TIPS & GUIDANCE

Recognition and achievement awards present an excellent opportunity to support an organization’s brand message, and reinforce its positioning. We have worked with many organizations to design and create unique, custom awards and trophies that adhere to, and extend, their branding and positioning. These awards have employed a variety of unique design attributes in order to accomplish this. We are very proud of the unique, custom awards that we worked with customers to create – some are truly “out of the box” and scream originality, yet still stay consistent to the intended brand image. This article highlights some of these unique, brand-building design approaches.

One of the more interesting and strategic aspects of creating a new custom award or trophy design is choosing what design style is most appropriate for your needs. The choice of a specific artistic style to apply to your custom awards or trophies is really a matter of personal or organizational preference, although many other factors may lead you towards choosing one direction versus another, including the image of your organization or brand, the purpose of the award, the recognition presentation event, and, perhaps, the award recipients themselves. This article discusses the various design styles at your disposal, and helps you select which might be best for your specific needs.

When embarking on the creation of new custom awards and trophies, there are a number of decisions you need to make - some strategic, and others tactical. One of the key decisions you will need to make early on in your project is what “type” of custom trophy or award you want to create. Your choice of “type” will have significant implications on the cost of your awards, the time required to design and produce them, and their replicability. This article outlines some of your options, and helps you compare and contrast them in an effort to determine the best type of custom award for your needs.

Custom awards created based on brand mascots are immediately recognizable to all of the award stakeholders: recipients, event attendees, employees, and anyone else who will view the award as it is being presented or displayed post-presentation. These awards will automatically convey all of the brand attributes associated with the icon upon which they are based. In essence, a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of message connotation is already done.

There are a number of different design approaches we can take in creating a recognition award that is unique to your needs. We often use terms like “custom”, “customizable” and “personalized” to describe and categorize these approaches, and this article defines the key differences between each of these approaches.

One of the choices you may be required to make when creating a new custom award design is the color scheme to incorporate into your awards. This choice is most often associated with our custom-cut metal awards, which can be created in an almost endless variety of colors. However, unique and custom colors can also be applied to our other types of recognition awards, either as the main color element, or as an accent.

3D printing, and the larger category of additive manufacturing to which is belongs, has emerged as a new and exciting methodology for creating custom awards. 3D printing can be used in a variety of ways to create custom awards, including: a) creating original models used for casting; 2) creating objects that can be embedded in translucent materials like acrylic; and c) creating final awards. While not all custom award projects are suited for 3D printing, those that are can benefit from two key advantages: 1) a lower cost per award; and 2) a reduced timeline required to create the awards.

Bennett Awards has experience working with a wide variety of metals for your custom awards projects. We have a unique ability to match your project’s requirements with the right design and material approach, including the metal that is used for metal sculpture awards. This article outlines the primary metals that we work with, and some of the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Custom cast sculpture awards are probably the most traditional and popular form of custom award that we create. Cast sculpture awards, as their name implies, are based on a hand-sculpted model that serves as the “master” model for the casting of the awards. This model is used as the form upon which a mold is made, and this mold serves as the “reusable” starting point for the casting of each individual award. Some of the advantages of sculpture awards include their design flexibility, the high degree of handcrafted artistry inherent in their design and production, their ability to support large quantity production, and the variety of material and finish variations they offer.

A variety of materials can be used to create custom awards, including crystal, glass, wood, steel, pewter, and bronze. The design of a specific custom award often defines the choice of materials that can be used to produce that award. For custom sculpture awards, the most common materials used are bronze and pewter. This article explores the differences between these two metals, and the implications these differences have on the awards that they are best suited for.

Fabricated awards are one of the varieties of custom awards that we commonly produce. As opposed to sculpture awards, which are created using traditional casting processes, fabricated awards are constructed (or fabricated) one awards at a time. Each type of custom award is suited for a set of specific requirements, and fabricated awards are no different. Fabricated awards are ideally suited for awards that require extremely precise specifications, incorporate different types of materials, incorporate existing objects that are meaningful or relevant to the commissioning organization, or may need unique paints or coatings applied to their surface.

