Part 2 of 2
By Melissa Donovan
Digital Output’s Application of the Year contest invites members of the graphic arts community to nominate standout jobs from their peers, colleagues, and customers. The winners represent some of the most innovative wide format projects completed by print service providers (PSPs) in the last 12 months.
Read more about first place project from FASTSIGNS of DTC of Centennial, CO by clicking on this link and for information about the second place job by GetWrapped of Oshawa, ON, Canada visit this page.
Here, we share information about the applications that earned third place and honorable mention.
Third Place—Community Refresh
Art City Wraps of Oshkosh, WI won third place in this year’s Application of the Year awards for its work at the Kolf Sports Center on the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Oshkosh campus in Oshkosh, WI. The project is an example of how digitally printed graphics not only tell a story, but transform once unnoticed architecture into a noteworthy part of a community.
The PSP celebrates over 20 years in business. A family-owned company, Joshua and Carla Marquardt, owners, Art City Wraps work with one other full-time employee. “We are a small and mighty family-owned company. When we need to, we bring in subcontractors that we have met along the way on other amazing projects,” notes Carla.
Operating out of a 4,700 square foot space, the PSP offers design, print, and installation mainly in WI, but will travel outside the state on occasion for a job.
For the UW-Oshkosh Titan Athletics project, Art City Wraps was tasked by Discover Oshkosh and UW-Oshkosh to print graphics for and wrap a 17×400-foot cement berm in front of the Kolf Sports Center.
Carla spearheaded the design, searching through school archives to create a collage that showcases UW-Oshkosh Titan Athletics.
“The project was somewhat of a gift to the university from Discover Oshkosh. Because of this, there were many people to please from a design standpoint. Once the theme was picked, I started going through years of university archives to find photos,” explains Carla.
Part of the process involved ensuring images, such as a crowd photo from the 1970s, could be reproduced clearly at sizes as large as 17×40 feet. Artwork was built in smaller sections within Adobe Photoshop to ensure each image would be cleanly depicted at full size.
Joshua, a UW-Oshkosh alumnus, took the lead on printing—a process that required more than 40 hours using an Epson SureColor S80600. Installation quickly followed, which took just over two days with five installers.
Perhaps one of the largest challenges was the 54-year-old cement berm, which was built at an approximately 40 degree angle. First of all, the cement required a material that adhered well to rough, porous surfaces. The size and angle of the berm also necessitated a substrate that could be easily installed.
The Marquardts chose General Formulations GF 885AE RoughMark Cast Vinyl. 6,400 square feet of material was printed in total. General Formulations GF 844 AutoMark cast laminate was used to finish the project, with the help of a laminator from Mimaki USA, Inc.
UV-Oshkosh as well as the Discover Oshkosh teams were thrilled by the final completed application.
Honorable Mention—Ordinary to Extraordinary
A full-service event production firm, LD Events Décor out of Lake Zurich, IL offers everything from event design and concept development, ceiling draping, stage and lighting design to custom backdrops, branded experiences, custom dance floors and floor graphics, and immersive event/venue transformations for weddings, corporate events, galas, social celebrations, and large-scale installations throughout FL, IL, IN, and WI. It regularly does work and travels for destination weddings, corporate events, and other specialty projects across the U.S.
In business since 2014, the company maintains a staff of three full-time employees. When necessary, additional team members are hired as installers, production staff, or on-site support personnel. LD Events Décor operates out of an approximately 15,000 square feet of warehouse, fabrication, and production space. This facility serves as the hub for inventory management, custom fabrication, equipment storage, event preparation, staging, and logistics operations.
“Having a dedicated production facility allows us to maintain a substantial inventory of décor elements while also providing the flexibility to design, build, and customize installations tailored to each client’s vision,” notes Dmytro Lakhman, founder, LD Events Décor.
An example of LD Events Décor’s strong work is the project nominated for the Application of the Year, for which it earned an honorable mention. The project consisted of a custom 24×24-foot dance floor graphic, totaling approximately 576 square feet of printed material. Production took just over six hours from print to completion.
The large format floor graphic was printed using Roland DGA Corporation TrueVIS XG-640 printer/cutter with TrueVIS TR3 eco-solvent inks on General Formulations’ GF 223 media. Material choice was important for this particular job, since the floor graphic was a short-term installation. The media needed to remove cleanly and safely.
“General Formulations’ GF 223 is designed for clean removal, which is particularly important for temporary event installations. This not only protects the underlying surface but also significantly reduces labor time during strike and removal,” says Lakhman.
One of the more unique aspects of the job was that all of the printed sections aligned perfectly once installed. “Because the floor graphic was produced in multiple panels, precise overlap and seam alignment were critical to creating a seamless finished appearance. Attention to detail during both production and installation was essential to ensure the artwork flowed continuously across the entire floor without visible inconsistencies. Achieving that level of precision is what made this project both challenging and rewarding,” explains Lakhman.
The client was ultimately thrilled with the final result. “The finished installation became a focal point of the event space and delivered the visual impact the client was hoping to achieve. Their positive reaction confirmed that we successfully met both the aesthetic and functional objectives of the project,” says Lakhman.
Aug2026, Digital Output
