One of the core components of playing baseball and softball, the fandom for each sport, is the collection of cards and pins. Both baseball cards and pins are ways to show your pride and appreciate for your favorite players and favorite teams, whether your favorite team is a Little League team or a professional team.
When you are coaching or managing a team, creating a trading pin is an essential part of participating in the culture of softball. Your trading pin represents your team in public, and you should take time to design an effective trading pin.
Determine What Type of Pin You Want
Before you really get into the design process, you need to determine what type of pin your team wants to create. Die-struck and offset are the two different styles of pins.
Die-struck pins are great for more basic and sturdy-looking designs. These types of pins work really well if the pin design uses minimal colors or basic images.
Offset pins work better if you want a pin that has more of a 3-D effect. This printing style works better if you want to use lots of colors in your pin design or your artwork for the pin is more on the complicated side.
Get Specific with Your Colors
Next, you need to establish the colors for your team. If you already have an established color scheme, you can use this. If you don't have a specific color scheme, you are going to want to create one. You are going to want to have at least two dominant colors, as well as two complementary colors, for a total of at least four colors to be used throughout the design. You need to clearly define the specific type of colors you want to use. Don't just say "green" say "forest green" or give the number combination of the colors you want to use. The more specific you are with the colors, the more likely the design your designer creates will align with your colors other marketing materials.
Use Mascots to Build Recognition
Many softball teams have mascots. They use mascots because mascots can really help build identification with your team. When working with a designer to create a mascot, be very clear on what you want the mascot to look like. As most mascots have some sort of face, let the designer know what type of expression you want the mascot's face to have. It may be a good idea to exchange pictures and ideas with the designer as you work on the right mascot for your pin.
Think Carefully About Name Recognition
Finally, think carefully about how you want the name of your team represented. Do you want to just include the name of the team? Or do you want to include the city or state where your team plays as well? Let your pin designer know how you want your team to be identified on your pin.
Creating a softball pin for your team with a designer can be a really fun process. As you work with the designer, you are going to need to choose the type of pin you want to be created for the team, the colors you want to use in the design, the type of mascot you want on your pin, and how you want your name represented. The more you know what you are looking for, the easier the design process of your softball trading pins will go.
