When it comes to promotional products, there’s often a gentle push and pull between the tried-and-true and the legitimately unique. Few promo companies are going to turn down a client who already knows exactly what works for them, but it’s the challenge of a wholly original campaign that gets the creative juices flowing for so many promo professionals.

Attention to detail, flexible collaboration with clients and skilled craftwork all contribute to projects that create loyal customers and essential brand promotion.

Since 1958, one of the industry’s most coveted company distinctions has been the PPAI Pyramid Awards, sponsored by Pacesetter. This year, 23 awards were given across 12 decoration categories to recognize 16 suppliers and distributors, often working in collaboration, with Pyramid Awards in Supplier Decorating for their expertise, creativity and client-focused solutions to campaign requests. These suppliers took a pitch and transformed it into something tangible that end users won’t quickly forget.

A+ Wine Designs

Artistic Toys & Promotions

BAG MAKERS

Bold Promo (formerly Eyevertising)

CounterPoint

Doug Fregolle Promotions

Eversole Run

Indiana Metal Craft

Nadel

Opti Print and Fulfillment

Orbus Visual Communications

PowerStick.com

StoneyCreek

Stouse

Vantage Apparel

Visions

Casting/Molding

GOLD AWARD: Indiana Metal Craft
PPAI 112175, Silver
Bloomington, Indiana

Designed to commemorate the ProAssurance Leadership Conference in Bowling Green, Florida, this campaign provided attendees with something they could hold on to as a keepsake or wear when they want to stand out. The pewter buckle features a vividly detailed alligator, right down to its teeth and scales. Add the fish biting the line that weaves through the text, and it’s like a memory in your hand. Rightfully so – the design is a dramatic interpretation of a vintage travel postcard, only this version has the literal feel of Indiana Metal Craft’s handiwork.

SILVER AWARD: Visions
PPAI 110751, Gold
Celina, Ohio

When your client is a video game developer that wants to recognize employees who have contributed innovations that result in patent approval, you probably have some space for creativity. Visions worked with Riot to bring to life one of the characters from its League of Legends game. The figure’s mold was hand-carved before being cast and hand-painted to give it an antique look. The wood base it stands on allows for personalization of each award.

Combination of Processes

GOLD WINNER: Opti Print and Fulfillment
PPAI 113581, Standard Base
Dallas, Texas

The lenticular magazine cover that Opti Print and Fulfillment created for the distributor’s client, Meredith, is like some of the best promotional products in that you have to see it in person to truly appreciate it. The idea was to show the West Virginia outdoors transitioning from day to night. A complex goal required an even more complicated strategy involving a Bost die cutter and a Kruger folder glue machine. The result was so successful that Meredith asked for another 60,000 copies. You can even find single copies being sold on the secondary market.

SILVER AWARD: BAG MAKERS
PPAI 111408, Platinum
Union, Illinois

Created for Promo Marketing’s 2023 Power Meetings, BAG MAKERS came up with a Renoir PET Non-Woven event tote with artwork featuring famous Nashville landmarks. To add an eye-catching touch, sparkle imprinting was superimposed over parts of the sublimated artwork, as well as silver holographic dots specifically placed over the lights of the Nashville sign depicted in the center, creating a multi-dimensional effect. The sublimation imprint on the back featured meeting locations, dates and company logos.

Customized Non-Catalog Product

GODL AWARD: Visions
PPAI 110751, Gold
Celina, Ohio

Visions’ campaign for gaming software company Riot – in collaboration with Nadel – was pretty much the definition of customization. The award, intended to recognize employees who contribute innovative ideas that gain patent approval, is an 11-inch replica of the character Heimerdinger from the company’s League of Legends property. In the world of League of Legends, Heimerdinger is a “revered inventor,” a fitting tribute for the company’s creators.

SILVER AWARD: Orbus Visual Communications
PPAI 428128, Silver
Woodridge, Illinois

Bank of America wanted to accomplish a lot with its booth for the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference, an event focused on the advancement of the careers of women and nonbinary people in computing and technology. To maximize the space, Orbus Visual Communications – in collaboration with Exhibit Control – produced a multi-level booth that totaled 40 x 50 feet. The top floor was a recruiting space for Girls Who Code. Bank of America executives met with career seekers on the middle level, and the lower level included high-tech blue glow and motion tracking to create a galactic effect for giveaways. Above it all, a hanging lightbox projected the Bank of America brand across the show floor.

