In some areas of the country
people call them badges. But in sunny Phoenix, Arizona, which
is where Dr. Don's Buttons is located, most of us call them buttons.
Whether you plan to do it for fun or for profit (or both), making
buttons can be a very enjoyable, artistic endeavor.
I like to think of each button
that I have designed as a miniature canvas. I do because I know
these designs are going to live on for quite some time to come.
The tips, tricks, and trade
secrets that are covered here are designed to help you learn
how to make buttons, and how to make doing so easier, more enjoyable,
and more profitable.
Of all the button sizes, the
2-1/4" is by far the most popular and most versatile size.
For most uses they are a happy medium between being too big and
being too small.
However, 3" buttons are
much better suited for certain types of uses, such as photo
buttons, business promotions, trade shows, etc.
When I first started making
buttons, I thought I would probably limit my button production
to the 2-1/4" size. But it didn't take long to realize that
there was a good market for 3" buttons.
Three inch buttons now comprise
about 40% of the button business we do each year.
If you plan to make buttons as a full, or part-time business,
at some point really should consider investing in a 3" machine.
If you are serious, you will
also need to be able to design and print the artwork for your
buttons.
With the advent of computers
and color printers, designing and printing artwork for your buttons
is now easier, faster, and a far less expensive than it used
to be in those pre-PC days. There
are many good quality color printers on the market today, and
they are nothing short of fantastic!!
An important consideration
when printing artwork on an inkjet printer is the paper on which
you will print it.
Trust me, the paper you use
can make all the difference in the world.
Here's why.
When ink is laid down on ordinary
paper, it soaks into the paper and then will start to "run".
When this happens the color won't be nearly as brilliant as if
the right type of inkjet paper was used. Specially formulated
inkjet papers will hold the ink on the upper layer of the paper
and provides much better color.
But even among different inkjet
papers, there can be significant differences, both in terms of
cost and in quality.
To make a long story short,
choose the right paper for the job.
When making lots of buttons,
what you spend on your inkjet paper and inkjet cartridges can
really add up.
If you don't own a color printer,
here's a tip that could come in handy.
Before purchasing my first
Epson inkjet printer, I often printed my button designs on a
black and white laser printer. I then took those pages down to
our local Kinko's copy center and had them copy it using what
they called their "highlight color option".
Most Kinkos these days will
have a photocopier that allows you to use black and up to one
color of toner (our Kinkos had blue, red, green and yellow) and
allowed me the option of adding color, but without incurring
the higher cost of true color copies.
Using the highlight color option
could prove to be a cost effective option if you need to create
button designs that have areas of a solid color.
The more color you use in a
design, the faster your ink cartridge will be depleted.
Or if you need to get a large,
single color job printed faster than your inkjet can do it, the
highlight color option can come in handy.
Kinkos also offers computers
and color laser printers that you can rent, and there were many
times when this option made financial sense to me.
Before purchasing my first
Epson inkjet printers, I spent a lot of time down at our local
Kinkos, and it got to the point where I was on a first name basis
with the entire crew. But after I got my Epson, they rarely ever
saw me again.
Having my own Epson printer
allowed me to save time and money, both of which are important
to a growing business.
But as my business started
to grow and the number of more complex color jobs that I was
called upon to do, the more purchasing a color laser printed
started to look as though it would make sense for me.
My first color laser printer
was a Xerox, and I imediately fell in love with it!!
The Xerox was much faster (3
pages a minute), more economical (it could print on inexpensive
copy paper), and when it ran out of one color, I only needed
to replace that color, not the entire cartridge like so many
inkjet printers require you to do.
When your button business starts
to grow, go ahead and invest in a good color laser printer.
You'll be glad you did!
Now lets cover the design aspects
of creating art for your buttons.
One important step in designing
your buttons is to make certain you properly set up them up BEFORE
actually printing them.
Since a button only has a limited
amount of space on which to place your artwork, you want the
important elements of your design to be the right size and in
just the right place on your finished button.
Here are the steps to take
when designing a button.
The first step,
no matter what size, is to create a template to guide you in
creating your design. A template assures you that the artwork
you create will be just the right size for your buttons.
(If you use a Badge a Minit 2-1/4", click here to see how to design
a template. If you use a standard 2-1/4" button, such as
those made by our Model 225 button machine, click here to see a template).
