the UK government’s new job creation scheme for young people are now open. By signing up to the Kickstart scheme, which launched in September, businesses will be able to offer government-subsidised work placements for young people aged 16- 24 who are claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. Through the £2bn scheme, the government will pay the wages of new young employees for the first six months, covering 100% of the national minimum wage, national insurance and pension contributions for 25 hours a week, with employers able to top the wage up. The government will also pay employers £1,500 to set up support and training for young employees on the scheme, as well as help pay for uniforms and other set-up costs. The Kickstart scheme will initially be open until December 2021, with the option of it being extended. For more details and to apply, visit: imagesmag.uk/kickstart-scheme Ryosuke Nakayama