Welcome back to the Creative Awards London blog where we showcase the very best in our bespoke awards and trophies. In today’s entry we examine just why resin is one of our most popular materials to use for awards and what using resin as a material can give you in a finished award.

What is resin?

Essentially, resin is a glorious material, but we’re sure you want a bit more information. There are two types of resin: natural and synthetic. Today we focus on synthetic resin. There are two main types of synthetic resin that we use down in the workshop Epoxy Resin and Polyester resin. Both have their own unique uses - epoxy resin is generally used for its gluing properties (we bet you didn’t know that it’s twice a strong as concrete and is waterproof). We use polyester resin for our resin awards and trophies and use a cold casting process to achieve wonderful organic shapes and textures. Resin is particularly useful as it can produce a metallic effect and usually costs and weights a lot less than metal.

How are cast resin awards made?

We use resin casting techniques to create the majority of our resin awards because resin is a lightweight, durable material and, through the casting process, allows us to capture a huge amount of detail that is reflected in the finished award. To start, our designers liaise with each client to understand their vision for the award, once the design ideas are discussed and agreed a clay sculpture of the design is handmade. Usually, the award is made in one piece, however, with larger designs, sometimes individual pieces are made that are then joined together.

Once the sculpture has set we created a mould which is used in the casting process. Each mould captures the design and intricate details of the sculpture allowing for a brilliantly realised award that has a very natural look and feel. A mixture of secret powders and resin is then poured into the mould and left to set. The result? A one of a kind cast resin award that is ready to be finished. The cast resin award is painted, usually in gold for that extra special finish, before a custom made base is created and engraved with the recipient's details.