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

The Lapel Pin Manufacturing Process Explained Follow a pin...

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.

One of the top searches that helps people find our site is...

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

Patriotic Pins Help Boost Athlete's Morale Robbie Thompson...

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

After nearly 5 decades in the custom enamel pin business,...

By Craig Davidiuk - 07 June, 2019

Designing Enamel Pins Without Paint

A lot of enamel pin designers are leaving the most...

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

Custom sport medals usually showcase a lot of exposed...

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?

How do you create medals that look and feel like the...

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

We feel the ribbon is almost as important as the medal....

By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

Customized Logo Lanyards

Lanyards are one of the most versatile promotional products...

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

When ordering custom printed lanyards, the lanyard is only...

By Craig Davidiuk - 01 May, 2019

Custom Printed Lanyards Buyers Guide

Recent Order By The Flash TV Show In Vancouver Trade Shows...

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?

Adding curved or three dimensional elements to your medal...

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

The word “quality” is very subjective. Using photos online...

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

Direct from the desk of our design team, this illustrator...

By Craig Davidiuk - 27 September, 2018

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

We haven't come up with a way to see the colours inside...

By Craig Davidiuk - 13 September, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design 101: Screencast

This is the video that started it all! Three years ago we...

By Craig Davidiuk - 15 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Designer Master Class

To say that the enamel pin trend has had an impact on our...

By Craig Davidiuk - 15 August, 2018

Custom Employee Recognition Pins

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

By Craig Davidiuk - 15 August, 2018

Corporate Anniversary Pins, Years Service Pins and Volunteer Pins

It’s important to mark milestones in any organization....

By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Clear Enamel

Do you want unique looking enamel pins? One of the most...

By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pins Design: Textures

Metal pins without paint offer a whole host of creative...

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

Another topic that baffles our customers is the imprinting...

By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

What Is Vector Art?

Vector art is the preferred graphics file format in the...

By Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Glitter

The hottest trend in Enamel Pin design is definitely...

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Clear Enamel

Posted by Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

Do you want unique looking enamel pins? One of the most under utilized "tricks of the trade" we offer is the use of semi-transparent enamel. This style of paint allows you to see the background of the pin and combine this effect with a textured background. The results are stunning. Read about three examples of how to use transparent enamels properly.

Colour Choices For Transparent Enameltrans-enam-colour-chips

 

Gradients & Enamel Pin Design

The problem with gradients in enamel pin design is you can't have art areas in which the paint overlaps. Each colour needs to be self contained. If your enamel pin art has a gradient in it, this might be the work around you are looking for.

We have all seen gradients but a lot of people are unfamiliar with the term. Basically, it's the combination of colors in a single area to produce a gradual color change. Sunsets are a great example of a gradient. 

This is a fairly advanced design technique and may require some coaching. They key to your success is being able to visualize the different engraving layers in the base metal. The pin with flowers below demonstrates a design that features multiple heights of base metal in relation to the surface of the paint. The thinner the enamel, the lighter it shows. When you combine it with nickel or gold electroplate, the results can be stunning!

 

semi-trans-gradients

 

Unique Enamel Pin Designs

You want a one-of-a-kind looking enamel pin. Clear enamels and engraving textures can deliver! Your design will look very unique because very few enamel pin designers use this type of paint.

Another way we can add to the uniqueness of a pin is to sandblast the pin before enamel. The burning man pendant below with the purple stripe has a sandblasted base with a small circle of clear purple enamel.  Here at Ultimate Promotions, our staff is always excited to see an opportunity where we can substitute regular epoxy for clear enamel. We will always try to point out these opportunities to enamel pin designers when they submit their art for quote.  

 

semi-trans-beutiful-custom-pins

 

Custom Animal Lapel Pins

When designing custom animal enamel pins, it's sometimes necessary to show muscle tone and fine detail. This is a great way to give the art a more realistic look. Adding clear enamel to 3D engraving is also another technique we use to make the detail stand out. You can also use the same design techniques on human figures when designing your own enamel pins.

animals-trans

 

There is always a time and a place to work with Semi-Transparent enamels. Contact us if you want some advice on how to best utilize this decoration technique.

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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.