Design Secrets for Standout Custom Lapel Pins: What Entrepreneurs Need to Know

More than just a fashionable accessory, a custom lapel pin is a natural extension of your brand. These small, customizable pieces of art are meant to capture the very essence of your brand and deliver your marketing message with an eye-catching design. 

A lapel pin is not a giant billboard. It is a tiny object with a small footprint. This means you have a rather limited chance to get the attention of your target audience with it. To create impactful custom lapel pins, there are quite a few things to keep in mind. In this post, we’ll explore some design and packaging secrets that can help you create lapel pin designs that stand out and get the attention of your target audience. 

Choose Your Material

One of the fundamental factors that determine how your pin will turn out is the material it is made with. Some of the most popular lapel pin materials include Soft Enamel, Cloisonné, and Die Struck. Your choice between these options will determine the overall appearance, finish, and texture of your pin. 

Soft enamel pins are the simplest and most affordable due to their minimalist design. They are characterized by raised and recessed areas that give the lapel pin a textured appearance. Die Struck pins on the other hand have a classic and timeless look and feel. It uses a shimmering metal plating to give your lapel pin a sophisticated appearance. 

Cloisonné pins are characterized by their smooth polished finish. You should go for this option if you want your lapel pin to have a modern jewelry-like appearance. In all, you should consider how well the material aligns with the vision or purpose of your lapel pin design. 

Consider Size and Shape

Lapel pins come in different sizes and can influence the intended message or purpose of the pin in different ways. Typical sizes range from about 1 to 2 inches. A lapel pin is considered small if its size ranges between 0.75 to 1.25 inches. Pins in this size range are portable and can fit into a wide range of surfaces. However, the small size also limits how much detail you can fit into the design. On the flip side, larger pins (greater than 1.25 inches) allow you to incorporate intricate details into your pin design, but they are limited in terms of placement. 

Customized lapel pins can be made into pretty much any shape or design you can imagine. This means you’re not limited to the traditional round or square-shaped frames. You can think outside of the box and create lapel pin designs with unique shapes that reflect the style or character of our brand. 

Use Distinctive Colors

Color is one of the most important elements in designing any branding or marketing material. This is true for personalized lapel pins as well. Thanks to recent advances in silk screen, offset printing, and other related technologies, lapel pins can now capture and replicate full-color designs with great precision. 

To make your lapel design impactful, use colors that resonate with your brand or the specific message you’re trying to pass across. The colors of the text and images should be bright and complimentary to make the pin pop and ensure legibility. 

In choosing the colors to use on your designs, you should also consider how the pin will be used. For instance, if you’re making lapel pins to be attached to employee uniforms, your design color should not be the same as the uniform color. Instead, you should use bold lines and strong contrasting colors that stand out against the uniform. This will ensure that your pin catches the eye better even from a distance. 

Incorporate Artwork And Intricate Details

Your lapel pin design will not stand out if there’s nothing extraordinary about the design. Incorporating intricate details such as fine lines, gradients, and patterns into your design can make the design look and feel more remarkable. Such pins will capture people’s attention instantly and get them to ask questions about your brand. 

There are different ways to replicate intricate designs on personalized lapel pins. Photo-etched pins for instance involve etching an image directly onto the pin’s metal surface. This captures all the fine lines and shading on the image with great precision. Lapel pins can also have full-color designs printed directly into the metal.

Quality and Finish

The quality and finish of your lapel pin is just as important as any other step of the design. The right finish will give your design a glossy, high-quality look that your employees or customers will be proud to wear. 

You can enhance the finish of your custom lapel pin using dual or specialty painting. In dual painting, two plating options are combined to create a two-toned look for your plate, giving it a more exotic appearance. Specialty plating (also known as rainbow metal plating) uses a subtle color gradient to give your lapel pin an iridescent finish. This creates a cool effect that can help your custom pin design pop. 

Evocative Designs 

To create impactful designs, you have to think of your custom pins as marketing materials rather than just decorative pieces. This will inspire you to come up with designs that evoke sentiments, trigger questions, or start conversations. Adding value and meaning to your designs can also elevate your personalized pins to collectibles that will be cherished by collectors. 

Conclusion 

A custom lapel pin is a versatile accessory that can help express your brand identity or market your products in various ways. With the perfect design, you can create pins that capture attention and resonate with your target audience. 

At The/Studio, we understand the importance of creating quality Lapel Pin designs that align with your brand and marketing message. More than just creating custom prints, our team of experienced design artists can guide you through the process of creating designs that will deliver the best results for your brand. Contact us to learn more about our services and get started with your custom lapel design.