Awards voted on by the public are a strange kind of report card. Nobody submits a portfolio. Customers just decide, on their own time, whether your name is worth typing into a ballot.
In April, The Gazette announced the results of Best of the Springs 2026, and APG: Advanced Printing and Graphics placed bronze in graphic design and digital services. That category sits next to a lot of talented design firms in this city, which is the part our team keeps coming back to. The votes came from people who hired us, drove past the work, or watched a van roll by on Powers with our layout on the side.
This post does two jobs. The first half covers what the award is and what it recognizes. The second half is for every other winner in town, because a few hundred Colorado Springs businesses just received a We Won toolkit and a folder of files most of them will never open. That badge is worth real money if it ends up somewhere customers actually look, and worth nothing if it lives in a download folder.
What APG Won, Exactly
Bronze placement in the graphic design and digital services category of Best of the Springs 2026, awarded by The Gazette. Gold, silver, and bronze are the three placements in each category, decided by reader nominations and votes rather than a panel of judges.
The timeline, for anyone tracking their own results:
- Nominations and voting run earlier in the year, open to the public.
- Winners were announced at the Best of the Springs party at COS City Hub, 4304 Austin Bluffs Parkway, in April.
- Winner notifications went out to businesses by email the following day, with the We Won toolkit attached.
- Public results were posted May 18 at thebestofthesprings.com, with a digital version of the magazine available at the same time.
Bronze is third in a category. We are naming it that way on purpose, because a business that inflates a placement into something bigger is the same business that will inflate a timeline or an estimate. A win is more useful when the number attached to it is accurate.
How Best of the Springs Works
Best of the Springs is The Gazette's annual reader poll covering dining, arts and entertainment, services, professionals, city life, family, and retail. Categories run into the hundreds. Voting is open to the public, which makes it a popularity measurement as much as a quality one, and that is not a knock on it. Popularity in a service category usually means a lot of people had a good experience and remembered the name months later.
What it is not
It is not a certification, a licensing credential, or an inspection. No one audited our production files. If you are choosing a sign company or a design partner, an award is one data point next to real ones: published pricing, named materials, permit experience, and whether the team will tell you what is in the estimate. Our guide to storefront signage cost covers the questions that matter more than any badge.
What it does tell you
That a business has been around long enough, and been visible enough, for a meaningful number of local people to name it without prompting. In a city this size, that takes years of finished work sitting out where people can see it.
Why a Design Award on a Sign Company Matters
Most people meet APG through a physical object: a wrapped van, a set of channel letters over a storefront, a lobby sign, a box of business cards. Design is the invisible half of all of it. The layout decides whether a phone number is readable at 45 miles per hour on Academy, whether a logo survives being scaled from a business card to a 12 foot wall, and whether a wrap looks intentional or looks like a collage.
A design award for a company that also produces and installs the work is worth flagging for one reason: the same team is accountable for the drawing and for the finished object on the wall. When a designer knows the van's door seams, the rivet lines, and where the vinyl has to wrap a corner, the file that goes to print already accounts for them. When a designer knows the sign will be permitted, the letter heights get drawn to fit the code, not adjusted after a rejection.
A layout that cannot be built is artwork, not a sign.
That is also why our estimates name the film series and the laminate, and why proofs come after the paperwork. Once the estimate is approved and the deposit is received, our team will begin the design and proofing process, with the artwork rendered on a photo of your actual vehicle or building.
The Work Behind the Vote
Nobody votes for a design department. They vote for the thing they remember. Here is what has been rolling out of our office at 955 Garden of the Gods Road:
Full and partial wraps, lettering, and fleet layouts built on vehicle templates so van nine matches van one.
Storefront and building signs, channel letters, dimensional lettering, lobby signs, ADA signs, and wayfinding, drawn to fit the code and the wall.
Logo design, layout, and production art created by designers with experience across print, signage, apparel, and vehicle graphics.
Business cards, brochures, postcards, letterhead, banners, promotional products, and branded apparel that match the signage instead of fighting it.
