Custom Soft Enamel Pins

What Is a Soft Enamel Pin?

A soft enamel pin is a die struck metal pin whose recessed areas are filled with colored enamel paint, leaving the raised lines of the artwork standing above the color. Run a finger across the face and you can feel that texture. It is the fastest way to tell soft enamel apart from hard enamel, where the color is filled level with the metal and polished flat.

That raised metal border is doing real work. It keeps neighboring colors from bleeding into each other, which is why a soft enamel pin can carry up to seven enamel colors at no extra cost and still hold the fine lines in a crest, a mascot, or a logo. Soft enamel is the most common style of custom lapel pin for the same reason it is our most requested: it reproduces detailed, colorful artwork accurately and costs less per pin than the same design made in hard enamel.

Custom Lapel Pin Designs Crafted to Perfection

No two pins are ever the same just as no two customers are ever the same. Our Signature Pins team specializes in making high-quality custom designs, so all of the soft enamel pins you see on our website are examples of products made for our past clients. With years of experience working with customers from every walk of life imaginable, we’ve come to realize that there’s limitless potential for new and interesting ideas. If you and your team need a one of a kind design, we’re here to help.

How Are Custom Soft Enamel Lapel Pins Made?

All of our custom soft enamel pins start out as a design idea. Our art team creates original artwork based on the ideas sent in by our customers, and once the design is finalized, our production team takes over. A custom mold is used to stamp artwork into sheets of iron, brass or copper. The clear impression of the design is removed from the sheet and deburred before the metal plating and enamel process can begin.

We offer several different options for metal plating, each one having a distinctive appearance that will change how people interact with your design. Choosing high polish plating is a great way to add to the perceived value of a custom lapel pin, and our antique plating options create a unique, rustic appearance that is sure to help your design stand out from the rest.

The enamel process takes place after the plating process. Colored enamel is added to the recessed portions of the design, and the raised metal lines of the artwork make sure that the enamel doesn’t spill into other portions of the pin.

Our production team can add up to seven different enamel colors at no extra cost to create any kind of design you need. Soft enamel pins are a popular choice for groups looking to recreate team logos and emblems with precise accuracy and vivid detail, but the potential for new design ideas is limitless.

Soft Enamel vs Hard Enamel Pins

Customers are always asking us to describe the difference between hard and soft enamel pins, and we’re always happy to help. Enamel is the paint used to add color to any kind of lapel pin design. For soft enamel pins, the color is added to the recessed portions of the artwork. The raised metal lines of the design act as a border between colorfill areas so that the enamel paints don’t bleed together. Hard enamel pins, also called cloisonné pins, have a different kind of enamel. It’s a powdered, glass-like resin that’s added to the recessed portions of a design and filled to an even level with the raised surface of a pin.

If you run your finger across the surface of a soft enamel pin, you will feel the texture of the raised portions of metal above the enamel colorfill. Hard enamel pins have a smooth, polished surface since the paint is at an even level with the top of the pin. So, not only can you see the difference between hard and soft enamel pins, but you can also feel the difference.

Which one is right for your project usually comes down to budget and use. Soft enamel is the better value for colorful, detailed artwork and for anything ordered in volume — logo pins, event pins, fundraising pins. Hard enamel earns its higher unit price on awards and long-service pieces that need to read as jewelry. If you want a smooth face without paying hard enamel prices, we can add a clear epoxy dome to a soft enamel pin at no additional charge. And if you aren’t sure what kind of custom enamel pins will work best for your design, just let us know, and our team will be happy to help.

Soft Enamel Badges, Trading Pins, and Lanyard Pins

“Soft enamel pin” covers more than a lapel pin on a suit jacket. The same die struck and colorfill process makes conference and staff badges, hockey and baseball trading pins, ribbon and awareness pins, and the keepsakes handed out at a race or a fundraising walk. Every one of those comes off the same mold and the same colorfill line, so a single design can carry a whole program instead of being split across product lines.

Attachments are what adapt a single design to those different jobs. A standard post with a butterfly or rubber clutch is included at no cost, and we also offer a safety pin back for lanyards and badge holders, a magnetic back for uniforms that shouldn’t be pierced, and danglers for trading pin sets. Finish the order with printed cardstock or a poly bag and the same pin arrives retail-ready.

Custom Soft Enamel Pin Pricing

All of the orders that come through Signature Pins are based on unit price. There are a number of different things that affect unit price like size, shape, metal plating and attachment options for the back of each pin, but the pricing tables further down this page serve as a general rule of thumb when it comes to the price of custom lapel pins.

Something like a soft enamel keychain will be more expensive than a soft enamel pin design with a regular butterfly clutch attachment. Pins with magnetic backing or cufflink attachments are also a little more expensive, however butterfly clutches and rubber clutches can be included at no additional cost.

We’re honest and upfront with our pricing, and there are no hidden fees tacked on during the design process. Every order comes with free quotes, artwork, unlimited revisions and overnight shipping, so you don’t have to worry about any surprise charges once you finalize an order.

Working With the Best Custom Pin Maker Online

Our Signature Pins team has experience handcrafting custom soft enamel pins for all kinds of different teams across the nation. Our goal is to provide the highest quality custom products on the market and the best customer service available. Our art team is here to help you create a unique design that makes a meaningful impact, and all you need to get started are a few ideas and one of our free quote forms.

Ordering takes three steps. Send us your ideas — a logo, a sketch, or just a description. Our art team turns them into a free digital proof, usually within 48 hours, and revises it as many times as you need at no charge. Once you approve the artwork, standard production takes 3.5–4 weeks; shipping is additional (free, typically a few days).

All artwork and revisions are free, so make sure to let us know if there is anything you would like to change or add. Every design tells a different story, and the best way for us to help create a beautiful design for your team is to hear your story. Give us a call today, and see what our team can get ready for you.