Their defining characteristic is the thin metal lines separating each color and a smooth, hard enamel finish. The one on the left is the same design but simplified using strong bold lines that delimit all colors.Īlright, now that you have your design artwork ready, it’s time to Decide What Material Your Enamel Pin Will BeĪlthough pins can be made from a wide variety of materials, there are two traditional formats most pin-makers stick to. The design on the right has complex thin lines and shading. Here is an example of a pin design well suited for pin production and one that's not: Save yourself and the factory some time by not including shading in your pin design. Use bold lines and strong colors instead!Ĭolors within a pin are exclusively delimited by the lines, this means that any type of shading within a color is not possible.

Pins are small so thin lines and muted colors tend to not stand out when looking at a pin from a distance. You can either draw and color a sketch of your idea on a white piece of paper and scan it as a PDF file or, if you know your way around one of the many graphic design software options out there, you can send them a digital file of the art you’d like to get made into a pin.Ī few design-related tips I’d recommend for anyone starting off would be:Ĭlocking in at around 1-2 inches in size, pins are a small canvas to work on so the fewer lines and details you can use to convey an image, the more likely it is that it’ll translate to a clean and clear pin design.

If you want to get more in depth, you can read my article on the best enamel pin factories as well as how to design enamel pins. In order to start production, the minimum requirement a pin factory will ask for is a PDF file of the design you’d like to get produced. The process of making your own pins can be broken down into these six steps. So, how do you make your own enamel pins? It’s actually pretty simple and straightforward, and in most cases, it doesn’t take longer than 2-4 weeks.

Most people assume that making your own enamel pins is a long and complicated process. Okay, so you’ve got an awesome idea for a pin that you want to make. In case you don't like reading articles, you can view my video of how to make enamel pins. In case you do, here it is.

Logo pin enamel mockup