You sure have heard about enamel pins in the past. They are those shiny pins people attach to their clothes, backpacks and other garments. Some people even put them on their bedroom walls, all over billboards, as if they were posters. This is not rare since some enamel pins can be exciting pieces of art if the right effort is put into making them.

So, what are enamel pins for? Why do people use them? And how are they made? The answers to these questions will be granted in this article about enamel pins and their popularity.

So, what exactly are enamel pins?

Enamel pins are tiny pieces of metal that have a predesigned motif and are painted in shiny enamel colors on the top. Since they are made of metal, enamel pins need this special kind of paint that is very shiny and bright. This paint is called enamel paint. It is very sticky and hard to work with, but nowadays there are a lot of machines that paint the pins for you so you can avoid this problem

Enamel pins are ancient

Enamel pins have had a long way to go. They have been used historically to symbolize a goal that has been reached or to promote a sense of belonging to the employees or members of any group, often one that is related to the military. Previous to the trend of wearing enamel pins, people worn other things on their uniforms or formal suits, such as a boutonnière or two, or symbolic decoration previously sewed to the clothes.

After they normalized as another option to the previously mentioned decoration, enamel pin usage became very symbolic. Some companies use enamel pins as status symbols that represented a higher hierarchy over other employees.

Enamel pin usage is very common in corporations

Corporations and businesses use enamel pins to better the chance of your employees of being recognized by other members of the company or people that are just visiting the headquarters.

When employees have these pins visibly on their clothes, they are regarded (by themselves and by others) as an excellent example to follow by others. They have reached elite status between the employees that work at the company, and now they are better employees than before. They may as well influence other employees to learn from them and be and improve. Enamel pins promote this sentiment of personal growth in the workplace.

Employees may learn that by simply following the rules and being more efficient every time they are doing their job, they can have a symbol of their achievement. They would also be more prone to try to perform better than other employees so they can get their enamel pin too.

Enamel pins are also fun

Enamel pins are widely used in the entertainment industry. This is because a person can easily design an enamel pin and it is easy to follow the process throughout so that the pin ends up having the expected shape, size, and colors.

The entertainment industry demands consistency and accuracy. Since enamel pins are often the result of an artist copying or inspiring the pin on a previous piece of art or letters, this accurate medium is the perfect match. ´

They are also mostly use pinned to visible places on people’s clothing, so it contributes to the showy character of entertainment media and popular culture.

Enamel pin designs begin just like cartoons. They are placed into an illuminated drawing desk and drawn with a blue pencil. Then the artist adds the colors using manual painting tools or digital coloring tools. Then they print it and scan the design for a special machine to reproduce it using metal, enamel paint and the accessories that particular pin requires.

The final form of an enamel pin prototype is what will determine if it is to be produced and copied on a bigger scale. Enamel pins are not a perfect medium, so people often try to get a prototype done so they can test how the designs adapt to this medium. Sometimes certain illustrations are impossible to adapt properly to enamel pins.