Both bronze and pewter are primarily composed of copper and tin. However, the ratio of these two components in each metal is different and this creates significant differences in the finals metals themselves. Bronze is primarily copper alloyed with small amount of tin, while pewter is primarily tin alloyed with a small amount of copper.

One of the last things you have to do to finalize your custom award design is to chose the engraving, including the method, style, and content.

Archeologists have uncovered bronze sculptures from Ancient Greece and Rome, the Shang Dynasty period in China, as well as from the Chola Dynasty in South India. Just about every major civilization in history created bronze sculptures at one point or another, using a process known as lost wax casting to create small and intricate pieces like jewelry and vases, all the way to life-size statues and replicas. 

When most people think of a bronze award they think of third place; gold for first, silver for second, and bronze for third, right? For the record, most of the world’s most famous golden awards aren’t actually made of solid gold. And bronze awards, especially custom-designed bronze awards, are actually a lot more special than their usual 3rd place spot makes them seem.

“Not all that glitters is gold” is a very true quote when it comes to the awards industry. Although many awards are gold-plated for extra shine and sparkle, very few awards are actually solid gold. In fact, some of the world’s most famous awards are just a basic bronze shape underneath a shiny golden patina.

In 1939, playwright George Bernard Shaw was awarded the Academy Award for his screenplay for the movie version of Pygmalion. But Shaw wasn’t on hand to receive it. From England, he reportedly said, “It’s perfect nonsense! To offer me an award of this sort is an insult, as if they had never heard of me before — and it’s very likely they never had.” When Shaw died in 1950, his statuette was found to be in such bad shape that the curator who was turning his home into a museum used Oscar as a doorstop! Eventually, the statuette was repaired and is now displayed at the museum.

If you want to gift your recipients with something that is both meaningful AND beautiful you definitely should consider going the custom design route with your awards. Custom designs can embody the spirit of your organization as well as the recipient in a way that a mass-produced award simply cannot. Instead of settling for “good enough,” why not get the perfect award for your next event?

Former CEO of IKEA, Anders Dahlvig, has argued that recognition is the greatest motivator of all. In his book, “The IKEA Edge” Dahlvig says that “I would even go so far as to say that recognition is the most important driver of mankind…” There are plenty of people who go about their day-to-day jobs and don’t expect to receive any kind of special recognition for showing up and punching the clock every day. 

Designing a custom award for your next event is a great way to support your unique brand image and corporate positioning. Unlike pre-fabricated awards, a custom award design has a look and feel that is 100% unique to your brand and recipients. 

Trophies aren’t the only award option out there! In addition to plaques, crystal awards, sculpture awards, and fabricated awards there are also medallions. Custom medallions are one of the more affordable custom award options in terms of per-unit price, which is great if you are trying to stick to a budget. 

Employee recognition has been tied to retention—happy employees work harder, are more satisfied with their jobs, and are willing to invest more in their career and your company and much, much more! An employee recognition program is a great way to foster company-wide positivity, engagement, and camaraderie. 

A perpetual award is a single award that an organization, like the World Series of Poker’s David “Chip” Reese Trophy, would present to a new recipient year after year. Typically, the name of each year’s recipient is added to the base of the perpetual award via a plaque or engraving.

Receiving an achievement award because of their skills, or as a way to celebrate a unique accomplishment, can bring a lot of excitement and joy into your employees’ lives. An achievement award serves as a long-lasting memento, reminding your employees that you honor and respect their individual achievements and accomplishments. At the end of the day we all want to feel appreciated and valued by our employers and a corporate award is one way of letting your team know you respect and value their hard work.

Designing a custom award for your organization’s event is not nearly as straightforward as you may think. There are a lot of elements that have to be taken into account including time frame, type of material to be used, making sure the award fits with your organization’s image, and more. And one of the first things to take into consideration is the shape and style of your award—do you want something more artistic or are you looking for a literal design?

If you are looking for new and exciting corporate awards that are absolutely perfect for your next recognition event then your search should start and end with custom sculpture awards. Custom sculpture awards are not like those common (and boring) basic trophies and plaques that end up in an employee’s drawer or gathering dust in the closet.