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.

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By Craig Davidiuk - 16 October, 2019

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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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By Craig Davidiuk - 03 May, 2019

Stock Ribbon Choices For Medals

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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?

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By Craig Davidiuk - 01 May, 2019

Custom Lanyard Badge Holders & ID Badges

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Custom Printed Lanyards Buyers Guide

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Customizing & Engraving Medal Backs

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By Craig Davidiuk - 23 April, 2019

What Are The Different Types Of Custom Lapel Pins?

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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

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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

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By Craig Davidiuk - 06 November, 2018

DIY Enamel Pin Design: Before & After

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Custom Lapel Pin Design: Cheat Sheet

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DIY Enamel Pin Design: Illustrator Swipe File

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

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DIY Enamel Pin Design 101: Screencast

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DIY Enamel Pin Designer Master Class

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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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DIY Enamel Pin Design: Clear Enamel

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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

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What Is Vector Art?

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DIY Enamel Pin Design: Glitter

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DIY Enamel Pins Design: Textures

Posted by Craig Davidiuk - 13 August, 2018

Metal pins without paint offer a whole host of creative choices to the enamel pin designer. Once you leave the color out, you can utilize engraving textures or sandblasting to achieve gorgeous artistic effects!

Engraving Textures

Our factory offers 12 different textures for your custom pin design. CNC mold making technology makes it possible to create a lot of different looks be it in the background of your design or featured front and center. 

You should consider using a background texture when you are trying to create a contrast between art elements. The textures vary from gravel-looking to that of a dulled look. 

The process is cheaper to administer than sandblasting. The difference is that the pattern is engraved into the mold which is then used to stamp out your pin blanks. Textures 1 and 2 resemble sandblasting the closest. The airline pin below, has a stamped texture in the background. 

engraving-textures-sm_1024x1024

 

Sandblasting

Aside from the cost issue, it's our opinion that sandblasted render some of the nicest artistic results. Especially when combined with transparent enamels.   Of the three choices in this article, sandblasting is the only one that costs more. 

The process is labour intensive. Each pin is stamped, trimmed and buffed. They are then added to flat racks and then inserted into a sandlbasting machine. The machine uses intense air pressure to "blast" sand particles into the surface of the pin. It delivers a nice dull looking surface. The factory then buffs the top layer of the pin so that the edges, lines, text or raised details appear shiny. 

This custom Burning Man necklace pendant below uses a sandblasted base and then we applied a nice transparent purple enamel to the outside ring. (sorry for the image quality) 

 

custom-burning-man-pendant-necklace

Antique Electroplating

Another technique you can use is antique electroplating. This process administered when dipping the pins into a series of chemical baths. The pin bases are attached to a metal rack and there is an electric charge given to the pins when immersed in these baths. Depending on the makeup of this bath, they can add a black tarnish to the bases.

 For no extra charge, we can dip your pins into an electroplating wash that gives it an aged look. 

We suggest using this technique of faces, old buildings or other forms of art that require a distressed or aged look. 

Aram-Horozian_large

 

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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.