Soft vs Hard Enamel Pins: Complete Guide to Choosing the Right Finish
Table of Contents Choosing between soft and hard enamel pins can make or break your custom pin project. While both
Custom lapel pins and custom pins are more popular than ever! They are a fantastic, tangible way to show off your interests, promote your brand, or capture a memory. If you’re looking to create your own pins, diving into the world of custom lapel pins might seem daunting, but it’s really about understanding a few key style trends that are dominating the scene. The modern custom market offers incredible flexibility to create unique, high-quality pins for any purpose, whether you need a single pin sample or are planning to place a big batch order.
Below, we dive into the biggest trends in custom pin design, what’s popular, some tips on why lots of creators are launching their own ideas and pins, and what’s involved if you want to jump in too.
One of the strongest trends in enamel pins is minimalism, simple shapes, clean outlines, restrained colour palettes. These designs often rely on crisp edges, geometric patterns or subtle iconography, making them versatile for wardrobes, bags, jackets or corporate branding that people choose to wear.
At PeaKeen, you’ll see lapel pins that look sleek and timeless, perfect for people or brands who want to elevate understated elegance rather than loud statements.
The biggest trend in pin design revolves around the finish, specifically the choice between two popular enamel types: hard enamel and soft enamel. Both offer robust and beautiful pins, but their distinct style affects the final look and feel.
Custom hard enamel pins are currently trending strongly for businesses and creators seeking the highest perceived value. The process involves filling the recessed areas with enamel and polishing the entire surface down to a smooth, level finish, making the metal lines flush with the colored areas. This results in incredibly durable pins that are scratch-resistant and have a substantial feel.
Many designers are choosing hard enamel pins for professional logo representation or collectible art pieces. If you want your final custom product to feel more like fine jewelry, custom hard enamel pins are the perfect style to create. The demand for this type of hard enamel pins is driving much of the innovation in the custom market today.
Not to be overlooked, soft enamel pins remain incredibly popular. In the soft enamel process, the enamel rests below the raised metal lines, which you can easily feel when running your finger across the lapel.
The advantage of soft enamel pins is often a lower production time and the ability to achieve a highly detailed pin design with rich, vibrant colors that can also be used on fabric . When you create a large batch of custom enamel pins, the versatility of soft enamel makes it a smart choice due to its lower turnaround time.
Where minimalism focuses on subtlety, some creators go the opposite direction, large, attention-grabbing pins built to stand out. Oversized hard enamel pins with rich detail or stylised art are trending.
These are popular among customers and fashion-forward wearers who treat pins as bold accessories, great for display on jackets, bags, hats or even as part of curated pin boards.
Pins inspired by fantasy, nature, vintage/retro or nostalgic pop-culture motifs remain hugely popular. Think mushrooms and fairy-core, mythical creatures or throwbacks to old video games, cartoons or early-2000s aesthetics.
These kinds of designs tap into emotion, identity and nostalgia. More than accessories, they’re small statements of personality that can be easily attached to various items.
Pins are increasingly more than just enamel fill-in-metal. Designers are embracing mixed-media effects, interactive mechanics, and novel finishes to make pins pop, like glitter, pearlescent or translucent enamel finishes for extra visual depth. Moreover, the glow-in-the-dark or UV-active enamel to add a surprise element are also quite trendy.
Multi-material or mixed plating options (e.g. antique brass, matte finishes, rainbow plating, or gold ) which offer a totally different “feel” than standard metal + enamel. In fact, on PeaKeen you’ll see a wide variety of plating options to choose from.
To create a successful pin design, start with a clear, simple logo or illustration. Since lapel pins are small, clarity is key. Most professional services offer great design services to help you turn your concept into a production-ready file. You can always get a free inspiration for your custom enamle pins design using AI tools like Gemini or ChatGPT.
A trustworthy supplier should have a dedicated design team ready to help you, often offering free design and assistance with your initial artwork upload. After you submit your idea, a detailed proofing process ensures your vision for your custom pins matches the final product before your pin order is placed. The design team will walk you through the specifics.
And all of this is keenly monitored and practiced at PeaKeen, so you can rest assured that you’ll get a high quality final output.
The usage of soft and hard enamel pins is incredibly broad, which helps fuel the demand for custom pins. They are used as:
Branding & Marketing: As a wearable form of a company’s logo.
Collectibles: Limited-edition art pins popular in fan communities.
Recognition: Awards for achievements or membership (like the Jiu Jitsu and Sorority pins we see trending).
Personal Expression: A fun way to show off a niche interest, like a favorite food, fictional character, or political stance.
They are called enamel pins because they feature colored glass powder, or a synthetic equivalent, called enamel, which is baked or cured into the recessed areas of the logo and metal to create the distinct finished surface. The enamel fill is the defining characteristic of this style of lapel ornament.
The most common term is simply pins or lapel pins. However, the specific type is usually identified by its manufacturing method: hard enamel pins, soft enamel pins, die struck pins, printed pins, or laser engraving.
Steps like die struck preparation, precise enamel filling (especially for hard enamel), polishing, the detailed proofing process, and metal costs (like achieving the desired plating options) all contribute to the final cost of the lapel pin. However, if you request a free quote and ordering higher quantities of custom pins can significantly reduce the unit cost.
This is a misconception. Hard enamel pins are not illegal to manufacture in the US, but copyright and trademark laws apply. You cannot create pins featuring a protected logo or character without permission. Suppliers will often require proof of ownership for the logo or design before processing a pin order.
PeaKeen would be your go-to friend when it comes to getting a quote for a bulk orders for your.
Yes, PeaKeen offers a comprehensive design services and their sales team keep you in touch throughout the process of placing an order, including the initial artwork. Whether or soft or hard enamel pins, PeaKeen is a one-stop shop for your lapel pins needs.
If you are inspired by the current trends, be it the premium look of custom hard enamel pins or the vibrant texture of custom soft enamel pins, now is the perfect time to start your project. Find a provider that offers support from their design team and provides a comprehensive, transparent service.
With trends ranging from minimalist chic to fantasy-inspired whimsy, from bold oversized statement pieces to subtle lapel-style elegance, there’s something for almost every taste. For creators, artists or brand owners, services like PeaKeen show how easy it can be to transform a logo or illustration into a polished enamel pin or custom lapel pins, with choice of plating, finish, and packaging.
Table of Contents Choosing between soft and hard enamel pins can make or break your custom pin project. While both
Table of Contents If you’re exploring custom pins, enamel pins, or pin badges for branding, merch, giveaways, or collectible use,
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