Our initial idea for our 10th birthday party was to buy ‘off the shelf’ birthday badges boldly displaying the number ten in white on a red background. We like badges.
Then, having had time to reflect on the idea, I thought it would be better to show off my design skills by creating our very own bespoke birthday badges. After looking at various styles, sizes, clipping mechanisms and positioning, we eventually decided on 75mm plain matt badges with a plastic clip on the back (pins can ruin suits and dresses). We sourced acrylic-based pens in order to colour the badges.
The concept was based on ways of interpreting the number 10 without saying “10″. These ideas were sketched out on paper first, then applied to the badges in pencil, followed by the colour.
“Many of the badges created for the Peregrine team left the party with very happy ‘new’ owners.”
The badges – 15 in total – were hand-painted by me the night before the party and then glazed with a glossy protective covering the next morning.
The Peregrine team became very animated when choosing badges prior to the party and selection created an atmosphere of excitement and laughter. I thought the idea of creating hand painted badges specifically for our party was a great way of introducing our design skills and with each Peregrine staffer wearing one, allowed guests to identify members of the team. The reaction to the badges was very positive on the night: our guests thought they were great, interesting conversations were made about them and many of them left the party with new owners. I was very flattered to receive such positive feedback about them from our guests.
We also created a short animation (below) which strongly illustrated our new mantra – “communicate. words. pictures. actions.”