Embroidery

GOLD WINNER: Vantage Apparel
PPAI 113235, Platinum
Avenel, New Jersey

If you want to trigger emotion in people, reminding them of their pets is always a safe bet. Easier said than done, however – the depiction has to be realistic, and with embroidery that realism takes a lot of craft work. Vantage Apparel’s embroidery of a Bernese mountain dog was designed to be so accurate recipients would want to hug it. Florentine stitching and liquid effects were used to replicate the definition of the image, and random stitch effects give an accurate rendition of fur. Strategic use of small amounts of white thread give the dog’s coat a shiny, healthy appearance.

Etching/Engraving/Laser

GOLD WINNER: PowerStick.com
PPAI 383252, Gold
Ottawa, Ontario

PowerStick’s SILKEN premium packing line looks great from the outside, but once you open it and see the product inside of its engraved foam protection, the experience is truly elevated. A tech product requires foam to keep it safe from damage, but PowerStick takes that precaution and makes it elegant. Not only can the foam insert be custom cut to the shape of the product being packaged, an additional laser engraving service onto the surrounding foam can showcase brand names, messages or aesthetic designs.

SILVER WINNER: A+ Wine Designs
PPAI 173549, Standard Plus
National City, California

Creating this design for Cyber Coast required precise skill, as errors in A+ Wine Designs’ sand carving process can’t be easily corrected. The design uses a three-color etch pattern that frames the Cyber Coast logo, creating a textured background on the bottle. The logo itself was etched within the framed background, giving it the feel of a portrait on a canvas. The etch was achieved with an applied mask to protect the uncarved areas. Finally, spray paint was applied to give the bottle its color palette. All this gives a brand the sophisticated look associated with vineyards.

Large Format Printing

SILVER WINNER: Orbus Visual Communications
PPAI 428128, Silver
Woodridge, Illinois

Working for GES client THK, Orbus Visual Communications created a booth themed around “Innovation and Technology in Motion.” THK is known for linear motion guide mechanisms, so a custom booth was needed with both the space and versatility to showcase those offerings. Included was an L-shaped backwall that was 102 feet wide and provided structure to the booth. Orbus Panoptic Eclipse Blockout fabric prevented shadowing or light from blemishing the white backwall.

Mascot/Character Product

GOLD WINNER: Artistic Toys & Promotions
PPAI 110753, Silver
Nazareth, Pennsylvania

This rocket’s nickname is Max. Artistic Toys & Promotions made sure to make Max as soft as any end user could hope for, but there were other expectations that made the process even more difficult, namely that the client asked that the rocket stand up on its own without looking overstuffed, a delicate feat to accomplish. The ink was flash cured to ensure no bleedthrough and maximize brightness, and each version was hand-sewn and stuffed with polyester and plastic pellets.

SILVER WINNER: Opti Print and Fulfillment
PPAI 113581, Standard Base
Dallas, Texas

With a trading card resurgence coming out of the pandemic, Rippaverse Comics looked to take advantage of the trend with a special 11-card set of its most popular characters. To give the flat images life and dimension, Opti Print and Fulfillment used advanced software tools to produce the illusion of three-dimensional images. The results were so well received that it only took a matter of weeks for the 10,000 sets of the cards produced to sell out on the company’s website.

Metal Striking

GOLD WINNER: Indiana Metal Craft
PPAI 112175, Silver
Bloomington, Indiana

With crisp and refined detail, Indiana Metal Craft created a 2-inch brass coin to be presented as a gift to members of the Horatio Alger Association. The coin, designed for insertion in a leather luggage tag, was minted with a bust of Horatio Alger on a waving flag as the backdrop. The hand satin finish gives it the look of both a collector’s edition and an outward facing symbol of status and membership.