If you have
a standard 3" button machine like the Model 300 SX (not
a Badge a Minit 3"... since it's actually a little small
than 3") click here to see how to design your template.
To create a template, I recommend
starting out with what I call a "cutting circle guide".
A cutting circle guide is nothing
more than a circle that guides you when cutting each design from
the page on which it was printed. (The exact size of your cutting
circle guide will depend on the size of the button you are making
and the type of cutter you use).
In designing your artwork you
center the artwork within the cutting circle guide and no matter
what type of cutter you use, you should be able to look down
through the throat of the cutter and see the cutting circle guide.
(Properly set up, the cutting circle guide will not show on the
button itself).
If your cutting circle guide
is just the right size for your particular cutter, it should
edge up against and be visible through the opening in your cutter.
This then allows you to see that you are making a precise, perfectly
centered cut.
If you cut a design off center,
and then used that off-center design to make a button, that design
will then sit off center on your button.
The next step in creating a
template is to create a second circle and center it inside the
cutting circle guide.
The second circle provides
you with a visual boundary and allows you create just the right
amount of "white space" around the edge of your button
design.
Just as you wouldn't type from
edge to edge on a sheet of paper (you use a margin to help improve
the readability of the page), you use white space to improve
the readability of your buttons.
White space isn't necessarily
white, though. It's just an area around the edge of the button
that doesn't contain artwork or text, but could possibly have
a background color.
Just how much white space you
will use is up to you, but for our 2-1/4"designs the inner
circle I use measures 1-7/8".
From here I next insert the
text and/or artwork I am going to use and make certain it doesn't
extend beyond the 1-7/8". circle.
If it does, I know the design
will be "too tight" on the face of the button.
If you are using a background
color or design, allow it to "bleed out" to the outer
dimension of your cutting circle guide.
If you don't, the edge of your
buttons are going to show the color of your paper.
Once your text/artwork are
centered within the inner circle, be sure to delete the inner
circle or it will become part of your design and show on the
face of your buttons.
One very practical reason for
using white space is that no matter how careful you are when
cutting your button designs, there are going to be times when
you won't make a perfect cut.
If you incorporate adequate
white space into your design, you are then far less likely to
notice that the cut was a little off-center.
If you don't use adequate white
space on your designs, any cut that isn't perfect will be quite
noticeable.
Here's another handy tip.
Whenever possible, try to avoid creating designs that have a
circle that runs along the the edge of the button. The reason
is that if your cuts aren't precise, making cuts that are even
the smallest amount off-center will be very noticeable.
So now your designs are printed
and it's time to start cutting them. I hope you aren't going
to try and use scissors to cut your designs. If you do, plan
on spending lots of time to make your cuts.
Instead of using scissors or
a cheap plastic cutter, go ahead and invest in a good quality
cutter.
You can purchase one of our
high quality circle cutters, known as the AC-1
circle cutter, for $79.95. But this fine cutter comes
with in any of our button-making kits. If you're still using
a Badge-A-Minit hand press, the AC-1 alone is reason enough to
upgrade to one of our better quality button-making machines.
If you plan to make lots of
buttons, the AC-1 will save you both time and effort. (And of
course, our button machines will, too!)
Here are some ideas that will
help simplify the process of cutting your designs.
I discovered a long time ago
that I could staple several sheets of printed button designs
together and in doing so, cut more than one design at a time.
If you choose to do this, just
make certain your designs "line up" before you staple
them together. I do this by hold several sheets of button designs
together in front of a bright light and use the cutting circle
guides to align the pages. (Some printers are better than others
at printing the designs at precisely the same place on each successive
page, which is also known in the printing industry as "registration").
In any case, do be sure to visually align your sheets before
you staple them together and cut them. Otherwise your designs
may not line up and your cuts then would be cut off-center.
Here again, having a cutting
circle guide as part of your design will comes in handy. If your
designs are then perfectly cut, you should be able to see all
of the cutting circle guide at the edge of your cut design. If
a design was cut off-center, the cutting circle guide will be
noticeably absent on some point of the cut design.
With AC-1 cutter you can cut
perhaps 4-5 sheets at a time.
Remember, time is money, and
there's nothing more boring than cutting designs.
