TPC Packaging Takes Best of Show at PIAS 2026 Graphic Awards — and the Competition Was Fierce

It takes something special to win Best of Show in a competition that drew 496 awards of excellence across four divisions. TPC Packaging in Chattanooga, Tennessee, did exactly that — and their winning piece tells a story about what great packaging print really looks like.

The PIAS 2026 Graphic Awards, announced June 16 during the 51st Annual Convention in Destin, Florida, recognized the best printed work across the South. TPC Packaging’s entry — “Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom” — took the top honor, beating out Best of Division winners from every category to claim the ultimate trophy.

How the Competition Works

This isn’t a popularity contest. The PIAS Graphic Awards uses a three-judge panel with a point system. Every entry has to earn a minimum score based on set criteria: degree of difficulty, quality and technique of reproduction, creativity and design, typography and layout, and — where applicable — special effects.

A piece must hit the scoring threshold to even receive an Award of Excellence. From there, the highest-scoring entry in each category wins Best of Category. Then all Best of Category winners within a division compete for Best of Division. Finally, all four Best of Division winners face each other for Best of Show.

By the time TPC Packaging’s Bath & Body Works piece won Best of Show, it had survived three rounds of increasingly rigorous judging. That’s not luck — that’s consistent excellence at every level.

The Division Winners

Each division champion represents a different scale of operation:

• Printers with fewer than 25 employees: ColorStream Digital in Nashville won for “Ghost in the Window” — proving that small shops can produce work that stands alongside much larger competitors.
• Printers with 25 to 75 employees: Arkansas Graphics in Little Rock took Best of Division for “Noiré” — showing the depth of quality coming from mid-size operations.
• Printers with more than 75 employees: TPC Packaging’s Bath & Body Works piece won here too, before going on to claim Best of Show overall.
• Trade Houses (Binding & Finishing): Bindtech in Nashville won for “Emberdark” — highlighting that finishing excellence is as critical as printing quality.

HOT Graphics Printing grabbed the Self-Advertising Award for their promotion campaign — a smart way to showcase your own capabilities while competing for recognition.

Why Awards Still Matter

In an industry increasingly driven by automation, speed, and cost efficiency, awards competitions like PIAS serve a crucial purpose: they remind everyone that craft still counts. The difference between acceptable print and award-winning print isn’t usually equipment — it’s attention to detail, understanding of substrates, color management discipline, and the willingness to push beyond “good enough.”

For the winning companies, these awards are marketing assets. They’re proof points for clients who want to know their printer can deliver exceptional results. For the industry, they’re benchmarks that show what’s possible when skill meets technology.

496 awards of excellence means hundreds of pieces met the quality threshold. That’s a healthy sign for Southern printing — and a reminder that the craft of print is far from dead.

Source: WhatTheyThink