4 Crucial Mistakes to Avoid When Creating Custom Commemorative Coins

Planning to create a custom coin to commemorate a special occasion? You’re not alone! From military leaders to presidents, several professionals use custom coins to acknowledge colleagues and commemorate special events. Custom coins are the ultimate symbols of appreciation. But, poorly designed coins can send the wrong message.

Design matters a lot when you’re creating custom coins. The right design will make your custom commemorative coins collectors’ items with long-lasting value. A poorly designed coin will make the recipient feel discouraged. Thankfully, thousands of people design custom coins every month. Hundreds make silly design mistakes.

Here’s a compilation of the silliest mistakes people make when designing custom coins. Make sure to avoid these errors while designing your custom coins.

1. Not Having a Clear Concept

If your custom coin is intended to celebrate a special moment, its design should reflect its main purpose. If your custom coin has unclear themes or messages, the recipients will feel confused. Every high-quality challenge coin or custom coin starts out as just an idea. Coin creators must create some basic artwork in their minds.

The coin-manufacturing company will make all the revisions needed to make your ideas seem perfect. But, the original idea and source of inspiration should come from the client. The best custom coin manufacturing companies can create just about anything their clients can dream up. But, the clients need to have clear dreams and ideas first!

2. Not Taking Inspiration from Other Sources

Many people want to create unique custom coins with rare, esoteric design elements. They don’t want to take any ideas or inspirations from the custom coins they’ve seen before. Although such intentions are good, they rarely fail to materialize. That’s because custom coin manufacturing companies need some references to create original pieces.

Here’s how smart clients avoid this mistake –

• They use resources like Pinterest, Shutterstock, Google images, etc., to find images of coin designs they like.
• The clients share these details with the custom coin manufacturing company. The coin-makers modify the existing designs to create unique and brand-new coin designs.
• Many clients will explore the coin galleries of custom coin manufacturing companies to find inspiration.
• Clients with artistic capabilities will make quick sketches to demonstrate what kind of artwork they have in mind.

The best custom coin manufacturing companies don’t need too many guidelines to create custom coins. But, clients must at least share basic details about how they envision the general artwork of their custom coins.

If you’re having problems finding inspiration for your custom coin project, start by searching Pinterest and Google images. Narrow down the search by adding keywords like “inspirational coins” or “military coins” in your search terms.

3. Not Including Mandatory Design Elements

In traditional challenge coin design processes, there are some design elements that are impossible to discard. Some must-have design elements include –

• Company or Unit Logs: If you’re commemorating an event that involves your company associates or unit partners, add the right logos. If the intended recipient identifies with some logos, mottos, or messages, don’t refrain from using them.
• Dates: Never forget to add important dates on the back of your coin. The dates you mention can refer to special occasions from the past. You can even include the date of the day you gifted the coin. Dates add value to custom coins. Recipients can check these dates to recall special memories.
• Select the Right Enamel: If you’re creating a colored custom coin, you’ll have to choose between soft or hard enamel. Hard enamel is the preferred option for most people in the military as it dries on-level with the coin’s metal edges, creating smooth surfaces. With soft enamel, you can create “valleys” in-between metal lines or textures.

4. Not Using Conventional Color Combinations

If you’re making a double-sided colored coin, please stick to well-established rules of color combinations. Some reliable color combination options include –

• The CMYK Color Model – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black
• The RGB Color Model Red, Green, and Blue
• The Pantone Color Matching System

Of all these color combination options, the Pantone Matching System is the most useful for coin-makers. That’s because it’s used widely by graphic designers, artists, etc., to create awe-inspiring designs. Don’t create silly color combinations in your mind. Stick to these successful combos.

Ready to make the perfect custom coins for your special ceremony? Avoid these silly mistakes, and you’ll get great results!