The one on the left is the same design but simplified using strong bold lines that delimit all colors. The design on the right has complex thin lines and shading. That is because the more detail and thinner lines you include in your design, the more likely the lines are to blend together in the production process (which will end up looking like a crappy pin) or the larger you’ll have to produce your pin, which will make it a lot more expensive and inconvient for the customer. Thin and intricate lines do not translate well: Clocking in at around 1-2 inches in size and made out enamel (which doesn’t facilitate intricate work) pins are a small canvas to work on, so u nless you’re a super experienced designer and producer that knows the intricacies of pin materials and production capabilities of a pin factory, overall, you should try to create designs that are simple, with bold lines, strong colors and no shading. Every black line in your artwork will be a metal line in the production process, so it’s important that all colors that you apply are delimited by lines in your design.

In comparison to traditional designing on paper (or digitally), in which you can use any lines, colors, details or shading that you’d like, the enamel pin production process imposes the following limitations:Īll colors are delimited by lines: Because all pins are made from metal molds, the epoxy paint used to fill-in the colors can only be applied to sections that are delimited by metal. If you’ve never designed an enamel pin before it’s important to understand the limitations (and benefits) of the medium in order to create artwork that will translate well into pin-form.

In this article, I will break down the three most important elements of the pin design process (if you want to know about the whole production process, check this out ).įirst, the essentials of enamel pin design, second, the factory requirements and how to prepare your design for production, and third, some tools that might help you along the way. I’m not a designer, an artist or even that good at drawing, but I’ve been making and selling enamel pins for years, and so can you. Most people think that making your own enamel pins requires you to be (or hire) a great designer or artists.

Enamel pins mockup