Custom Lapel Pin Tutorial - The Pin People

Slide 1: CUSTOM LAPEL PINS TUTORIAL- 7 Tips to make a better custom lapel pin! By The Pin People, LLC Version 1

Slide 2: CUSTOM LAPEL PINS TUTORIAL- 7 TIPS TO MAKE A BETTER By The Pin People, LLC CUSTOM LAPEL PIN! At The Pin People, LLC, we have been in the business of making custom lapel pins for a long time. We have assisted thousands of customers create the perfect lapel pin for their organization. Whether it is custom lapel pins, awareness ribbon pins, custom cufflinks, custom money clips, custom tie clips, challenge coins, or mini badges, we have been giving images life, and making our customers happy! We find that good customer service has been one of our strengths for our overall success. A large amount of our orders are repeat customers, which tells us that we are doing something right. Education is an extremely important step for our customers. Although The Pin People will assist our customers with all aspects of the lapel pin making process, we believe it is important for our customers to understand the process, or at least receive a tutorial for better understanding some of the key elements when creating a design for a lapel pin. So let’s get started. 1. FONTS Fonts are a HUGE consideration when you are designing a custom lapel pin. Block styled fonts, translate much better on a lapel pin, because of the size of the font. If you are creating a large lapel pin, then you may be able to use a more complicated font. For the most part we recommend a block font, like Arial, Georgia, Verdana, Times New Roman, Book Antiqua, Rockwell, or Myriad, just as examples. Custom Lapel Pins by The Pin People, LLC Page 2

Slide 3: CUSTOM LAPEL PINS TUTORIAL- 7 TIPS TO MAKE A BETTER By The Pin People, LLC CUSTOM LAPEL PIN! 2. METAL SEPERATOR LINES Metal lines separate colors. When a mold is created metal is raised and lowered. Think about these lines as little walls, that hold color that is poured into the mold. Whether the lines are thick or thin, they still have the same purpose. Whether a line is thin or thick can change how the final pin looks, though. If lines are too thick, it will detract from final design. It is an impotant consideration when designing your custom lapel pin. 3. METAL SEPERATOR LINES One of the most important features of a custom lapel pin, or challenge coin, is the use of the raised or lowered metal. In this example, you can see the eagle is made from a raised and lowered metal design. There are a few options, to make the raised and lowered metal truly have an eye popping effect. If the raised metal is polished and the lowered metal has either a foggy paint or sandblast effect applied, a beautiful effect is the result. Custom Lapel Pins by The Pin People, LLC Page 3

Slide 4: CUSTOM LAPEL PINS TUTORIAL- 7 TIPS TO MAKE A BETTER By The Pin People, LLC CUSTOM LAPEL PIN! 4. SMALL DETAILS We discussed how metal lines separate colors. If the details are very small, then they are usally created in metal. Sometimes it is the only option, depending on how small the details are. You can see in this example that the small detail is made in metal. You can notice that the larger components of this design has metal lines that surround the color. For instance, you can see this in the word Pacific or the 2006. 5. SCREEN PRINTING Sometimes, small metal lines are not an option. When that is the case, screen Printing provides an option, if you are not looking for the small metal lines then screen printing may be your option. Screen printing does not just have to be text, but you can screen print many differen colors to avoid the metal seperation lines. Screen printing will be plat and will not have a rasied texture. Your color options for screen printing are any color on the PMS color chart. A set- up fee usually applies for each screen printed color. Custom Lapel Pins by The Pin People, LLC Page 4

Slide 5: CUSTOM LAPEL PINS TUTORIAL- 7 TIPS TO MAKE A BETTER By The Pin People, LLC CUSTOM LAPEL PIN! 6. DIE STRUCK PINS Die Struck lapel pins are just one style of lapel pin that you could create. Die struck pins or deluxe die struck pins as some companies call them, can be a real classy type of pin. As you can see, any design can be created into a die struck style pin. You don’t need to have tons of colors in order to create the world’s classiest lapel pin. Sometimes, no color is nicer. This is an example of a Department of Homeland Security Pin that was done in a die struck style. 7. SANDBLASTING EFFECT Sandblasting the background or lowered metal of a die struck lapel pin, makes the rasied metal portion of the lapel pin stand out, and gives the custom lapel pin a great effect! If you do not either use a foggy paint or sandblast the background, the pin would be too shiny. Making the rasied metal stand out from the background or lowered metal, is what gives the pin the true class. Custom Lapel Pins by The Pin People, LLC Page 5

Slide 6: CUSTOM LAPEL PINS TUTORIAL- 7 TIPS TO MAKE A BETTER By The Pin People, LLC CUSTOM LAPEL PIN! By following these simple tips, you are sure to have the information in your arsenal to create the perfect custom lapel pin. If you are looking to create a custom lapel pin, feel free to visit our website at: www.thepinpeople.com for more tutorials, or a free quote for your next custom lapel pin job. Even if you are not sure what style you may be looking for, we have a fully trained team standing by to help you. We look forward to serving you for your custom lapel pin needs. Custom Lapel Pins by The Pin People, LLC Page 6