We have to admit, our blog took a bit of time off due to Holidays and this upcoming Baseball Season, but we’re here to say we’ve done some of the coolest, baddest, and most awesome trading pins we’ve ever had the pleasure… oh, and gratefulness to work on! This one goes out to the teams that have supported us since 2005, we’re truly thankful to our loyal customers for always coming back to us year after year even though sometimes we can be a bit too much to handle.

The Kansas Kyotes! Now let us give you some advice for creative team names; follow these guys!! Truly a unique team name and a great bunch of kids. They are on their way to Cooperstown this year, and they’re more excited than ever to win. We can’t share the design with you yet, but it’s un-b-b-b-b-lievable! Truly a remarkable and unique trading pin, if this one doesn’t win the competitions…well, there’s not going to be a winner this year.

If you’re checking out our website for the first time, or have been a reader for as long as you can remember, be sure to check out our trading pins. We are passionate about the time and effort that goes into our designs, and we’re so sure you’ll be satisfied that we offer a 100% money-back guarantee. If for any reason you and your team are unsatisfied with the quality, design, or anything about the trading pins we make for you, we will arrange to re-stock your entire order for a full refund.

After your custom design is struck into a copper blank and plated, cloisonne & soft enamel pins receive color by syringe or very fine brushing techniques each individual color, one by one. This method is age-old and it’s very time consuming.

This process of manually coloring the lapel pins leads to truly hand-crafted quality and appearance. Essentially, each lapel pin is an individual miniature work of art.

Most of the time, only a single person is responsible for each color, and your pins are sequentially passed down our coloring line, receiving the same treatment.

Lapel pins not only have a range of quality differences, but specific uses as well as design requirements for each style. We’ll start off at the top of the quality chart below.

Cloisonne – The highest quality lapel pins made

Cloisonne lapel pins are the highest quality lapel pins manufactured. This is our favorite style because no matter what the design, cloisonne pins always look amazing. Clean, clear, highly polished and jewelry-like, they are the choice of corporations and the president of the united states for a reason, and that’s because they are professional quality and last a very long time. Colors are separated by metal lines, and this is a requirement. For certain designs, silkscreen details can be applied to the surface of Cloisonne pins when necessary, such as very small text or wording, as well as details such as eyes on a character or trademark symbols on smaller pins.

Soft Enamel Lapel Pins - A great second best!

Soft enamel lapel pins are a great alternative to Cloisonne pins only if pricing is a higher priority than quality. Soft enamel lapel pins are still struck like Cloisonne pins, but the painting (color fill) process is different. The pins receive less paint, leaving them with a textured appearance. The best way to describe a Soft enamel lapel pin is to think of a swimming pool that has only been filled up half way compared to a Cloisonne which is all the way full. The recesses of the Soft enamel pin aren’t painted all the way to the surface, thereby leaving sunken-in colored areas. This process is great for pins of higher detail, since they look the best when there are smaller painted areas and more raised metal trimming lines. The larger the surface area of the paint, the less desirable the pins appear. This is usually also the same case for Die Struck lapel pins, which is next on our countdown.

Die Struck – A classic look that will always look great

Die struck lapel pins are amazing looking given the right design. Not all designs look great in die struck style, especially those designs that feature small text or wording, or fine detail on polished metal. Using the antique finish on die struck pins is the best way to convey small details. This allows for greater contrast between the raised trimming outlines and the recessed areas of the design. Die struck pins are still very high quality, however they are 3rd on our list because they don’t use any fancy painting or coloring.

Silkscreen Lapel Pins – When logos must remain “as-is”

Silkscreen lapel pins are typically reserved for designs that include a company logo that can’t be modified to receive trimming metal required by filled-colored pins such as Cloisonne and Soft enamel lapel pins. Silkscreen pins are similar to a t-shirt silkscreening process where each individual color is printed indepdently of the other. This allows colors to be overlayed onto one another, and eliminates the trimming metal outlines of traditional struck pins (Cloisonne, Soft Enamel, Die Struck). The most notable drawbacks to Silkscreen lapel pins is the requirement for an Epoxy coating to be added, which takes away from the overall appearance of the pin. Without the epoxy, the lapel pins are subject to scratching, which can remove the silkscreened colors. This doesn’t apply to Cloisonne pins which have added silkscreen colors, because Cloisonne lapel pins cannot have epoxy applied, therefore heightening the likelihood that colors can become scratched. Silkscreen pins are still very nice, very high quality pins, but have limited usages in the scope of lapel pins.

Offset Printed Pins – When Photographic Reproduction is Needed

Offset Printed lapel pins are only used when photographic reproduction is mandatory. This style of pin is needed when replicating the exact appearance of a photograph, paintined, or drawing that features gradient colors. Most images can be converted into a Cloisonne lapel pin style through the use of trimming metal to create solid shapes, however on occasion photographic reproduction is necessary, and this calls for Offset Printed lapel pins. Think of a photograph of a person simply being printed in a magazine, or onto photo paper from your computer’s printer. This is essentially the same process used for Printed pins. Now think of a cartoon character, a solid-colored image with trimming outlines defining the shape of the character against it’s background – this would be like converting a photograph into a traditional Cloisonne design. Sometimes gradient and photographic detail is required based on your needs and likes.

