Staff Picks: Karen McCrea
With over 10 years of experience creating custom awards for clients including Audi, Frito-Lay, Sony, Abbott Nutrition, Genentech, Century 21 and Anheuser Busch, Karen McCrea shares her perspective on the latest trends in custom award design as well as her personal favorite finishing techniques.
“I love the process when the client doesn’t quite know what they want, but they trust us to take their “wish list” and turn it into a design that works just right for their specific event. ”
What Got you Into the Custom Award Space?
After college, I worked for over 10 years in the advertising industry. I really enjoyed both the creative and marketing side of the business, so when my good friends Bob and Alice Bennett asked if I’d like to come work at Bennett Awards, it seemed like a great fit. My parents are both creative - both as visual artists and writers. My three children have always been involved in the performing and visual arts, and with all three now on their own, it’s so nice to keep the creative culture in my life on an everyday basis.
What is the best part about designing custom awards?
I love the process when the client doesn’t quite know what they want, but they trust us to take their “wish list” and turn it into a design that works just right for their specific event. I love presenting the initial mock-ups to a new client because they are usually blown away at the quality of our concepts - we have very talented designers and it really makes me proud to present our designs. When we’re able to give them everything in a realistic product that they love - that final moment feels great.
How do you come up with trophy design ideas?
It’s a creative brainstorm every time based on the client’s needs, budget and timing. It’s always great to collaborate with the account team, the design team, and the production team. When we all brainstorm and collaborate, the final product exceeds expectations.
What is your perspective on 3d printed custom awards?
Well, I distinctly remember the day that our head designer brought in his 3D printer and we watched it create our first 3D sample. It’s amazing, and has really changed our business for the better. We are now using 3D printed pieces as both models for our cast pewter and bronze awards and as actual finished products. 3D printing has been a game changer for our customers that need just one “sculpture” because the 3D printed products are very durable and can be painted. Of course they are not as “high end” as a cast metal sculpture, but for some clients it fits the need perfectly. The 3D printer can not replace a hand sculpted award in every instance - there are limitations (which I am ultimately happy about) - but it has definitely changed the custom awards business in a unique way.
What do you see as the latest emerging trend in award design?
Personally for me, our fabricated metal awards seem to be a trend that is emerging. A machined award has such precision, and some of my customers have designs that need every detail to be exact, with all awards similar down to the finest detail. Machined awards can achieve this precision detail.
Can you give us an example of when machined awards work really well for a client?
If you have a good budget and you need something very sharp edged and absolutely precise, machining is best. For a high quantity simple design, machined awards can be cost effective.
What is the most unique trophy idea that you’ve seen?
We have created a few interactive and kinetic awards that are quite an engineering feat. The hours that go into the research of creating an award that is interactive is quite astounding - as is the finished product. My favorite interactive award we have created is the Levchin Prize based on a cypher wheel.
What is your favorite award show trophy and why?
The Screen Actors Guild award. I love the look of a classic bronze sculpture. The award has such presence, and a feeling of movement with the way the actor is holding the masks.
What is your favorite award finishing technique?
Patina on bronze, as well as anodized aluminum.
What are your recommendations for custom medallions?
My favorites are the brushed pewter medallions with antiquing. If you want something special that doesn’t look like everything else on the shelf, I would cast a medallion in bronze or pewter, either with antiquing or a bas relief. (Something like the Nobel Peace Prize utilizes a bas relief technique.)
Do you prefer to work with pewter, bronze or resin awards?
It really depends on the design of the award and the client’s budget. For a cast award, I would love to do everything in bronze if the client has the budget, but that is not always feasible. Our resin awards are a great option for a “bronze” look since they can be painted with a bronze paint that really looks great. If the client is looking for a satin silver finish, I would suggest pewter.
What is the coolest acrylic award you’ve seen?
I am impressed with what can be achieved in acrylics these days. There are organic shapes that can be cast in acrylic as well as machined acrylic awards that are highly precise. My favorite aspect of acrylic is the color that can be achieved, whether it’s one color or a combination of colors - they are beautiful.
What are your thoughts on wood awards and the future of sustainable awards?
Wood awards are my favorite. We have many clients who are looking for awards that use recycled materials so wood is a great option. We can add metal or acrylic elements to the wood awards as well as get creative with engraving. Wood awards are cost effective so they work well for customers with limited budgets.
What makes for a great safety trophy?
Any award that rewards people for being safe is a worthwhile award. We create wonderful safety icon awards (hard hats, safety cones, etc.), but we can also create a customized award based on the specific industry or safety concern.
What is something you want clients to know?
I would like our clients to know that we love to hear what their vision is, and will do our very best to meet their requests, but we’re going to be realistic about what can happen in the real world. We love to discuss all the details concerning their project in advance so the concepts we present are as close as possible to their vision.
What is your dream project?
Well if somebody can cure cancer and we can make them a nice award that would be awesome. Nothing feels better than giving an award to someone who does something amazing like that. We love doing awards for nonprofit organizations. Those are feel-good moments.
Here is my tagline for this industry. This business is like working in the maternity ward of a hospital. We are doing things that make people happy every day. Recognizing people is rewarding from all angles. As long as everything turns out okay with the awards themselves, this business is a very happy place.