By Craig Davidiuk - 12 August, 2020

Designing Enamel Pins: Assigning Base Metal And Painted Areas

Due to the complex nature of die-struck lapel pin...

By Craig Davidiuk - 27 July, 2020

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Electroplating

Enamel pin designers, take note. Many of you are leaving an...

By Craig Davidiuk - 23 July, 2020

Bronze, Silver, Gold and PINK? Electroplating Explained [video]

Electroplating is a complex process is used extensively in...

By Craig Davidiuk - 09 July, 2020

How To Make Enamel Pins

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By Craig Davidiuk - 29 June, 2020

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Pin Backs

There has never been more choices for the back of your pin....

By Craig Davidiuk - 21 May, 2020

How To Design Enamel Pins, Step By Step Guide

Our step by step guide walks you through the process to...

By Craig Davidiuk - 29 April, 2020

Custom Years Of Service Pin Program Guide

It's more important than ever to stay connected to your...

By Craig Davidiuk - 29 April, 2020

Enamel Pin Design Template

Our enamel pin template offers tips and tricks for...

By Craig Davidiuk - 21 April, 2020

Finishing Guide For Enamel Pins & Custom Medals

Whenever you buy pins or medals you'll have to select the...

By Courtney Driver - 21 April, 2020

Hard Enamel vs Soft Enamel Pins: What Is The Difference?

The main difference between these two lapel pin types is...

By Craig Davidiuk - 06 November, 2019

4 Tips For Designing Custom Puzzle Pins

The most sought after sport trading pin by any trader at...

By Craig Davidiuk - 18 October, 2019

Custom Enamel Pins .....No Minimum.

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By Craig Davidiuk - 16 October, 2019

DIY Enamel Pin Design: What Size Do I Make My Enamel Pin?

The amount of text and detail on a pin usually decides the...

By Craig Davidiuk - 10 October, 2019

Powering Over Pain At World Transplant Games

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By Craig Davidiuk - 12 September, 2019

The Silly Season: Deadlines You Need To Know About

In our business, TIMING is everything. Please review two...

By Craig Davidiuk - 20 August, 2019

The Top 5 Frequently Asked Questions About Enamel Pins

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By Craig Davidiuk - 07 June, 2019

Designing Enamel Pins Without Paint

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By Craig Davidiuk - 21 May, 2019

Custom Race Medals And Runs For The Cure Medals.

Take a moment to learn about our experience in creating and...

By Craig Davidiuk - 06 May, 2019

Sandblasting & Engraving Textures

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By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

5 Design Tips For Custom Medals

The beautiful thing about custom medals is that you can...

By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

What Size Should I Make My Medals?

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By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

Attaching Medals To Neck Ribbons

There are two ways to attach your ribbon to the medal. With...

By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

Stock Ribbon Choices For Medals

Our company offers three different ways to attach your...

By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

Full Colour Ribbons For Medals

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By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

Customized Logo Lanyards

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By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

What Are My Choices for Custom Printed Lanyard Attachments?

Custom printed lanyards offer you more versatility and...

By Craig Davidiuk - 01 May, 2019

Custom Lanyard Badge Holders & ID Badges

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By Craig Davidiuk - 01 May, 2019

Custom Printed Lanyards Buyers Guide

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By Craig Davidiuk - 01 May, 2019

Customizing & Engraving Medal Backs

When purchasing custom sport medals, there are a zillion...

By Craig Davidiuk - 23 April, 2019

What Are The Different Types Of Custom Lapel Pins?

The first you need to make when purchasing custom enamel...

By Craig Davidiuk - 18 April, 2019

What is the difference between 2D and 3D Engraving?

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By Craig Davidiuk - 01 February, 2019

World Paranordics Medal Supplier Prince George 2019

----October 25th, 2018, For Immediate Release--- Ultimate...

By Craig Davidiuk - 31 January, 2019

7 Things To Look For When Selecting Enamel Pin Manufacturers

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By Craig Davidiuk - 31 January, 2019

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Silk Screen Enamel Pins

Silk screen enamel pins help you overcome the most common...

