Menu
When it comes to print, there’s craft—and then there’s Thysse. We’re thrilled to share that our team took home multiple accolades at the 2025 Graphics Excellence Awards, hosted by the Great Lakes Graphics Association (GLGA). In total, seven print pieces earned a total 8 awards including:
One Best of Category (aka Best in Class)
Seven Awards of Excellence
Two Certificates of Merit
While we’re proud of the awards themselves, it’s the stories behind the pieces—and the collaboration, innovation, and purpose that went into them—that really shine.
Awards: Best of Category (Cards), Award of Excellence (Variable Data Digital Printing), Certificate of Merit (Innovative Printing)
A snowy alpine scene, a hidden sleigh in the sky, and a journey that begins with a map.
Our 2025 holiday card pulled out all the stops. The cover featured a serene nighttime winter landscape with hidden, light-sensitive dispersion elements that revealed Santa and forest wildlife only when the light hit just right. Inside, metallic foil snowflakes and swirling wind lines surrounded a personalized map, showing the actual driving route between Thysse and the recipient’s business. Each card was further customized with the recipient’s name and a photo of their Thysse account contact—making the message, "From our family to yours... here’s to the journey ahead," truly heartfelt.
Built with an offset press shell, variable digital data, and foil stamping, the card blended multiple technologies in a seamless and beautifully executed way.
For clients exploring how to elevate year-end communications or connect on a more personal level, this project shows how thoughtful print design can make a lasting impression.
Awards: Award of Excellence (Service Catalogs), Award of Excellence (Embossing/Debossing)
Sometimes, less really is more. Our Facility Branding Look Book was a study in elegance and restraint. Crafted on premium black stock with a tactile, soft-touch finish, the cover featured a debossed topographic line motif with a gold foil-stamped Thysse logo. Inside, readers found a curated collection of past Facility Branding projects—an inspiring look at what our team can help bring to life.
If you’re considering an environment refresh or want to better reflect your brand in physical space, this piece is a glimpse into the possibilities, and we’d be happy to mail you one.
Award: Award of Excellence (Internal Communication Pieces)
Shared with every member of Team Thysse, our 62-page employee handbook is more than policy—it’s a deeply significant wayfinding guide. Inside are the values, behaviors, and commitments that define who we are, including a letter from our owner, our history, and illustrations of what makes Thysse one of the most sought-after places to work in our industry. The power of a vibrant, healthy culture benefits everything it touches, internally and externally. Like all things healthy, it takes dedication, action and effort to nurture–and this is one of the many ways Thysse does it.
If you're building culture and connection inside your organization, your internal materials deserve just as much attention as your external ones.
Award: Award of Excellence (Newsletters)
Folded like a traditional broadsheet newspaper, Press & Pixel is our internal newsletter and a labor of love. Every issue contains department updates, personal milestones (babies, birthdays, retirements), and even playful KPIs like how many types of coffee or tea we’ve consumed since the last issue, and how many! More than just updates, it keeps our team connected, informed, and smiling…another manifestation of our commitment to investing in our team culture.
It's a reminder that even small touches in internal communication can foster stronger alignment and community. The byproduct is, as we like to say, “good things happen.”
Awards: Award of Excellence (Calendars), Award of Excellence (Foil Stamping)
Each year, we challenge ourselves to make our calendar more creative than the last. The 2025 edition was all about maps: treasure maps, cloud maps, metro maps, even a cork map with client pins. Foil embellishments transformed the July "strata" map into a molten, abstract American flag. The calendar also included perforated bonus year-at-a-glance pages for 2025 and 2026—tactile, useful, and a pleasant surprise.
For brands looking to push creative boundaries and offer unexpected value, this calendar is a case study in how design, function, and storytelling can come together. And, stay tuned for more behind the scenes looks into the 2026 calendar, already in development! This year, we’re sharing the entire process.
Award: Certificate of Merit (Environmentally Sound Materials)
At first glance, it looked like a standard plastic ID card. But this badge was different. Made from a paper-based, sustainable substrate with the look and feel of plastic, it represented a small but meaningful step toward reduced waste. The bulk of the work was really on our sourcing and testing teams, and they hit it out of the park.
For organizations committed to sustainability, it's proof that even routine materials can reflect intentional, responsible choices. While a humble piece in terms of format, the innovation behind the material earned it a well-deserved nod.
The Graphics Excellence Awards celebrate the very best in printing across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. These awards affirm not just the quality of our work, but the pride, curiosity, and craftsmanship we pour into everything we do.
To our clients: thank you for trusting us to help bring your brands to life. And to our team: congratulations on continuing to raise the bar. Let’s keep making print that connects, inspires, and wins.
Stay tuned as we celebrate each piece with photos, behind-the-scenes details, and the amazing people who made them happen. We're already hard at work on the 2026 calendar—an annual tradition that blends concept development, materials testing, structural innovation, and more than a few late-night print runs. This year, we’ll be pulling back the curtain to share more of the journey behind the final piece that ends up on desks, walls, and workspaces across the country.
