Quality

At National Geographic we've always prided ourselves on the quality of our cartography. But there's another factor that plays into the quality of our maps, and that is manufacturing.

National Geographic Maps production manager Dutch Holland accepts a "Benny" -- one of the printing industry's highest honors -- for the six-by-four-foot United States Executive map. The presentation was made by Janet Green, head of the board of Printing Industries of America and Graphic Arts Technical Foundation at a recent Premier Print Awards gala in Chicago. Dutch supervised the printing of the map done by National Print Group in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 70 "Benny" winners were chosen from a field of 5,200 entrants. NatGeo's Production Services VP Hans Wegner said maps are among "the most difficult thing to print well, and the primary reason our maps always look good is that we have Dutch at press side."