I’ve recently expanded my design work into challenge coins at work. My first real creation was for a recent conference at work, which received rave reviews, requests exceeded the number produced, and netted the conference a hefty reserve for next year. Since it was for work though, that specific design won’t be appearing here or in my portfolio though (one downside to having a hobby that sometimes bleeds over).
So, what’s the deal with coins? Challenge coins are a popular way to recognize service, performance, etc. in the military and now across even the corporate world. Used literally as tokens of appreciation, they are handy rewards.
Are there differences in how I design a logo, etc. for coinage versus a patch? Certainly. While coins can be enameled with color, so far I’ve stuck with a basic two-tone approach, mimicking how the coin will be made. Does this present challenges? Most certainly. It’s essentially creating black and white art, which requires translating colors into a binary representation and still making it understandable.
Another important factor is the size. Unlike my patch designs which have run in the 3-4 inch height range, the coin I designed topped out at 1 3/4 inches. Thankfully, coins are usually made with a die, which can handle most details (but not all).
Data Monkey Designs 
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