Creating an award product requires ingenuity and thoughtfulness, not to mention a sense of design and creative imagination. As a result of the unique identity that each award product needs to encapsulate, a number of different materials are used in order to give a different design. In the following few paragraphs, we shall talk about some of the most popular materials that are used in the creation of award products, as well as their pros and cons:

Acrylic

Acrylic, which is also known as Lucite is one of the most common materials that is used for creating award products. Acrylic has the properties of plastic, while it looks like high quality glass. Compared to standard ‘cheap’ looking plastics, acrylic is much heavier, and is available in a number of different types of quality. Using acrylic is a great option since it is not as expensive as compared to heavy metals, and still provides a very prestigious outlook. However, acrylic is made out of oil, which means the prices usually vary based upon the market prices of oil, which means it is better to inquire about the prices beforehand.

Optical Crystal

One of the clearest forms of crystal currently available, optical crystal is as flawless and as clear as can be. While the crystal is still molten, it is subjected to huge amounts of pressure, which removes all sorts of air bubbles or any other distortions. Optical crystal is completely free of lead, and is extremely sturdy in nature. The surface is highly polished, and each piece is hand beveled and polished, resulting in an excellent finish. However, all of this prestige and excellence comes at a price; optical crystal is not the cheapest of materials in the market for those who wish to create award products or recognition plaques.

24% leaded crystal

Unlike optical crystal, leaded crystal is created when lead oxide is added to molten glass, which results in a higher refraction as compared to standard glass. This leads to a greater amount of ‘sparkle’. Having been around for hundreds of years, leaded crystal is regarded as one of the finest materials that is used for creating award products. Despite the added sparkle and glamour that this type of crystal provides, leaded crystal includes lead, and is also quite expensive.

Glass

Glass is a highly malleable material, and can be used for the creation of a number of different types of award shapes. While it is very different from crystal, the two share a lot of the similar traits. However, the distinctive factor here is the flexibility that glass provides, allowing for the addition of unique colors or different types of branding, while much larger pieces can also be created as compared to crystal. However, there’s a downside to glass as well; while it is much cheaper than crystal, it is also much more fragile.

Metal

Easily one of the most popular materials used for award products, metal is available in a variety of different types; gold, silver, nickel, aluminum pewter, zinc alloy, etc. Zinc alloy, for example, is particularly flexible and is also very affordable. Also, zinc alloy is a great choice for post-production purposes. However, if you want a finer finished product through the process of electroplating, using copper might be a great option. For those who want a softer metal that can be used for creating a more detailed design, pewter might be a better option. However, metal is comparatively heavy as compared to other metals, and requires a much greater amount of work and detail in order to bring it in the finalized shape.