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Tips for Creating Great Challenge Coins
Our graphics department is the core of what we do – designing and manufacturing great looking coins. We try our very best to get your coin design back to you as fast as possible. There are some things you can do to prepare our graphics staff so that your design shows up even quicker. Think of this as the foundation of your home, if the foundation is shaky It doesn’t matter how awesome the house is, sooner or later
Images: Click GO CUSTOM and upload up to four images; one for the front of your coin, and one for the back. Try to make sure you send us the largest possible images so that we may extract the most detail from the image into your challenge coin design. If you have your artwork pre-drawn in vector or PDF format, this will greatly speed up the process. Extremely complicated challenge coins sometimes take up to 5 hours to compose (especially those with 3D requests). Vector artwork will drastically reduce this time.
3D: Many customers wish to have one or more elements of their custom coins manufactured using a 3D process. For this to be most successful, your image must be high resolution. Our 3D technique is unique to us – no other company renders 3D coins
Worth The Wait: An average design submitted to us for proofing takes about 2.5 hours of work from our graphics department. A challenge coin with 3D included takes up to 4 or more hours. With the
Bigger Really Can Be Better: If you are looking to get the absolute most detail possible into your coin, consider some of the larger sizes. We are often asked to cram an enormous amount of detail into a 1.50” coin. Although we usually come up with a solution by simplifying certain details, in the end most customers are much more satisfied if the coin has ALL of what they wanted to see. There are times when a coin has so many detailed “parts” to it, that a larger coin is warranted. For example, military ratings combined with one or more 3D images and/or seals with small wording. If in doubt, you can leave it up to us and we will make your custom coin artwork at the smallest possible size to accurately fit your wishes.
Options and Delivery: Need your coins fast? Here are a few examples of options that will slow the delivery of your coins: epoxy, silk screening, edge engraving or numbering, complicated color schemes, dual plating, specialty edging, hard enamel challenge coins and offset printed images.
As an illustration, the challenge coin on the left will deliver much quicker than the coin on the right. This is due to the many colors and small spaces on the
Making custom quality challenge coins and Military belt buckles are one of our specialties. If you’re interested in getting a designing a custom buckle or Quality Challenge coin for your Division, Command, or Mess we’ve streamlined the process, click the get started link at the bottom of the page and someone from our design team will be with you within 48 hours to bring your vision to life. If your interested in making something awesome in metal, so hot you need glove to put it on your belt check out Pitch and Rudders Custom Military Belt Buckles.
Challenge Coins aren’t just for the Military.
Challenge coins, once only give by the military, are now designed for other government agencies and for the private sector. The main use of these attractive medallions is for identification and awards. Also called honor coins, they boost morale in an organization when they are given to individuals or teams who have shown outstanding effort in their field.
Custom challenge coins are made for police and fire departments as well as emergency rescue units to honor the people who risk their lives in the line of duty. Military coins have much more meaning than merely an award. To the person who receives it, or to the family of a soldier killed in action, they represent a symbol of the ultimate sacrifice.
There are certain characteristics that challenge coins should have. First of all, it needs to have the name of the group, unit or company that is awarding the coin. The graphic or design should be attractive and, if possible, inspiring. The style, symbolism and theme should be unique. The color should be suitable for the purpose of the coin. Other considerations are whether a mascot, logo or motto should also be on the coin.
Custom challenge coins also represent strong ties between scout troops, school and college associations, religious groups as well as groups that join together to save the environment, beautify a city or promote literacy.
Challenge coins may be worn around the neck, but are generally not turned into paperweights or coffee mug decorations. Traditionally, they should always be kept with the recipient as a coin and shown to anyone who asks to see it. They can be kept in a pocket or purse but not left on a desk or dresser at home. Members of a group who carry challenge coins can challenge another member to show their coin.
Whether challenge coins are given for extraordinary military service or for recognition of a job beyond the expectations of leaders in the private sector, they represent a specific action or time in the recipient’s life. They are cherished as a representation of acknowledgment from superiors as well as proof of belonging to a distinguished
Cut out shapes in Challenge Coins
Challenge coins are now capable of being designed with different kinds of cutouts within the face of the actual coin. By adding these alterations to the typical coin, it is becoming a favorite choice among advertisers and challenge coin collectors. Thanks to the craftsmanship that goes into creating these coins, as well as their varied cuts and shapes, collectors and businesses have another great way to personalize their challenge coins.
THE SKILL BEHIND THE CHALLENGE COIN CUT OUT
The cut out challenge coin is a relatively new technique. Cut out challenge coins are defined by the fact that a single piece or multiple pieces of the coin are cut out or added to the design. The cut out effect brings a unique quality to the look and feel of the customized coin. Two of the most popular cuts include:
• The Bullet Hole Cut: This cut is used to enable the challenge coin to be attached to a chain or rope. Challenge coins can then be worn around the neck as jewelry, dangled from one’s pants, or even attached to a key chain. These new ways to display your challenge coins make them memorable, functional, and attractive.
