Placing Custom Artwork On Trading Pins
Trading pins are as diverse as the people who collect them. Pins are created for professional sports teams, the military, fire and police units, service organizations and politicians. A great number of suppliers create custom pins. These can be quite elaborate, limited only by the creativity of those who design them. While many collectors admire the unique designs on trading pins, many may not be aware of the process for making them.
Everything begins with a great piece of custom artwork. It is important to remember that a quality design leads to a quality trading pin. Once the design is given to the manufacturer the job then becomes one of transferring the artwork to the pin. There are a few methods for accomplishing this, and choosing a method for placing custom artwork is largely influenced by the quality that is desired for the finished product.
EMBOSSED PINS
The classic trading pin that most people are familiar with is die struck, a process that produces a clean and detailed pin. With this method, a die (pattern or mold) is made which reflects the custom design. This die is then stamped or struck into a metal, most commonly iron. This process creates small recesses or cavities in the metal which are then filled with a liquid enamel of the appropriate color.
The enamel must be allowed to air dry before the next part of the process begins. After drying, an epoxy is applied to the surface of the pin in a very thin layer. Adding the epoxy layer makes the pin smooth to the touch, removing the recesses made by the die. Trading pins made in this manner tend to average a thickness of 1.2mm.
This method has been used for many years and typically produces a very clean reproduction of the custom artwork provided for the pin. If a classic look is the intention, a die struck pin is hard to beat.
PRINTED PINS
It is becoming more common to transfer a printed version of a custom design to a trading pin. In many cases, this process can be more cost-effective and the quality of these types of pins will continue to improve with advances in printing technology.
The current standard makes use of a four-color printing process. The custom design is digitally transferred to an adhesive label. These labels are then attached to a pre-cut metal backing. Just as with an embossed pin, printed pins receive a thin layer of epoxy which will help to prevent fading or scratching. The end result is a pin which has an average thickness of 0.8mm.
This type of custom design seems ideally suited to larger pins measuring almost two inches or greater because it is easier to preserve the features of the design.
VARIATIONS OF CUSTOM PIN CREATION
Those who wish to commission a custom trading pin for their organization will find that these two methods are most often used. Some manufacturers, however, have developed variations of these two methods in order to mass produce a greater number of pins. Some of these variations work very well while others often result in inferior quality. It pays to ask the manufacturer which method they use to create the pins, and it is always a good idea to request a look at some samples of recent work. If possible, one should try to take along a favorite pin for comparison. This will allow the buyer to note subtle differences in the quality of the pins and help them decide which method will be satisfactory.
