Client Focus: Vans Family App. Hard Enamel Pins And Vinyl Stickers.

Studio Dais was approached by Vans to help them produce a special run of Vans Family hard enamel pins and vinyl stickers which would go towards promoting their Vans Family App, an app where you can get personalised content, members only experiences and exclusive products. The aim was to drive footfall to their London Soho store and in turn build a stronger Vans Family community all round.

Vans Lifestyle Brand

Vans is the clothing lifestyle brand like no other! From their slogans “Tell a friend about Vans” to “Off The Wall”, they defy marketing norms and go against the grain with their 50 year old philosophy. Their philosophy is focused on people, community, experience and giving back! Anywhere in the world at any given time, there is most likely an event going down being hosted by Vans in some way or other. From Skateboarding, BMX, Surfing, Mountain Biking, Snow Boarding, Music and other Lifestyle aspects to life. Vans will be there, giving and cultivating better, stronger communities for all.

A Brief History of Vans And The Invention of Cool

It is often asked in the ‘alternative sports’ communities what the world would be like without Vans? Vans was founded before skateboarding. OK, let me explain that. Skateboarding was kind of ‘a thing’ in the mid 1950s (Google it for amazement), but it was in 1975 at the Del Mar Nationals, the first big skateboarding competition held since the 1960s, where a a young antisocial, punked out skate team called The Zephyr Team, or the Z Boys turned up and revolutionised the world with this new aggressive form of flat skating. It was exciting, rebellious and looked like the perfect way to defy limitations. Modern day skateboarding was born, and with it a billion dollar industry. All made possible from legends like, Bob Biniak, Peggy Oki, Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Stacey Peralta, Jim Muir, Shogo Kubo, Paul Constantineau and Chris Cahill to name a few!

Back to Vans!

But, back to Vans. Most of the legends above were wearing Vans in 1975. Vans were there in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. Supporting and enabling alternative ways to live and express yourself. From clothing and shoes, to skateparks, competitions, community events, charity fundraisers and bringing the youth up through the ranks of extreme / alternative sports culture.

Working with Vans on this run of enamel pins and vinyl stickers has been an honour. The team at Studio Dais have been wearing Vans for a long time (mid 90s!). A time when if you seen someone wearing Vans, you knew that they either rode BMX or were into skateboarding. As with all of our work, we put our hearts into it, and this project in particular our hearts were on the table!

Hard Enamel Pin Badges

Vans were keen to pay homage to their 50 year roots and wanted a clean, classy and classic looking hard enamel pin badge that would be cherished for a long time.

Vans Family Badge Specifications:

• 30mm
• Hard Enamel
• Gold Plated
• Classic Safety Pin Back
• Black and White Enamel Fill

Hard enamel was the clear winner over soft enamel for this project. Hard enamel is more akin to the cloisonné enamel pin badges of the early to mid 20^th century.  And this really played up to the Vans heritage, which goes back to March 16^th, 1966. The founding year of this great company! Their famous black and white checkerboard pattern also made an appearance on the badge, this is a clear indicator that these pins were extra special to Vans. Usually a nod to remind people of their heritage and brand purpose. The gold plating and classic safety pin fastener were a nice finishing touch, once again making this smooth, shiny 30mm pin badge an instant classic!

These pin badges will be perfect for most applications. From bags, coats, jackets and t shirts as well as being perfect mantelpiece ornaments for offices, studios and homes!

Laminated Matt Vinyl Stickers

In addition to the hard enamel pin badges, Vans were keen to give back and build even more in their community! Vinyl stickers have played an important part in the building of Vans as a lifestyle entity. Stickers are power to the people. They bring people into the marketing message, they allow people to shape your company in ways that you could never have thought possible. From car bumpers, bar backs, school lockers, road signs and canteen tables. The possibilities are endless and you will be sure to see some of these vinyl stickers around in no time!

The Vans Family vinyl stickers were done in laminated matt vinyl, to give them a more vintage feel, the lamination will see that they last for up to 10 years in any given situation, however they will most likely last double that indoors!

Vans Family Gold Vinyl Sticker Bonus

As a surprise for our friends at Vans, Studio Dais decided to create a limited run of their hard enamel pin badges in vinyl sticker form. Studio Dais suggested gloss laminated matt vinyl, as a nice contrast to the large quantity of matt vinyl “Welcome To The Family” Stickers. We took it a step further too. To pay homage to the founding year of 1966, the stickers were sized at 66mm. We did try for 66.16mm but it was a step too far (16^th March was their founding date). The stickers were shared out around with customers and staff in London!

Job Done

It’s always great when our clients know exactly what they want. And these enamel badges and vinyl stickers were not going into production without some much welcomed scrutiny from the creative teams at Vans. All products came out really well, and we have been informed that the mission is well underway. Footfall and app downloads are up amid the Covid-19 crisis. Engagement is strong and we don’t doubt that social media will soon be full of hashtags promoting the Vans Family pin badges and stickers.

To conclude, this promotion is still underway as of 19^th August 2020. Head down to the Vans London SOHO store if you are keen to grab a badge or set of stickers. Download the Vans Family app and claim what is yours!

Future Partnerships

We look forward to working closely with Vans on future projects, when the event season kicks back in in 2021.

Our passion for creating good work stretches the whole spectrum. From bedroom creatives, small start ups, SMEs, established organisations to charities and educational institutions. Here’s the bottom line, whether we are making 50 badges or 5000 badges. We do not water down our commitment to making our clients feeling valued and cared for. We are super proud of our Vans Family Hard Enamel Pin Badges we have made here.

Please get in touch today if you would like to discuss a new project, no matter the size, or complexity!