The test for a corporate gift is simple: is it still there in six months. What passes tends to have either a real function or one specific person attached to it. The rest is branded plastic.
What survives
- An award with the winner's name on it that is only theirs, not an identical shape with a sticker added
- An object tied to something that actually happened: the building the team finished, the machine they built
- Something with a function: a stand, a holder, something genuinely used on a desk
- A miniature of an object that matters to the client: a scale model on a desk says more than a brochure
What goes in the bin
Anything bought a thousand at a time with a logo printed on it. You know this already. The only question is whether the budget was written so that nothing else is possible.
Where the idea comes from
Three usual routes:
- An existing object gets scanned and scaled up or down. Fastest, when the original exists.
- The object is designed from scratch. More expensive, and the only option when there is no original.
- Your logo or shape is adapted into three dimensions. Most logos are flat, and making one dimensional is a decision rather than an automatic step.
For a run of ten, fifty or a hundred, the per-piece price drops noticeably, because the preparation happens once. Series prices start at €35 a piece and are in the price list.
Engraving and finish
A name, a date or a short text goes onto the piece. For a series that means every piece is different, which is the entire point. The level of finish is agreed beforehand, because it affects the price more than size does.
The thing that gets underestimated
The usual problem isn't price, it's being asked two weeks before the event. A run is preparation plus machine time plus finishing plus post. Three weeks is comfortable, two is tight, one is a special case. If time is short, say so immediately. Sometimes it works, but then the design has to be the simpler one.
Tell me the occasion, how many, and when you need them. I'll bring the ideas.
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