By Craig Davidiuk - 12 January, 2019

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Vectorizing Art In Adobe Illustrator

This video is for artists who want to create enamel pins...

By Craig Davidiuk - 06 November, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Before & After

In this enamel pin tutorial screencast, we dive into the...

By Craig Davidiuk - 31 October, 2018

Custom Lapel Pin Design: Cheat Sheet

Our cheat sheet offers tips and tricks. Be sure to dig into...

By Craig Davidiuk - 30 October, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Illustrator Swipe File

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By Craig Davidiuk - 27 September, 2018

How Do I Specify Colours On Enamel Pin Designs? [Colour Matching...

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By Craig Davidiuk - 13 September, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design 101: Screencast

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By Craig Davidiuk - 15 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Designer Master Class

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By Craig Davidiuk - 15 August, 2018

Custom Employee Recognition Pins

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By Craig Davidiuk - 15 August, 2018

Corporate Anniversary Pins, Years Service Pins and Volunteer Pins

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By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Clear Enamel

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By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pins Design: Textures

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By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Colour Matching

Color matching is one of the more challenging concepts that...

By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

Understanding Logo Imprinting

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By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

What Is Vector Art?

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By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Glitter

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5 Design Tips For Custom Medals

Posted by Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

The beautiful thing about custom medals is that you can have whatever you want.  Designing medals is totally different than design for print or web.  With medals, we get to combine enamel, electroplating, textures and shapes in multiple layers!

Think about it. Your athlete has worked for several months to win one of your medals. Let's make sure your award design is matching the accomplishment. We offer 5 tips for creating stunning custom medals. 

 

1) Jazz up your circles, ovals and squares.   

By all means use a circle or oval as a starting place, but add something that extends outside the circle to break up the shape and give the medal a more dynamic feel.  This medal design below is a great example. The baseball bats extend off the edge. The flames are waving and have a dynamic feel. 

 

foot-hills-fury-baseball-medals

 

2) Pick enamel colours that work in bronze, nickel or gold. 

The vast majority of the medals we sell do not have any paint at all and rely on electroplate. Sometimes enamel is an important part of the design. The trick with medals is they are typically done in at least three finishes, gold, silver and bronze. Bronze is always the electroplate colour that creates issues. Dark enamels get lost so brighter colours should be used.  Just keep this in mind when requesting enamel colours. Will your colour choice work on all three finishes?  This highland games medal below does a great job of using two enamel colours. In this case transparent enamels. 

 chda

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3) In most cases, text should either be raised or recessed metal. 

There are no hard and fast rules about what works better. This is why it's helpful to work with an established supplier who has designed lots of medals.  Keep in mind this is a medal, not a brochure. Text can be hard to read.  The medal example above also demonstrates how uppercase letters are a lot more legible when surrounded by enamel than lowercase are. This also holds true if you are using sandfrost on you design. The letters are shiny and the background becomes dull. It's a nice contrast that many of our customers love. 

 

4) Use the ribbon for some of your text

If you have a wordy event or want a lot of text, you should consider adding some of it to your ribbon. You could consider adding the date to the ribbon or minor details about the event (ie- the city) . 

 

printing-on-ribbons

 

5) Embrace Antique Electroplating

A lot of our customers find that regular bronze, nickel and gold is too bright.  If we add an extra step in electroplating called "antiquing" it gives the medal some contrast. It adds a bit of cost, but most people like it better. It all depends on your design really. The example below had a lot of exposed metal design elements that caused a reflection. 

 

antique-bright

About The Author

Craig-Headshot-18-temp

linkedinCraig Davidiuk has been in the promotional products his entire life. His family owned and operated a pin factory until 2002 and he eventually took over the company in 2012. He also has a diploma in Media Resources from Capilano University. Today his company is one of the leading suppliers of custom pins, medals and swag in Western Canada.

He is a father of one son with his wife, Courtney. Craig enjoys skiing, mountain biking, DJing, playing saxophone and world travel.  The Davidiuk family resides in 100 Mile House, BC.