APG is backed by industry experience dating to 2002, with more than 3,000 projects and 1,000 installations completed, including work for Colorado businesses and national brands. That volume is the actual explanation for the votes. A lot of finished work, sitting outside, being seen.
What Is in the We Won Toolkit
If your business placed this year, The Gazette sent a winner toolkit with your notification email. Open it. Here is the inventory:
| Asset | Sizes included | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 winner logo | Master file | Anywhere the badge shapes do not fit |
| We Won badges | Square, vertical, dog ear | Window decals, print, web |
| Business card | 3.5 x 2 and 2 x 3.5 in | Print ready, add your logo |
| Social graphics | 720 x 720, 800 x 312 | Feed post and Facebook cover |
| Email graphic | Web sized | Newsletter header or footer |
| Flyer templates | 8.5 x 11 and 5.5 x 8.5 in | Counter handouts, mailers |
| Web banners | 300 x 250, 728 x 90 | Display ads and site headers |
Everything ships in four formats: PDF, EPS, JPG, and PNG. That combination covers print and screen, and it means you do not need to ask anyone to recreate the badge. If a provider tells you they have to redraw it, they have not opened the EPS.
Which File Format Goes Where
This is where most award badges go wrong. Someone drags the JPG into a design, scales it to 40 inches for a window, and the edges turn to mush. Two minutes of sorting saves that.
- EPS. Vector. This is the file for anything printed large or cut from vinyl: window decals, vehicle decals, banners, wall graphics. It scales to any size with clean edges.
- PDF. Also vector in this toolkit. Fine for print vendors, flyers, and anything going to a commercial press.
- PNG. Screen use with a transparent background. Website headers, email signatures, social posts.
- JPG. Screen use on a solid background. Convenient, but it carries a white box behind the badge, so it is the wrong choice on a colored header.
Send the EPS or the PDF for anything physical, and never scale a JPG or PNG up past its native size. If all you have is a screenshot of the badge, ask for the original files again rather than printing a soft one at 24 inches wide.
Bring us the toolkit folder as it came and our team will pull the right file for the right surface. Artwork stays on file, so next year's badge drops into the same layout.
Where the Badge Earns Attention
A badge on your website footer is fine. It is also the lowest traffic spot you own. The placements that get seen are physical, and most of them are inexpensive.
Storefront glass
A cut vinyl or printed decal on the entry door or front window, sized 8 to 14 inches, reads clearly from the sidewalk and catches people while they are already deciding whether to come in. Exterior facing decals should be printed on cast vinyl with a laminate, because at 6,035 feet our UV is stronger than it is at sea level and cheap film fades fast on south facing glass.
Vehicles
Door decals or a rear panel badge on a work van put your win in front of thousands of drivers a week without a single ad dollar after installation. Vehicle lettering and door decals typically run $350 to $900, which covers a lot more than an award badge, so most businesses add it to a lettering package rather than buying it alone. Our vehicle lettering and decal pricing guide breaks that range down.
Lobby, counter, and wall
A printed panel, dimensional letters, or a framed plaque behind the counter is the version customers see while they are waiting, which is when people actually read things. Larger interior and exterior sign work falls into the published range for non illuminated commercial signs, generally $2,500 to $10,000 depending on size, materials, mounting, and installation.
Print and apparel
The toolkit flyer templates are built to take your logo and go straight to a press. Counter handouts, invoice inserts, and a badge on the crew shirts all work, and they cost less than most people expect.
These ranges are typical and are not project specific estimates. For the math on what a vehicle graphic is worth per view compared to other local advertising, see our breakdown of cost per impression.