Now that your designs are cut,
you're ready to start making your buttons.
Whatever button machine you
use, be sure to follow the directions that came with it.
One problem I encountered back
when I first started making buttons and made buttons with a Badge-A-
Minit hand press, was that the "plastic" often would
not crimp properly all the way around the edge of the button
properly.
Badge-A-Minit says it was caused
by applying uneven pressure to the handle.
Unfortunately though, this
is an all too common problem when you are using any of Badge
a Minit's starter models, and is itself enough reason to upgrade
to a better machine.
If you are using a Badge a
Minit starter model, another reason to upgrade will quickly become
apparent.
It has to do with how sore
your hand will quickly become after squeezing the handle together,
again and again, when doing lots of buttons.
After you do a run of buttons,
you are going to need to package them in some fashion.
Doing a large runs of buttons
will require boxes and you can find many sources for what you
will need. When we produce a relatively small run of buttons
(25-100) we often just put them in a manila envelope, ready for
our customer to pick them up. Doing so saves money, because a
manila envelope costs a lot less than a small box.
As your button business grows,
you are going to encounter customers who want to provide you
with the artwork for their buttons. Some will want to provide
you with camera-ready art.
If you don't already own a
scanner, this is something you should definitely consider. With
a scanner you can use camera-ready art and output the design
through your printer.
Some clients may want to provide
their artwork on a computer disk and their are a number of options
and formats available for them to do that.
Of course there is the standard
3 1/2" floppy disk, as well as removable hard disks (Zips,
Jaz, and Syquest to name a few).
Zip disks have pretty much
become the standard for sharing relatively large files, so if
you can only afford one removable hard disk format, the Zip disk
is what I would recommend.
But for receiving artwork from
our clients, I prefer yet another method. Nothing works faster,
or is easier to use. It's called e-mail.
If you and your client both
have e-mail, you can have your client(s) "attach" their
artwork to an e-mail message.
With this method, even if your
client lives across town or across the country, they can get
their artwork into your hands almost instantaneously.
E-mail is faster than Fed Ex,
and is a whole lot cheaper. You just need to make certain that
the file being sent is in the proper file format for you to use.
If you use an inexpensive button
machine you are going to have "waste" from time to
time. Waste occurs when, for whatever reason a button doesn't
go together properly (with our machines this problem is almost
non-existant). But it's good to know that you can recycle the
pin-back part of your button and use it again (the plastic and
shell can't be re-used, because they are damaged during the initial
crimp).
You can break a button apart
quite easily and then re-use the pin-back part by using a standard
bottle opener. Just turn the button upside down, fit the bottle
opener at the lip of the button and crack it open.
Here's a tip that helped my
business grow back in those early days and one you should adopt
if you want your button business to grow.
Unlike business cards, flyers,
brochures, and other types of advertising, people will almost
never throw a button away.
Knowing this, I always placed
a small sticker on the back of the buttons we produced. Our sticker
carried our name (Dr. Don's Buttons), our advertising message,
(same day service and no minimum order), and our telephone number.
Since these buttons likely
will never be thrown away, they are like little seeds just waiting
to germinate.
Sooner or later someone who
received one of these buttons with a sticker on back will need
buttons themselves (or know someone who does), and they hopefully
will remember seeing our sticker on the back of the button they
received.
With our information readily
at hand it's easy for them to contact us and have their own buttons
made.
As a service to our customers
we offer these same stickers to customers FREE of CHARGE (except with their information on them). Click
here to learn more about using this
exciting method to help your button business grow.
Since I know people aren't
likely to throw buttons away, I seldom use business cards.
Instead I create button business
cards.
On our button business card,
I put our logo, our company name, address, city, state, zip,
phone number, and our marketing slogan.
People will inevitably toss
these buttons in their desks and then can find our information
a lot easier than if we had given them a standard business card
which would just up in a trash can.
I hope these tips, tricks, and trade
secrets help you in building your own button business.
If you have
any questions, or know any good tips that you would like to share,
just e-mail them to me and I'll be glad to post those questions
/ tips to our website and of course give you the credit.
Take care and happy button-making!
Sincerely,
Don Ratliff
aka Dr. Don
If you would like to place an order online,
using our
SECURE ONLINE
ORDER PAGE,
you can do so
by clicking here.