If your organization needs a custom designed award and you’re working on a tight deadline or have to make do with a small budget then a custom crystal award might be the best option for your award choice. 

Awards are a great way to leave a lasting impression on recipients, reinforcing the actions that resulted in the award, and sending a positive, reinforcing message to others. However, the quality and nature of the award can have a big impact on its effectiveness. This point was recently hammered home by some on-air dialogue regarding an award we produced for Groominglounge.com's "King of All Follicles Award," which was presented to Howard Stern.

Pewter, along with bronze, are the primary metals used to create our sculpture awards. Both are metal alloys: bronze being primarily copper alloyed with a small amount of tin, and pewter being primarily tin alloyed with a small amount of copper. Pewter used been used extensively for many millennia, stretching back to the Bronze Age in the Near East. Pewter was a common material used by the Egyptians, Romans, and Europeans throughout the Middle Ages. The primary use of pewter used to be for tableware; however this has now shifted to jewelry, collectibles, and, of course, recognition awards!

When you set out to make a custom award it’s important to remember that “custom” means you can have whatever you want for your organization. Your award shouldn’t look or feel like anything else that has been done before; it should celebrate your organization, the recipients, and the spirit of the award. 

If you are looking to create a custom award for your organization or event the first thing you have to ask yourself is how custom do you really want your award to be? “Customizing” your award could mean adding a few unique elements to an existing design, or it could mean designing an entirely new award from the ground up.

People like to know that they are working for a company that appreciates them and their work. No one likes being just another cog in the machine, and even small gestures like notes of appreciation, or a “great job on that project!” comment in the hallway as they walk by, can have a big impact on your employees. You don’t have to pull out all the bells and whistles every time you want to celebrate your employees, but here are 6 ways you can recognize their contributions to your company.

Employee engagement is a hot topic these days in corporate America. Studies have shown that engaged employees take fewer sick days, are more passionate about the work they do, and are invested in the long-term success of the company they work for, all of which adds up to a better corporate culture and better profits for their employers in the long run. 

The recent attribution of mystery bronze sculptures to the great artist Michelangelo is a reminder of the rich and storied history of bronze, one of the key materials we work with when creating sculpture awards. What's more, the same properties that stimulated early cultures to adopt bronze are some of the reasons we continue to use it as one of our preferred materials today.

One of the fastest growing and most exciting markets for new awards is the eSports industry. In addition to rapid growth, the demographics and postitioning associated with this new market create an excellent opportunity for new, creative, and unique award designs that go beyond the traditional cup.

In the vast majority of cases good public sculpture has a strong sense of place and context – it ideally interacts with its surrounding environment to enhance the meaning of the sculpture, its surrounding location, or both. It does not exist as an island unto itself. A recent controversy in New York City has brought this into focus, and is a good opportunity to explore the relationship of public sculpture and the environment in which it is placed.

Design mishaps in other fields can remind us of important lessons when creating custom sculpture awards, as the recent unveiling of the Cristiano Renaldo sculpture showed us.