PEWAUKEE, WI — June 5, 2025 — The Great Lakes Graphics Association (GLGA) has revealed the top winners of their 2025 Graphics Excellence Awards at their annual Awards Celebrations.
The Awards Celebrations are the culmination of the annual GEA competition, which recognizes companies throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin for superb craftsmanship in the design, creation and production of outstanding printed projects they produce for their customers. Again this year, there were two award ceremonies on separate nights so that more members throughout GLGA’s three-state region could attend. On Tuesday, May 27, 2025, a Celebration was held at the Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; on Thursday, May 29, 2025, a Celebration was held at White Pines Golf Club and Banquets in Bensenville, Illinois.
Best of Show, the competition’s highest honor, was awarded to Yorke Printe Shoppe of Lombard, Illinois, for their entry in the Booklets (4 or more colors) category entitled Get Ready to Roll. The judges called the piece “a visual smorgasbord.”
First Runner-Up was awarded to HardingPoorman of Indianapolis, Indiana, for their PHOENIX – A Purdue Basketball Story in the Hard Cover Trade Books, Journals and Other Books category.
Second Runner-Up honors were presented to LCP, Waukegan, Illinois, for their LCP 2025 Calendar in the Calendars category.
Best of Illinois went to Quantum Group, Morton Grove, Illinois, for their BIOLUMEN Warhead 3 Book Set in the Soft Cover Books category. Best of Indiana featured the Tactive Eclipse Kit from the Direct Mail Campaigns, Business-to-Business category by Tactive, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Color Ink, Inc., Sussex, Wisconsin, took Best of Wisconsin honors with their PETCO In Store Floor Display entry in the Point-of-Purchase Floor/Stand Alone category.
People’s Choice honors were awarded in each location, with each winner selected by a vote of the attendees at their respective Celebrations. American Printing Company of Madison, Wisconsin, won the Milwaukee attendees’ vote for People’s Choice for their Glaze & Foil 101 Brochure in the Brochures and Broadsides (4 or more colors) category. The Chicagoland attendees agreed with our judges – they also selected our Best of Show, Yorke Printe Shoppe’s Get Ready to Roll booklet, for their People’s Choice honors.
The GEAs competition was judged over two days in March by a panel of outside graphics experts, who brought almost 100 years of collective print, finishing and converting experience to their evaluation of the contenders. There was a wide range of excellent entries including posters and calendars, books and catalogs, labels and tags, wide format, and packaging.
Joseph Lyman, president of GLGA, is extremely proud of the quality of work submitted in the 2025 GEA competition and the results it produced. “As one of the largest regional graphic competitions in North America, the Graphics Excellence Awards demonstrate the outstanding the quality of work produced in our region,” Lyman said. “We are extremely proud to represent such exceptional print organizations.”
About the Great Lakes Graphics Association:
The Great Lakes Graphics Association is the trade association dedicated to representing the graphic arts industry throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin through education, promotion, and public affairs. It represents approximately 13 percent of the total print market in the United States with its three-state region, accounting for combined annual shipments of nearly $19 billion. Founded in 1886, GLGA celebrated its 135 year anniversary in 2021 and continues to be the oldest print trade association in North America.
