The Studio Dais Design Process

Not all designers are created equal, and that is why we offer a free design service on all designs that come through the door. You may be a pro designer who has all the latest Adobe software, and you may just be a genius who is good with drawing sketches, but each and every order is looked over by our design team to ensure there are no errors before manufacturing, and if requested by yourself we can talk about how your design can be given a bit more POP!

Some designs we receive are a long way from ready, some need to be fully redrawn in order to work on their intended format and some just need a few small tweaks (we love those ones!). But our approach is to work our magic on the Macs and give your design life which ultimately is your return on investment, if you are not getting that, then our job is not done. And we like to get the job done! Simply put, we make your designs work.

We treat each of our clients as individuals, and understand we are all different, and pride ourselves with a good level of understanding, communication and commitment to make you, the client, happy and successful.

We are always happy to talk to you about new ideas, so get in touch at any point.

 

In Short:

• Choose your product.

• Fill in the options.

• Upload your design / artwork.

• We send you a design spec sheet, and you sign it off.

• Sit back, relax and let us do the rest.

• Receive your finished products.

• Reap the rewards.

Soft Enamel Badges vs Hard Enamel Badges

There is a lot of variety when it comes to badges, the choice is endless and limited to your own imagination and that is why we are here. But let’s look at the differences between soft enamel badges and hard enamel badges.

The main difference is how the two compare side to side. You will notice instantly that soft enamel badges have the enamel recessed into the badge, creating a textured feel and look. While hard enamel badges have a completely flat and polished surface, giving them a more premium feel. That is the main visual difference between them. They are essentially the same badge from the same mould, apart from the finishing mentioned above.

Which one is best?

How long is a piece of string? There is no such answer to this. It all depends on what you would like to achieve with your marketing efforts. We have found that hard enamel pin badges work well for brands, companies and clubs who want to convey a sense of prestige, tradition and history, while the soft enamel badge, which are a little cheaper for us to manufacture, work well for young brands and companies who want to convey themselves in a more fun and lively manner. But of course nothing is set on stone, you have to do some brainstorming and figure out what you want to say about your brand.

Still unsure? Give us a call or drop us an email, we will happily discuss your options with you.

How to Design Your Enamel Pin Badge Ready For Production

There are a few key points you need to remember when designing your enamel pin, but don’t worry if you are not a designer or illustrator, we have a team for that! But try to follow these rules for the perfect pin!

1. DETAILS. Keep your design simple! Not only will this make our job easier, but it will also make your design POP! You need POP! So cut out any points you don’t deem important, and while there is no limit on the amount of colours you can include in your design, you don’t want to be adding too much complexity.
2. LINES. Keep your lines at 0.2mm or above for soft enamel and 0.5mm or above for hard enamel, due to the polishing stages with hard enamel, 0.5mm line will ensure the lines stay strong and merge-free. If you are sketching your ideas on a paper then this won’t matter, but if you are designing in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop etc, set your pen tool to 0.2mm or 0.5mm and draw away!
3. FONT SIZE. We are capable of some great things, but we still like it relatively easy. Keep your font size to 4pt and above. Want to challenge us? Go for it!

Plating Options Available For All Of Our Metalware Items

All of our metalwares can be plated in over 21 plating options to further maximise the uniqueness of your bespoke custom products. This includes our enamel badges, medals, coins, keyrings, jewellery, both die cast and die struck object and any future metalware products we add to our lines. There is a plating for everybody!

The platings on offer are: Gold, Nickel, Bronze, Copper, Silver, Brass, Matt Gold, Matt Nickel, Matt Copper, Matt Silver, Matt Brass, Antique Gold, Antique Nickel, Antique Copper, Antique Silver, Antique Brass, 24k Gold, Black Nickel, Chrome, Black Dye, White Dye. If there is a plating you are after not listed, please let our team know and we will get it to you.

Here we show a selection of the possibilities.

To Clutch Or Not To Clutch – It’s Not A Question

A pin clutch is a clasp, grip or fastener which holds your custom lapel pins, brooch or medals onto the desired area, such as a jacket, jumper, bag or any other material which can be pierced. The word ‘clutch’ is defined as ‘a tight grasp’ so you get the idea. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular types of lapel pin clutch backs!

The Differences Between Woven & Embroidered Patches – Which One Is Right For You?

Patch Overview

You have the perfect design, you know it needs to be on a patch of some sort, then you see the variety available! Where do you start? We have created a simple patch tutorial for you to get familiar with the world of patches and how you can apply them to your company / brand goals. One thing is certain, don’t make any of your lines less than 0.3mm for woven and 0.6mm for embroidered due to manufacturing constraints.

