Company
October 16, 2023
You only have one chance to make a first impression. Discover how a belt buckle will help you make the right first impression. While you may view them as another accessory, belt buckles are both functional and aesthetic. Unfortunately, few people utilize these aspects of wearing belt buckles. The number is even less when you look at organizations and institutions that stand to benefit from wearing customized belt buckles greatly.
Belt buckles have been part of human history for more than two millennia. Over this time, both the aesthetic appeal and functional role of buckles have been modified.
The question remains, is a customized belt buckle what you are missing? Additionally, how can you get quality belt buckles that rightly represent your brand? To start off, let’s have a glance into the history, growth, and domination of customized buckles.
It can sometimes prove difficult to determine the budding place of belt buckles. However, history dates evidence of belt buckles or highly similar accessories. These historical accounts can be found in various places such as Rome and China.
In Rome, belt buckles were used as a functioning piece. They were crafted by blacksmiths using an iron. Over time, the materials and designs progressed to the customizable buckles available today. Around the 13th Century, they became a phenomenon around Europe.
In the US, belt buckles were widely popularized by blacksmiths and silversmiths around the 1900s. This growth continued into the 20th Century and grew to what you know today.
Modern forms of advertising have gotten rather creative. In previous decades, the bulk of marketing and branding works were done directly. Today, however, brands are more subtle in their marketing and advertising strategies.
Wearing a belt buckle is one of these creative branding approaches. For example, say you provide your employees with a stylish and customized belt buckle. Whenever they wear it, they’ll be marketing and selling your brand.
This is an especially helpful approach for organizations that can’t always advertise directly. Churches, NGOs, and CBOs are just but a few organizations in this category.
The beauty of customizable buckles is you can design them as per your wishes. Whether you’re looking for something sleek and fashionable or bright and easily noticeable, you can customize the buckle to fit your brand.
A question asked sometimes is whether a belt buckle is an appropriate gift for employees. The answer to this question is rather vague, as varying factors determine it.
However, here’s a simple way of looking at it; if your organization distributes other branded apparel to the employees, it’s okay to give them belt buckles.
Belt buckles can also be customized to fit as part of a uniform. This can be used in organizations where employees have to wear a certain uniform or learning institutions.
When buying belt buckles for your organization or institution, you can easily get a bargain as you’re buying in bulk. Bulk buying will also help you standardize the quality and design of all your belt buckles.
While belt buckles are not in shortage, getting one that represents your organization is nearly impossible. And that is where customizing buckles come in. You can now have your brand on a buckle by creating an ideal design that represents your brand.
So, let’s say your part of the team tasked with coming up with unique buckle ideas for the company. Where should you start? Here are a few factors to consider before creating a buckle design.
When you talk of belt buckles, some people can’t help but think of classical Western films where almost everyone has a cowboy buckle. This, however, is just a small portion of what belt buckles can offer.
The advantage of customizing your belt buckle is you have the final word on the size. If you are looking for something poppy and flashy, the cowboy design may be the right decision.
On the other side, if you need belt buckles for a corporate, you can go with a smaller, stylish and modern belt buckle. Belt buckle frames traditionally range from two to four inches. With modern technology and customization options, you now have a wide array of buckle designs, sizes, and make.
As mentioned above, belt buckles started with a simple iron design. Today, however, numerous materials are used in the production of belt buckles. The most popular materials used are Zinc and Pewter -Pewter is an alloy of tin, copper, silver, and bismuth.
You can also improve the buckles’ appeal by incorporating finishing metals in your design. These metals include bronze, silver, gold, and black nickel. The type of metal used will largely determine the price, but as formerly mentioned, buying in bulk gives you more bargaining power.
As with every garment, there’s a right time and place for every garment. In the same way, you need first to analyze the right occasions and events for your customized buckle design.
If the belt buckle is for wearing formal events, it should ideally be small with an elegant design. You can also finish off the frame with silver or gold.
Social events and casual occasions give you leeway in the design. Here, you can go a little wild with the design. However, remember one of the primary goals is branding; thus, you should ensure the brand is easily recognizable. You can use the company color, font, or logo to develop a stunning yet relevant buckle design.
Belt buckles don’t really need a lot of maintenance. However, this also depends on the material used and how often you wear the buckle. Some buckle styles and designs are easier to maintain than others. Those with grooved designs and embedded crystals are an example of harder to clean buckles. Crystals, for instance, may fall off if you don’t take care while cleaning.
The cost of maintaining the buckle should also determine your customization process as you don’t want a buckle to fall apart after a few uses.