Plaques, Pricing, and Timing
The Gazette sells commemorative plaques directly. APG does not produce these and does not take a cut, but winners ask about them constantly, so here is what the 2026 order form lists:
| Plaque style | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wood plaque, 3/8 inch, gold | $100 | Wall hanger included |
| Wood plaque, 3/8 inch, silver | $100 | Wall hanger included |
| Wood plaque, 3/8 inch, black | $100 | Wall hanger included |
| Acrylic, 1/4 inch, transparent | $150 | Standoff mounted look |
| Acrylic display stand | $20 | Optional, for counter display |
Shipping is included in those prices and sales tax is not. Orders go through gazette.com/botsplaques, The Gazette confirms details and collects prepayment, and production plus delivery typically takes about four weeks after payment. Questions go to bestof@gazette.com. Confirm current pricing on the order form before you budget, since these figures come from the form dated January 2026.
A plaque is for your wall. A window decal is for your customers. Most winners who want both start with the decal, because it is the one working while you are with a client in the back.
Using an Award Without Overdoing It
An award badge is seasoning, not the meal. Five rules keep it working:
- Name the year and the category. "2026 Best of the Springs, graphic design and digital services" beats a vague "award winning" line, which reads as filler because it usually is.
- Never state a placement you did not earn. If you took bronze, say bronze. Local business communities are small and people remember.
- Keep it secondary to your logo. On a window or a vehicle, the badge should be noticeably smaller than your name and phone number. Contact information is what converts.
- One badge per surface. Three award seals on the same door cancel each other out and start to look defensive.
- Give it a refresh date. A 2019 badge still on the glass in 2026 tells a customer more about your last update than your last win. Cut vinyl removes cleanly, so plan on swapping it.
Do not alter the artwork either. Recoloring a badge, stretching it out of proportion, or dropping it on a busy photo undercuts the recognition it carries and usually violates the terms it came with.
Thank You, and What Happens Next
To everyone who nominated and voted: thank you. This is a category full of good designers in Colorado Springs, and placing in it came from customers who took a minute to type a name into a ballot. That is not nothing.
What changes on our end is not much, which is the point. Our team still handles projects through design, production, permitting when required, installation, and the final review. Estimates still name the film and the laminate. Our office is on Garden of the Gods Road in northwest Colorado Springs. By appointment only, Mon-Fri 8:30-5:00.
If you also placed this year and want that badge somewhere people can see it, send us the toolkit folder and tell us the surface: door glass, van, lobby wall, or print. Our team will tell you what it takes and what it costs. Once the estimate is approved and the deposit is received, our team will begin the design and proofing process. Most decal work is a one to two week turnaround, so a badge earned in April can still be on your door before the fall rush.
The Short Version
- APG: Advanced Printing and Graphics placed bronze in graphic design and digital services in The Gazette's Best of the Springs 2026 reader poll.
- Winners were announced at the Best of the Springs party at COS City Hub in April, with full results published May 18 at thebestofthesprings.com.
- Every winner gets a We Won toolkit: winner logo, three badge shapes, business card and flyer templates, social and email graphics, and web banners in PDF, EPS, JPG, and PNG.
- Use EPS or PDF for anything physical, PNG for screens with transparency, and never scale a JPG up for a large print.
- The placements customers actually see are physical: storefront glass, vehicle doors, lobby walls, and printed handouts.
- Vehicle lettering and door decals typically run $350 to $900, and non illuminated commercial signs generally run $2,500 to $10,000. These ranges are typical and are not project specific estimates.
- The Gazette sells plaques directly at $100 for wood and $150 for acrylic, shipping included and tax not included, with roughly four weeks from payment to delivery.
Where this information comes from
- The Gazette, Best of the Springs winner notification to APG: Advanced Printing and Graphics, April 24, 2026, listing bronze placement in graphic design and digital services.
- The Gazette, Best of the Springs We Won Toolkit sheet, asset list and file formats.
- The Gazette, Best of the Springs plaque order form pricing, effective January 21, 2026. Prices exclude sales tax and are subject to change.
- Best of the Springs official results, published May 18, 2026, thebestofthesprings.com.
- APG estimate and installation records, Colorado Springs office. Ranges reflect typical 2026 pricing and are not project specific estimates.