Print On Hard Surfaces

GOLD WINNER: Indiana Metal Craft
PPAI 112175, Silver
Bloomington, Indiana

To produce its holiday ornament for Casa Presidencial de El Salvador, Indiana Metal Craft turned to a combination of artisanal die making, bas-relief casting and skillful print registration and color matching. The fine pewter piece was designed using a UV-cure flat-bed digital printer with 3D capabilities and was digitally post-printed with tight registration and a winning color combination to present an elegant and regal gift.

SILVER WINNER: Bold Promo (formerly Eyevertising)
PPAI 536045, Silver
Miami, Florida

Bold Promo took its client’s mission and value statements and made them tangible with custom UV-printed wooden cubes featuring a unique design and message on each side, such as “Do The Right Thing – Even When Nobody Is Watching” and “Be A Change Agent.” The cubes were given to each of the client’s employees to display on their desk or in their office.

Print On Textiles

GOLD WINNER: Eversole Run
PPAI 199242, Silver
Columbus, Ohio

Eversole Run’s client was looking for something its 100-plus employees could wear that would make them stand out. The result was a full dye sublimated camp shirt personalized with the name of each employee. Aligning the nametag portion in the correct position on the garment and making sure each unique name fit perfectly inside the “tag” was a challenge. Getting the colors to print clearly and vibrant with no mistakes also required intricate design processes and thorough proofing before shipment.

SILVER WINNER: CounterPoint
PPAI 227346, Silver
Las Vegas, Nevada

Going for an “out of this world” aesthetic, ConterPoint provided its Original Fabric Antimicrobial Fabric Surface Counter Mat for EVE Online, a space-based online role-playing game. The outer space image displayed on the mat gives a vivid depiction of speed and movement in intricate detail. The sublimation process makes such imagery no easy task.

Special Applications

GOLD WINNER: BAG MAKERS
PPAI 111408, Platinum
Union, Illinois

Working with the distributor CNA Advertising, BAG MAKERS created bags for the annual SugarPlum Market outside of Houston. The shopping bags have become a beloved souvenir among attendees at the holiday market, which draws 100-plus vendors from across Texas. It’s no surprise, then, that there was an element of pressure in delivering the products. The front of the bag featured a sparkle imprint of the event theme, incorporating five glossy holographic dot colors. It also featured ColorVista imprints of snowflakes in the gussets and sponsor logos on the back. The event attracted 6,000 shoppers and raised more than $350,000 for charity.

SILVER WINNER: Stouse
PPAI 113066, Platinum
New Century, Kansas

Fort Worth, Texas-based Fort Brewery wanted a set of six distinct beer can labels for the release of its latest batch of brews. The labels were to be themed around Fort Worth historical events with the hopes of generating excitement among community customers. Strouse went with Drink N Peel Labels, which give customers a removable sticker with each can of beer. Upon receiving the art, the supplier printed and married two layers of biaxially oriented polypropylene (aka BOPP) material together with a silicone layer in between and finished the labels using laser cutting equipment.

Supplier/Distributor

GOLD WINNERS:
Visions      
PPAI 110751, Gold
Celina, Ohio

Nadel
PPAI 107145, Platinum
Culver City, California

Sometimes, the more unique, creative and downright odd (at least to an outsider) a client wants a promo product to end up, the more collaboration between distributor and supplier – and client – comes into play. Rewarding the employees of video game developer Riot for contributing patent-approved innovations was never going to be a simple task. Visions and Nadel worked together to create an award standing 11 inches in height and featuring League of Legends character Heimerdinger, known for his inventions. Hand-carved into a mold, the figure was intricate in detail, down to its giant mustache and even bigger ears.

SILVER WINNERS:
Doug Fregolle Promotions
PPAI 638367
Addison, Texas

StoneyCreek
PPAI 113068, Silver
Blairstown, Iowa

Toyota wanted an award that included its Tundra truck model navigating nature’s terrain. It took a collaboration between distributor and supplier willing to work together and share resources. Doug Fregolle Promotions sourced the CAD files, and StoneyCreek worked with a 3D print shop to create a model. Throughout the process, the award was touched by 15 different individuals across each of StoneyCreek’s departments. It was a six-week journey, but eventually the final result was 50 awards using stone materials, weighing 50 pounds each. 

Auping is a news editor at PPAI.