• Cut Around the Full Logo or Insignia: By cutting out patterns around a logo or insignia, an added charm is brought to customized challenge coins. This kind of cut also gives emphasis to the purpose of the coin by focusing the viewer’s eye on the design. This style of cut out challenge coins is perfect for businesses that wish to use them to increase brand or product recognition.
CUT OUT CHALLENGE COIN SHAPES
There are various shapes that are available when designing cut out challenge coins. The customized cut out coin does not have to be round like the change in your pocket. Instead, it can come in wide variety of shapes, such as the following:
• Rectangular, pentagon, triangle, square, oval, etc.
• Protruding out of a basic shape
• Indented in from a basic shape
Customized cut out challenge coins have brightened up the pot by adding so much more variety to the standard challenge coin. The cutting technique adds a new dimension, a new appeal, and a new feel to a classic collectors item and promotional tool.
ORDERING CUT OUT CHALLENGE COINS
Businesses can order cut out challenge coins that are similar in shape to their logo or latest product. Athletic teams can have coins cut in a way that resembles a shape specific to their sport, such as equipment items and apparel. Organizations can use cut out challenge coins that are designed to commemorate a special cause or celebratory event, giving added meaning and collectability to the item.
With so many different
PITCH AND RUDDER SERVICES
Making custom quality challenge coins and Military belt buckles are our specialty. If you’re interested in getting a designing a custom buckle or Quality Challenge coin for your Division, Command, or Mess we’ve streamlined the process, click the get started link at the bottom of the page and someone from our design team will be with you within 48 hours to bring your vision to life. When your working with us, we want to be as transparent as possible if you’re looking for shirts, you are going to be working with Chuck’s and his Team, If you’re working with metal you will be working with Grady’s Team. We have recently begun working with two new jewelry manufactures creating custom military jewelry and an awesome veteran owned jewelry factory and will soon be offering custom pieces in that line.
Business Card Challenge Coins
How many times have you been given a business card only to stuff it in your pocket or throw it away without ever giving it a serious look? Odds are that has happened more often than not in your lifetime. The truth is that the majority of these outdated cards get lost in wallets or pockets, or they are simply discarded.
A card’s design is often the determining factor in how effective it is in promoting a business. The more unique its appearance, the more likely it is to garner a second look. It is for that reason that many businesses are using such customizable items as challenge coins.
While the overall appeal and uniqueness of challenge coins makes them highly effective marketing devices, they alone still do not guarantee optimal conversion rates. There is no way of knowing whether or not the recipient of the challenge coin is going to visit your website or further familiarize themselves with your product or service upon returning home or to their office. In order to improve conversion rates, companies are taking their use of challenge coins one step further by adding QR codes to their surface.
QR CODES AND CHALLENGE COINS: A FRESH IDEA
QR codes, better known as quick response codes, are able to store large capacities of information that can be accessed in seconds. With the help of a basic application, potential clients can use their smart phones to access such data as hyperlinks, text, and even coupons that are stored in the QR code located on a coin. The QR code allows your clients to import your information to their smart phone without so much as a click of a button.
Challenge coins featuring QR codes were first used at a conference in Las Vegas when a business owner sought a way to stand out from the rest of the crowd. He created a coin with a QR code that stored his company’s information, as well as his contact data and website. Not only did his challenge coins capture the attention of other attendees at the conference, but also the QR code design enabled him to immediately identify interested customers and start the negotiation process.
With a standard card, you may have to wait days or even weeks to hear back from a client. In fact, your card may get lost among the countless others that potential client received during the same event. He or she may also have simply forgot about the deal or business proposition that the two of you had discussed.
By using challenge coins that feature a QR code with your contact information and any relevant company data, you can be sure that they will not get lost among the common forms of media given out by your competitors. Even more importantly, your potential client can use their smart phone to immediately access any details that may be influential in closing the deal.
With all the details they will need right at their finger tips, your potential client will be far more likely to move forward with a transaction. The details of your deal will be fresh in their mind, and because everything is there for them in the QR code, they’ll likely contact you first when it comes time to finalize everything.
The combination of the unique look and shape of the challenge coin, and the readily available information in the QR code provides for better conversion rates than you would likely see with other traditional advertising. As such, challenge coins featuring QR codes are the perfect option to supplement the standard business card as a means of effectively advertising and promoting your business.
PITCH AND RUDDER SERVICES
Making custom quality challenge coins and Military belt buckles are our specialty. If you’re interested in getting a designing a custom buckle or Quality Challenge coin for your Division, Command, or Mess we’ve streamlined the process, click the get started link at the bottom of the page and someone from our design team will be with you within 48 hours to bring your vision to life. When your working with us, we want to be as transparent as possible if you’re looking for shirts, you are going to be working with Chuck’s and his Team, If you’re working with metal you will be working with Grady’s Team. We have recently begun working with two new jewelry manufactures creating custom military jewelry and an awesome veteran owned jewelry factory and will soon be offering custom pieces in that line.