How to Brief a Custom Metal Gift So the First Proof Is Close

You do not need a technical drawing. You do need five pieces of information, and supplying them up front is what turns three rounds of proofs into one.

A Picture Is Enough to Start

Email us your design idea, even a simple picture, and your desired quantity. That is the only entry requirement. What follows is faster if you also supply the four items below.

Overall Size

Give the longest dimension in millimetres or centimetres, or name an object it should be comparable to. Size drives tooling cost, casting machine selection and unit weight, which in turn drives freight. A design briefed without a size will be proofed at our assumption of it.

Where It Will Be Used

A keyring in a pocket, a pin on a lapel, a diffuser in a hot car and a jar on a bathroom shelf each rule out different finishes. Telling us the environment lets us recommend matte instead of bright, pewter instead of gold, or enamel instead of print before the first proof rather than after the first complaint.

Colour References

Send a colour reference for anything that must match an existing brand or product. We match enamel and paint against your reference in our own enamelling department and proof it before production, and we hold that approved sample for reorders.

Quantity and Deadline

Quantity determines whether a design is viable on new tooling, which generally starts at 1,000 pieces, or whether an existing design should be adapted instead. A deadline lets us tell you immediately whether it is achievable rather than discovering it three weeks in.