Recently, custom printed badges have become essential promotional tools in any brand’s marketing arsenal. Actually, while they used to be regarded as boring and bland, badges are now back and better than ever. That’s because they are incredibly affordable and provide a great return on investment. They are also popular with all types of consumers, as searches for pop-culture pins have reached an all-time high, increasing by over 800%!
However, with so much competition, giving away a simple badge is not enough. You need to make sure that your product is eye-catching, appealing, and unique. That’s why we’ve come up with a few tips that should help you design the perfect branded enamel badge and use it to improve your brand awareness! So keep reading if you want to learn more about the ins and outs of creating custom badges.
1. Choose the Right Size and Shape
When people think about custom badges, they probably envision small button pins. However, enamel badges come in an impressive range of sizes and shapes. From animals to food, there are many amazing badges you can choose from. As a matter of fact, some manufacturers can even create unique shapes that replicate your own design, regardless of how complex it is.
Apart from their shape, you should also pay attention to their size. One approach you can take is to go extreme. Simply put, you can create a large enough badge to feature your logo or brand. Or, you could come up with a collection of cute mini-badges personalised with specific designs. There’s no wrong way to tackle this, so you don’t need to limit your creativity when it comes to measurements. Remember that if you can imagine it, there’s surely a supplier that can create it!
2. Be Consistent
You’ve worked hard to build a brand that consumers recognise in an instant. So don’t throw it all away by ignoring the importance of consistency! All marketing experts will tell you that brand consistency is vital because it helps establish authenticity, and professionalism as well as recognition.
And since branding is as much about your business’s policies and campaigns as it is about what it looks like, you should carry it through all your merchandise, including badges. That sounds like a mouthful, but the point is that you need to design the badges according to your internal branding rules. So, for instance, if your company uses a specific font in their marketing materials, you should also use it on the badge’s custom text.
Additionally, colour is also a key part of your branding. To that end, you can take advantage of services such as Pantone colour matching to confirm 100% brand consistency. You’ll also have to explore different types of finishes and figure out which one is best for your brand’s appearance. In short, you need to reflect all aspects of your branding into your badge’s design.
3. Soft or Hard Enamel?
An early part of the design process is selecting what type of badge you want to focus on. Here, you can choose between soft and hard enamel, each offering specific benefits that you’ll have to consider.
Hard Enamel Badges:
- Durable and offer a long-lasting shine;
- Great for name tags, employee identification, corporate gifts, loyalty reward, promotional events, and contests;
- They feature a smooth, flat surface due to the layering and polishing of enamel;
- Pantone matched to ensure that they accurately reflect your design.
Soft Enamel Badges:
- Affordable and versatile;
- Perfect for wide-scale promotional campaigns, giveaways, or as gifts for employees and customers. You can also resell them to provide your company with an additional source of income;
- Unlike their counterpart, soft enamel badges boast raised metal lines and recessed enamel, which gives them a bumpy feel. Yet, despite their name, soft enamel badges are still durable and hard to the touch;
- Apart from Pantone matching, soft enamel badges are also hand-polished for a special lustre.
Still not sure which one to pick? Our advice is to first choose soft enamel badges if you have a limited budget and integrate them into existing marketing campaigns. Then, if you’re happy with the return on investment, you can upgrade your badges to higher-quality hard-enamelled ones.
4. Don’t Forget About the Finish
Enamel badges can feature a finish which adds to their overall appearance. For starters, you have a shiny finish that’s often available in multiple colours, such as gold, copper, silver, chrome, and brass. Besides its gorgeous appearance, this type of finish is also durable and won’t tarnish over time. As a result, it tends to retain its flash and lustre for years to come.
Another option is the high-end misty finish, which is ideal for corporate gifts. Unlike its shiny counterpart, there’s no colour on misty finish badges. Instead, the recessed areas boast a matte finish. Or, they get sandblasted, creating a textured background. Either way, the result is an elegant-looking enamel badge.
And lastly, there’s the antique finish. It offers a distinguished look and feel to your badge and is available in gold, copper, brass, tin, silver, or gunmetal. This is a great option for special badges that commemorate an event or product launch.
Overall, when choosing a finish, you need to consider the occasion as well as your budget. For instance, a shiny finish is better for regular badges and marketing campaigns on a small scale. In contrast, antique badges are more expensive and are better suited for limited collections and special events.
5. Pick the Perfect Supplier
Finally, you have to choose your manufacturer carefully. With so many suppliers on the market, you can easily fall prey to sub-par companies that don’t put a lot of effort into their products. That can result in project delays, low-quality badges and even losing money. Therefore, we believe that when picking a supplier, you should first ask them these five questions:
- Is there a minimum order quantity?
- What custom materials and shapes do you offer?
- Can I get assistance from one of your designers?
- What are the available packaging options?
- How do you source your badges?
If you’re happy with the answers, then you can happily place your order, knowing that there’s a lower chance of mishaps!
Key Takeaways
Even though they can be small, enamel badges can pack quite a punch when it comes to promoting your company. However, that’s only the case for interesting and appealing designs. Fortunately, by following our simple tips, you, too, can start on the right foot, regardless of the scale of your project. So, get your creative juices flowing and start designing your own enamel badges today!
You may also like:
25 Welcome Gift Ideas for New Employees
Elevate your brand’s visibility with the best branded enamel badges from GoPromotional! As a trusted promotional products company, we specialise in creating high-quality badges that leave a lasting impression. Our team of experts will work closely with you to understand your brand’s identity and design custom enamel badges that capture your message and style. Contact us at 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today for more info. We are waiting for your call!