Embroidered Patches

Embroidered patches by nature create contrasts and are perfect for impact! They are affordable, durable and have an almost an unlimited number of colours using the Pantone colour chart for reference. In fact we have access to over 12,000 thread colours and 2000 twill colours, so please challenge us, we like challenges. Your design is embroidered into a fabric backing, hence the name ‘embroidered’. Perfect for sports teams, societies, work uniforms and generally designs that are a little bolder in style. Embroidered patches don’t hold as much detail as our <woven patches> so if it is detail you are after, check them out as well. Embroidered patches are perfect for a more traditional or vintage feel. The bottom line is if you want a more traditional look, and don’t have too much detail in your design, go for embroidered.

Woven Patches

Woven patches though similar to <embroidered>, pack in a little more detail (quite a lot more actually) due to them using thinner threads. They are made by weaving the threads together so detail is much finer with text and line weights. Perfect for more intricate designs or if you require something a little more prestigious looking as well as being slightly cheaper than embroidered. The finish is smooth and tight, which leaves a much more presented look. The bottom line is if you have a lot of detail in your design, woven is the one for you.

Chenille Patches

Chenille patches give any design instant credibility. They are best known as the choice for American colleges and universities letterman jackets and hark back to the good old 60s and 70s. They are back in fashion and look as great as ever. They don’t allow as much detail as woven or embroidered patches so keep your designs simple, bold and usually larger than 70mm. Perfect for clubs, societies, teams and college / university related purposes.

Printed Patches

Want a fabric patch but your design is too complex? No problem! We manufacture printed patches and the sky really is the limit as to what you can print. We carefully heat transfer your image / design over the woven patch to create a truly awesome looking patch

Fixing Your Patches

There are multiple ways to fix patches to desired surfaces, be it denim jacket, leather bag and even your fridge freezer. We offer Velcro Backing, sticky back iron on reverse, magnet and standard, which is basically a heat cut or overlocked edge which can be stitched on to your desired material.

Finishing Your Patches

Finishing comes in 2 options, heat cut edge and overlocked edge. Heat cut edge is finished by, as the name would suggest, heat, and fuses the threads together to avoid fraying and softening. Overlocked edge is done by an overlocking machine and ‘sews’ the edges closed and leaves a much more traditional looking patch.

RGB vs CMYK vs PANTONE – And Why They Matter When You Are Designing Your Artwork

The world would be a pretty boring place without colour right? Colour ‘experts’ say the number of colours in the world ranges from 10,000,000 to infinity, that’s a lot of choice! Thankfully there are some basic guides we creative folk can follow when creating artwork for either on screen, print and physical merchandise! It’s just a case of adjusting your settings in Photoshop, illustrator or whatever medium you are using to use either Pantone or CMYK (not RGB). If you have a design on the back of an envelope, don’t worry, we will best match the colours for you and show you a design proof before we proceed. Let’s take a look.

RGB

RGB (red, green, blue) is an additive colour model and is primarily concerned with the sensing, representation and display of electronic devices such as TVs, computers, digital cameras and phone displays. If your artwork is intended for print or physical merchandise stay away from RGB, as its main purpose of the RGB color model is for the sensing, representation and display of images in electronic systems, such as televisions and computers.

CMYK

CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is a subtractive colour model system and used mainly in colour printing. CMYK operates by masking the four colours on a light background, and its degree of masking that is performed which allows printers to produce full spectrum colours. The background is typically white; when the ink is printed it works to reduce its reflection/brightness. CMYK offers greater detail specifically with the black ink and is therefore favored in printing houses. We can match any CMYK colour on our enamel badges and other metalwares and products. We also print in full CMYK on all of our printed badges if required.

P.M.S (Pantone Matching System)

Where possible, we work to the Pantone Matching System on all of our products to ensure we can accurately reproduce your artwork. P.M.S is an industry standardized colour reproduction system introduced by Pantone which enables people in different industries to communicate in Pantone codes for accurate results. Not only that Pantone really know their colours! Pretty cool! If you are not familiar with Pantone colours check them out.

The main difference between CMYK and Pantone printing is the level of accuracy. The Pantone process is more consistent and able to produce colors closer in shade to the ones seen in the digital design stage (if not exactly). And that is why we prefer you to design in with Pantone matching system where possible.

But, we are not printing, all we need from you is a Pantone reference, you can get this in Photoshop or Illustrator easily and a quick search will show you how. The Pantone reference will look something like PANTONE 708C PANTONE 319C. If you don’t use these programs we can get the colour references for you no problem.