How to design a reusable medal without the year in the mould

The most expensive mistake when designing a recurring medal usually fits in four digits: the year. If it is made in relief, the mould only works for that edition. If it is reserved for later printing, the logo and identity remain your own and the same mould can be used for future orders.

The relief should contain what does not expire

A good base brings together the name, logo, shape and permanent symbols. For a club it may be the crest; for a school, the school emblem; for a town council, the authorised crest and the stable programme; for a race, the name of the event if it carries over from one edition to the next.

The year, category, distance, venue, class or position are variable details. They can be printed in full colour on the metal in a designated area so that the whole piece still looks designed that way from the start.

Designing a variable area that does not look like a patch

The printing area has to be part of the composition. It can be a band, a central field, a cartouche or a plain back. It is worth leaving a margin around the text and allowing for the maximum length: “2026” takes up little room, but a category or a venue may need more space.

If the back also carries relief, it is designed together with the front. The raised parts on one side have to match the opposite side. A plain back offers more freedom for information that changes.

Making base stock for foreseeable surprises

Orders with a mould are produced in runs, normally of 50 to 100 medals or more. Ordering 18 new medals after registration has closed is not efficient. The alternative is to include in the initial run a reserve of medals with the permanent relief and leave the edition details unprinted.

On that stock we can do later printing from around 10 units, at an approximate cost of close to €2 per medal. It is a different operation from making new medals: the pieces already exist and only the variable information is completed.

When the mould is kept and when it is not

• It is kept: the printed year, the ribbon, the added colour, the printed category or the metallic finish change, but shape and relief stay the same.
• It has to be reviewed: the logo, the text in relief, the outline, the ribbon hole or the volumes on either side change.

Keeping the mould removes about €200 at 60 mm, €220 at 70 mm or €250 at 80 mm from the next quote, for the reference sizes given. The saving is passed on as a real cost avoided, not as a fixed commercial discount.

Plan before closing the order

1. List the activities that will share an identity over the coming months.
2. Separate the permanent and the variable elements into two columns.
3. Decide which sides carry relief and where each later detail will be printed.
4. Estimate the initial batch and a reasonable reserve of base medals.
5. Keep the approved file and refer to the same mould when ordering a repeat.

This planning solves the problem that usually arrives too late: needing a small run for a new event when there is no longer time or volume to make another mould in a way that makes economic sense.

Applications by type of organisation

The catalogue of custom medals brings together specific criteria for sports clubs, associations, events, schools and town councils. Usual orders are for 50 to 100 medals.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it worth leaving the year out of the mould?

Because it can be printed afterwards and allows the relief to be reused in future editions.

How is a repeat order placed?

As a new order that reuses the same mould, without paying for it again.

Can only ten more medals be customised later?

Yes, if there is already stock of base medals. Later printing starts from around 10 units and costs around €2 per medal.

Which changes mean another mould has to be made?

Changing the shape, the logo or any element of the relief means the mould has to be reviewed and normally remade.