Trading Pins – A Use, Not a Style

Trading pins are not a specific type of pin, but rather a use for a pin. Trading pins can be manufactured as any style of pin, Cloisonne, Soft enamel, offset printed, etc. However the trading of pins has become one of the most common uses of pins, therefore spawning the need to refer to trading pins as their own theoretical “style”. Trading pins are most commonly made using the Soft Enamel process, however this popularity of style is followed very closely by Cloisonne, and other manufacturing processes.

Whew! We hope we’ve been informative enough to help you understand the different styles of lapel pins and their respective uses, and we’re always just a click or phone call away to answer any of your additional questions. We believe that part of being a great company means educating our customers, therefore making sure that what you order is going to be exactly what you need, and making our customers happy is #1 on our list!

Until next time – Your friends at Pins Unlimited

The art of Chinese fired-enamelware dates back as far as the Yuan Dynasty (1271 to 1368), but was popularized during the XuanDe period (1426 to 1435). The XuanDe period coincides with the reign of Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Qiyu, who was also known as the Jingtai Emperor (1449 to 1457).

This is where Cloisonne pins are derived!

Many companies use safety awareness lapel pins to communicate safety from management to employess, and employees-to-employees within the workplace. Safety awareness pins can communicate a specific set of safety requirements in certain areas, or simply remind employees to be safe in general while on the job.

Companies can benefit from safety awareness pins because they are always worn while on the job, and employees will notice the pins being worn by other employees. If there are new employees, or individuals who have not yet been updated on new safety practices, the chances are that the employee will ask a co-worker what the lapel pin means.

While safety awareness pins are used to communicate safe practices in a workplace, they can also be used to reward employees for safe behavior in the workplace. Employees can be rewarded for practicing safe behavior and reminding/notifying others to be safe on a regular basis. This is a great program for rewarding employees who keep up your safety program, and can lead to a very successful safety program for any company, large or small.

When designing a custom safety program pin, keep in mind to use bold colors that are easily visible, especially for construction and heavy equipment environments. Safety awareness pins can also be worn on lanyards, which should feature a breakaway for additional safety measures.

We’ve decided to post a fun fact on our blog every couple of days just as a nice little change.

Today’s “Did You Know?”:

Did you know that it would take 1,575,118,108 1.0″ Lapel Pins to circle the earth? FACT.

Until next time – your friends at Pins Unlimited

Our people are hand picked because they stand out. Our people really enjoy making other people happy, and satisfying each one of our customers. We have a passion for creating lapel pins, and it shows in our work, and our customer service.

Pins Unlimited is a premier lapel pin supplier for a reason, and we like to think it’s because we put our focus on the right stuff. Our customers, our products, and our unwavering dedication to be the best there is!

We’d like to thank all of our loyal customers for your business and repeat business over the years, and we look forward to helping you again in the very near future!

To our new and prospective customers – our promise to you is that we guarantee satisfaction 100%. Let us show you what it really feels like when a company holds up their promise of putting the customer first. It’s our motto!!

A lapel pin design typically starts with a logo, image, or idea/concept that needs to be portrayed. Sometimes our customers want a pin to depict certain events or ideas through imagery, or metaphorically conveying their message, other times, they simply want wording or text in a unique font. We start creating the design the moment we receive the request, because getting artwork back promptly is one of our top priorities. We are usually able to complete a design in 15 minutes to 2 hours, depending of course on the complexity, and whether certain logos or images are readily available in a high quality format. Our artists use only the latest graphic design software, and we keep our systems and software updated to make sure we’re at the leading edge of the industry.

Our lapel pin designers are constantly innovating new methods and ways for designing lapel pins, as well as optimizing their design eye, and learning about new graphic design styles and techniques… It’s a never-ending learning process, and we enjoy staying ahead of the game! In the world of advertising and promotions, new design directions are always emerging, so we subscribe to the most innovative and latest design blogs, publications and installments out there.

Be sure to tune in next time for more lapel pin design insight from Pins Unlimited

S.A.F.E Lapel Pins

S.A.F.E approached us with a need for a custom lapel pin to spread awareness of their program. S.A.F.E. is committed to providing services for children, youth and families who have experienced or are at risk of abuse and violence. Pins Unlimited strongly supports youth advocates like S.A.F.E. and it is our pleasure to display to you their logo lapel pin. To find out more about S.A.F.E, visit their web site at www.safefamiliesca.org

Please note – we do not hold the copyright to this movie, nor the proprietary production process depicted. We did not create this video, and our own production methods may vary from the depiction seen above.