The steps are quite simple:
If you are not a blog person, then you can check out our studio vlog, where we share our entire process with some fun inserts! It's a silent vlog, with calming piano music in the background!
Now, let's get into this process!
RESEARCH
Research and keep researching! As you are reading this blog, it means you have already begun your research! That's great! Now, spending a few good hours would be enough to start the designing process, and then you can continue your research work. We would like to give some tips on researching the enamel pins, before that you must question yourself, as a small business owner, do you really need this investment? Do you really want this product out there to represent your brand? Well, if the answer is a big, fat YES, then let's design the pins, shall we?
1. Search on Youtube
Okay, so before that, you can search and watch youtube videos on enamel pins, you can ask your favorite pin makers about a few tricks and tips. But don't bother them too much and expect them to answer, as you never really know what's going on the other side. You can watch our process video, which will show you that what to expect and how we researched it.
2. Join Facebook groups
There are some great Facebook groups that you can join and know about the insights of the manufacturers.
3. Alibaba
As we manufactured our pins via Alibaba, you can search and probably select a manufacturer from it. We cannot guarantee anything and we are in no way affiliated with it. We will share what we asked the different manufacturers and our conversation with our final manufacturer. It's a trial and error process.
The factors that you can look at in a manufacturer are; their years of experience, reviews, response time, and whether they are verified or not!
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ANATOMY OF AN ENAMEL PIN
Once you decide to go with the hard enamel or the soft enamel pin, you can choose the base material of the pin. We went ahead with the hard enamel pin as it was our personal choice. You must take your budget in mind before investing in it.
As you can see, it matters on your investment budget and the design. We really wanted to go with the rose gold, but we could not afford it at the moment, so we went ahead with silver, our second favorite. The above mentioned are the popular materials used in the pin-making world but another material that could be used is brass. This really depends on whether the potential manufacturer is using it or not. But feel free to ask questions about Brass.
We highly recommend getting the back logo stamp on your enamel pin. This not only looks professional, but your customer remembers the name of your brand just by looking at the back of the pin and it really makes a great impression. Even though there is an extra cost to it, you should get it!
Colour is the most important factor here. More the colors, expensive the pin will be. Alas, we got to know about this in the production process, where we could cut it down to only a few colors. Thus, our I-scream pin was a bit expensive. You must use the Pantone colors and mention the color names as well. This will avoid any shocks that you might get later due to any misinterpretation. Another reason, most of the manufacturers use the Pantone color reference. So, we better remain on the same page right?
So, when you design the pin you must keep the above factors in mind.
DESIGNING AN ENAMEL PIN
The most exciting part is here! This could actually be a difficult part of the process; if you have too many ideas or no ideas at all. Perhaps the following factors can be helpful when you are designing a pin!
Sketch and sketch! Don't rush or force the design. Just go which connects with you.
If you have an original character, you can go ahead and make a pin of that!
Search the pins that already out there. Which are the pins that attract you the most? Which are the pins that you don't like? Which kind of pins are popular? How can your pin be different from the rest?
If you have too many ideas, you can do a poll or just observe that which one gets the most likes, profile visits, or votes!
GRADING ENAMEL PINS
Oh my God! The pins are here! That's just an overwhelming feeling! I will never get used to it! Now, you must keep in mind that the manufacturers are humans. We cannot be perfect and we do make mistakes.
STANDARD A-GRADE ▪ PERFECT or NEAR PERFECT
1 or more minor flaws that are only seen under intense scrutiny. The products are of the highest quality. However, we refrain from calling them “perfect”, as “perfect” is subjective for hand-filled and polished pins. They may still be susceptible to very minor imperfections that are only visible upon extremely close-up inspection and/or when light hits the pin at a specific angle.
B-GRADE ▪ SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT
B-Grade is a slight step down from Standard quality and may have one or more noticeable imperfections. Most errors found on B-Grade pins would not be bothering the casual collector. If there are 5-10, it's okay and that could be expected. If there are 15- 20, you can contact your manufacturer. If there are more than 25, then you must ask for a refund or workout on something with your manufacturer. Well, in our case there were hardly any B or C grade pins.
SECONDS or C-GRADE
The flaws are visible and the mistakes were not inevitable. It means a flaw like a misprint. or there is no enamel covered in the particular area or it's dysfunctional in any way. If there are 5-10, it's okay and that could be expected. If there are 15- 20, you can contact your manufacturer. If there are more than 25, then you must ask for a refund or workout on something with your manufacturer. You can sell such pins at a 50% discount rate or not, it will be your choice.
BACKING CARDS
Backing cards are for branding purposes. You can either have one single design for all the backing cards, which is what we did, or have a different design for each of your pins. We created a single backing card design, one side printed. This was because we did not want to invest too much in the packaging. But, it's really a personal choice. The important factor is the information provided on your backing card. We would highly recommend including the following details:-
Name of your brand
Your social media contact info
Your pin name (if you have)
Your website/shop link
You can either print them by yourself or get them printed. It depends on your budget, the printer situation, and the number of orders you are expecting or getting.
PACKAGING
Tissue paper, Plastic, Vellum/tracing paper, cello, or glassine bags. Any material that is easily available could be your answer. Packaging is more about your brand aesthetic rather than what's popular out there. We did not want to do anything, as we really wanted to be eco-friendly. We, at Tangled Minds, believe that when it's really not necessary, you can exclude the branding materials. After all, the fewer packing materials you are using, the more eco-friendly it is.
PHOTOSHOOT
You can create a mood board and explore more that you want to capture and present, according to your brand aesthetic. Just have fun and use the props that you have, and can easily find in your home. Just enjoy this process without any pressure as it won't lead to any great pictures! Remember, you cannot force magic.
OUR CONVERSATION WITH THE MANUFACTURER
CHECK OUT OUR STUDIO VLOG
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