Guide to Creating Awards for your Awards Ceremony

Awards ceremonies are customary across all sectors and all industries. From small and medium enterprise awards to industry specific accolades, awards publicly endorse people’s abilities, reward their achievements, and inspire their colleagues. People love to be recognised for their achievements, especially when they are hard-earned. Your winners should feel proud to receive their awards and want to hold them up high. Follow our guidelines to ensure your award presentation pieces are well received and reflect the achievements being honoured.

Award Presentation Pieces        

The physical awards are an important element of the awards ceremony and require advance planning. The presentation pieces that winners take away are the legacy of the event and are lasting symbols of their achievements. There are many options available when selecting suitable awards for your awards ceremony.

Bespoke Awards

When the awards are considered prestigious and will generate lots of publicity, it is well worth investing in bespoke awards. Bespoke industry awards are instantly recognisable and become coveted symbols of achievements. These awards are produced from scratch in a variety of materials. The design and production process takes 3-6 months from start to finish.

Ready Made Awards

When you need awards with a shorter lead time, there are many ready-made options to choose from. These are typically crystal awards or glass awards, available in a variety of shapes and sizes, and also in matching colours to suit your brand. These awards are ideal when a large number of category awards are required or for lower budgets.

Sustainable Awards

Sustainable awards elevate your brand and also showcase your culture and how you can change attitudes. We source Wooden Awards from suppliers that support the Tree Planting Scheme, an initiative by the Woodland Trust of the UK to help create, restore and protect their woodlands.

Award Artwork

Your logo has a big impact on the shape and style of the award. Check to see if your company has Brand Guidelines. These are very helpful as they provide detailed pantone colours (both primary and secondary colours) of your logo and details of permitted typefaces. Brand guidelines also provide detail of approved variations to the logo, which is useful during the design and production process. Be prepared to abbreviate text and avoid long sentences on the awards. Someone who is not familiar with the awards should be able to take one look at them and understand what they are for. So, keep what it says on the award concise and to the point.

Timelines

The best policy is to agree on a timeline with your award provider well in advance of the awards ceremony. In addition, consider the following:

• Allow at least 3 months to produce bespoke awards. The design and manufacturing process takes longer as the awards are commissioned specifically for the ceremony.
• For standard off-the-shelf awards, it is advisable to secure your stock, particularly if ordering large quantities. You don’t want your preferred award to be unavailable when required.
• While details of the winners are usually known in advance, they are kept under wraps until they are revealed on-stage. For the winner’s details to be added to the awards, allow 10 working days from final artwork approval to delivery.

Practicalities

The following advice has been hard learned by us over the years and will help reduce stress levels in advance of your awards ceremony. It also means that you can enjoy the ceremony that bit more:

• Check, and double-check the name of the award categories and the spelling of individual or company names (and winners) before approving the artwork.
• Confirm the delivery address with your provider. Provide a contact name and number so that your order can be easily tracked.
• It is best practice to check orders immediately after they are delivered, to ensure that everything is in order. Don’t wait until the night before the ceremony to open the box!
• Remember to take and then distribute photos of the award presentations. They will be cherished by the recipients and are a great way for you and the winners to promote your celebration – and their achievement.

and The Winner is …

Do you need awards for your company or industry event? Contact us to discuss your requirements and we will be happy to guide you through the creative process. You can also arrange to visit our showroom to see samples of awards that we have designed and supplied.