Fabricated awards can be produced from many different materials, including metal, wood, crystal, glass, and pre-existing objects that are meaningful to organization commissioning the awards. Most of our fabricated awards, however, are produced using machined metal. Simpler machined metal awards can deliver very affordable price points for organizations and individuals with a strict budget; or, conversely, more complex machined metal awards can deliver truly stunning visual results. Machined metal awards are extremely flexible in terms of the aspects of the award that can customized for your specific awards, including their shape, size, design style, finishes and colors.

Custom awards and trophies are a excellent way to create a recognition solution that captures the unique personality or image of your brand, event, or organization. We can create custom awards in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and materials, including sculpture awards, fabricated awards, custom medallions, custom-engraved crystal awards, etc. One of the quickest and most economical approaches to creating a new custom award design is to base it on laser-engraved crystal, and this article outlines some of the options you have for taking this approach.

While most of the custom awards that we create are in the form of sculpture awards, sculptures are not always the best fit for a client's specific recognition requirements. Given their size, shape, and price point, custom medallions may be a more viable alternative. Many people have a very narrow, pre-conceived notion of what a medallion is. However, we can create truly unique, extraordinary custom medallions with a variety of options in terms of shape, engraving, and display vehicle. In addition, these custom medallions can be combined with other award elements to create a stunning integrated recognition awards program.

While almost every award supplier offers plaques, Bennett Awards focuses on unique, custom plaques that are differentiated from the vanilla plaques prevalent in the market. We can create distinctive custom plaques by incorporating innovations across a number of different dimensions, including materials, colors, shapes sizes, form-factor, and engraving options.

Many of the custom awards and trophies we design for our clients are quite intricate and elaborate. These custom awards make a fantastic impression at the recognition event or presentation, which is great. However, these trophies might not be ideal from a cost or size standpoint to distribute to a broad base or recipients or event attendees. One unique and creative way to extend the reach of your custom awards is to create custom add-on components, such as medallions, pins, and keychains, based on the same custom award design, thereby creating an integrated custom award program.

Monumental sculptures can be a great way to complement and extend your organization’s recognition and branding initiatives. Large monumental sculptures and smaller individual recognition awards can be designed and produced based on the same iconic image, such as a corporate logo or organizational symbol or icon. These sculptures can form the visual foundation of an impactful, integrated branding and recognition program.

When choosing a pewter recognition award, customers have a choice of plating options. Generally, our pewter sculpture awards feature one of three unique finishes: a natural brushed pewter finish, a silver-plated finish, or a gold-plated finish. The finish most appropriate for a given achievement award really depends on the personal preference of the customer, as well as the desired image of the recognition event. This article explores some of factors to consider when choosing a plating option for pewter sculpture awards.

One of the more interesting aspects of bronze sculpture awards is the variation that can be achieved by applying different colors of patina to the surface of the awards. All of our bronze custom awards, and most of our bronze stock recognition awards, support the ability to choose a specific patina to color the surface of the award. A single sculpture award design can have a dramatically different look depending on the finish that is applied to it. This page outlines the finish and patina options available to you when selecting a bronze sculpture awards.

When you purchase new recognition awards, or commission a new custom award design, one of the decisions you will need to make is the type of engraving to use for your awards. There are three engraving methods that are commonly used: laser engravings into the award base, sublimated plates attached to the award base, and engraving into the body of the award itself. This article describes these alternatives and offers advice as to which method might be best for your specific award.

We receive many questions about the processes involved in creating our unique recognition awards. Each type of award - bronze, pewter, crystal, etc. - involves a unique process. In this article, we outline the production processes for our bronze and pewter sculpture awards. The steps required to produce these sculpture awards are probably the most time-, labor-, and skill-intensive out of all of our achievement awards. This article focuses on these specific processes. In the future, we will outline the production processes for our other types of awards.

Corporate awards can be an excellent way of recognizing and rewarding employees. When used correctly, company awards can also help motivate your employees, and align their efforts with key business objectives and goals. This article explains some of the do's and don'ts associated with implementing a successful corporate awards program.

In today's tough economy, organizations are having a difficult time providing their employees with meaningful recognition, while at the same time balancing their budget. Unique, high-quality sculpture awards can be a great vehicle for achieving this objective.