Best Custom Medal Design Ideas [With Examples]

Creating an impressive medal design is one of the most powerful ways to showcase your event and attract signups. But let's face it, crafting a design that your participants can't wait to win is easier said than done.

That's where we at Badges And Medals step in. We have mastered the art of unique and memorable designs, having helped thousands of organisations create custom medals. 

In this article, we've put together some of our favourite design ideas across the years to spark your inspiration, some of which we designed ourselves. These examples will teach you unique ways you can make your medals stand out from the crowd.

Let's dive in and find your next brilliant medal design!

10 Medal Design Ideas To Get People Talking

1. Add a magnet, as shown by Sun Run

Adding a magnet to your medal is a fun and functional way to stand out from the crowd.

Take the medals made for Sun Run, for example. Rather than tucking them away in a draw with the rest of their medals, recipients displayed their magnetic medals on their refrigerators or cabinets. This is a continual reminder of their achievements, which makes them feel proud.

(It's worth noting that magnetic medals are also a good but subtle marketing tactic because, once displayed, they remind people of your event!)

Best with: wooden medals or metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

2. Include moving parts, as shown by Badges And Medals

Moving parts transform a static award into a playful, interactive experience. They can come in many varieties, such as parts that turn, slide, dangle, or swivel.

For instance, we at Badges And Medals have a medal with a unique lift-up flap that we use to show clients. The lift-up flap creates an element of surprise and reveals another design, which people find intriguing. It also ensures that the medal is a topic of conversation. After all, how many medals have you received with a 'hidden' reward?

Best with: metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

Lift the flap to reveal the design!

3. Pick a unique shape, as shown by the New Zealand Benchpress Championships

Choosing a unique shape for your medal sets it apart from conventional round or square designs.

Consider the medals made for the New Zealand Benchpress Championships. The designers cleverly shaped the medal so the weight plates of the barbell stick out. It draws the eye and ensures the athlete is the focal point, which might not have happened as well if the medal had a traditional round shape.

It also connects the medal visually to the sport it celebrates - even if you couldn't see what was on the medal, you could tell from a distance that the medal was related to a type of weightlifting.

Best with: metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

The shape of this medal draws your eye to the athlete.

4. Add a bottle opener, as shown by the Nike Melbourne Marathon

What's the first thing people do after finishing a race? Get a drink, of course! And what better way to open said drink than with your freshly minted medal?

Bottle openers are a great way to enhance your medal because they add functionality to people's mementoes.

Take the Nike Melbourne Marathon's medals, for example. Here, the designers added a cut-out in the middle of the medal to represent the stadium's field, which doubled as a bottle opener. After the race, many participants appreciated using their medals to open a celebratory drink, adding a layer of interaction with the medal beyond just receiving and displaying it. This made the medal more memorable and valued by the recipients.

Best with: metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

Recipients loved using this medal as a bottle opener post-event.

5. Pickcoloured medals, as shown by the Ocean Swim Series

Why stick to gold, silver, and bronze when there's a whole spectrum of colours to choose from?

Picking a unique medal colour is a sure and simple way to stand out. Just look at the Ocean Swim Series medals. Each medal was painted a different colour so that every event had its distinct look, while their all-white prints tied them together.

The result was a memorable set of medals that stood out on social media thanks to their novelty. After all, it's not every day you see a bright green medal!

Best with: wooden medals or metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

Coloured medals are a great way to make your event stand out! CREDIT: Xander James Photography/Ocean Swim Series

6. Include a medal cut-out, as shown by the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

A medal cut-out is a design feature where parts of the medal are removed to create negative space. It's used to add depth or highlight elements of a medal's design.

Take, for example, the medals designed for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The cut-out around the logo played with the medal's depth of field and made it look like the logo was leaping forward, grabbing people's attention. This made the logo easier to remember, which, in turn, improved Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge's brand recognition.

Best with: wooden medals or metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

Cut-outs add depth to your medals.

7. Include unique materials, as shown by the Whitianga Marathon

One of the most visually striking ways to customise medals is to add unique materials, such as shell or metal-looking plastic sheets, because they add a sense of luxury.

Consider the Whitianga Marathon's medals, for example, which had shells in their design. The shell comes from sea snails known as abalone, ormer or paua (depending on where you're from), found near the marathon. By adding the shell to the medal, the Whitianga Marathon tied itself to its local coastal culture and heritage.

It also added interest. The sea snail's shell is renowned for its vibrancy, with colours that shift and shimmer under different lights. It drew the eye to the centre of the medal and made it more memorable. Plus, the natural patterns within the shell also ensured that no medals were alike, making recipients feel valued.

Best with: wooden medals or metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

The Whitianga Marathon cleverly used paua shell to enhance its medals.

8. Pick medals that assemble, as shown by Running Events

If you're organising multiple events or a series, then you have access to a unique design option: medals that assemble! These are medals that join or stack like puzzle pieces to reveal a continuous or new design.

Running Events' medals were an excellent example of this. They designed a series of medals with a runner at the top of each medal. Each medal in the series represented a different phase of motion, and when stacked on top of each other, showed the runner advancing. This not only made each medal unique but also encouraged participants to collect the set to complete the sequence, boosting signups.

Best with: wooden medals or metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

9. Add a 3D effect, as shown by Crankworx Rotorua

Three-dimensional (3D) elements bring medals to life in ways that flat medals cannot.

For example, Crankworx Rotorua's decision to make their biker 3D made their medal stick out (literally) because it played with shadows and light. Once your eye was on it, you knew the biker was the focal point.

The 3D element also offered a fun, tactile element to the medal. Recipients got to experience the medal with their hands, not just their eyes, fostering a deeper, more engaging connection with the award.

Best with: metal medals
Designed by: Badges And Medals

This 3D biker sticks out at you - literally!

10. Pick glow-in-the-dark colours, as shown by the Tokyo Virtual Challenge

Using glow-in-the-dark colours on your medals is a brilliant idea for events that take place at night or late in the evening. Not only does it make your event more memorable, but the novelty of earning these medals can increase event numbers.

Participants like earning something unique and visually striking, which glow-in-the-dark medals are. Take the Tokyo Virtual Challenge's medals, for example. These medals dazzle in the daylight with their vibrant colours and, when the sun sets, reveal a surprising and delightful glow. This captivates the eye even well after the event is over.

Best with: metal medals
Designed by: The Conqueror Virtual Challenges

Glow-in-the-dark medals are a great way to spice up evening or night events. CREDIT: Conqueror Virtual Challenges

Need more medal design inspiration?

As you can see, there are plenty of design features you can use to make your medals stand out from other events. Knowing what these are will help you design an impressive medal that both showcases your event and attracts more signups.

We at Badges And Medals know this better than most, having helped thousands of event organisers like you create memorable medals from scratch.

If you're looking for even more creative inspiration, be sure to explore our article, 'Top 5 Places To Find Medal Design Inspiration', where we delve even deeper into the possibilities for your custom designs.