In almost all cases, when a recipient receives a recognition award, the most important aspect to them is what that award represents. It is a physical representation and ongoing reminder of the achievement, milestone, or victory that merited the award.
Beyond the symbolism of the award, however, are the award’s design and aesthetics. Ideally, as we’ve noted in other blog posts, the award’s design should convey the meaning behind the award, as well as the brand image of the event and/or presenting organization. In addition, the design should be interesting, memorable, and something that the recipient is proud to display.
One additional and often-overlooked element of the award that can significantly increase it’s perceived value – to both the recipient and other stakeholders - is knowledge of how the award was made. This is particularly the case with high-end recognition awards and new, unique custom awards. These high-end awards, including both cast and fabricated sculpture awards, are produced with a complex, multi-step process performed by skilled designers and artisans. An understanding of the skill, time and effort that goes into designing and producing these awards enhances the effect they have on recipients and your presentation or event as a whole.
We have worked with clients to create printed material as handouts that describe the process of creating their awards, and they have been pleased with the impact that this has had. Another approach, however - and one that ties in perfectly with the visual nature of award designs - is a video showing how the awards were produced. We recently worked with SURFER to create their 2016 awards. As part of this project, we provided them with raw video of the production process, which they then used to create a production video summarizing the award creation process. They featured this video at their award event and on their web broadcast of the award presentation. A link to the video is here:
If this sounds like something you would be interested in doing for your next award presentation, let us know and we would be happy to help you with the implementation!