Button Backs because there is more than one way to wear a button:
When designing a
custom button, most business owners don’t think about one crucial detail–how is anyone going to wear those buttons!? Most business owners choose the traditional
pinback style because that might be the one they are the most familiar with, but there is more than just one way to wear a button.
A
pinback button is simply fastened to a shirt or bag using a safety pin style mechanism. The first design for a pinback button was patented in 1896, and modern buttons are designed in very much the same way. Patent holders Whitehead & Hoag said, “My present invention has reference to improvements in badges for use as lapel pins or buttons, or other like uses, and has for its primary object to provide … a novel means for connecting the ornamental shell or button to the bar or pin for securing the badge to the lapel of the coat.” And while pinback buttons may not seem like much of an invention, in 1896 zippers hadn’t even been invented! Early campaign buttons had to be sewn onto the lapel or worn as a pendent, so the pinback button was really quite a revolutionary product.
Bar Magnet
If you’d rather your employees or customer not poke holes in their clothes in order to wear your custom buttons, the bar magnet back is a great choice. This small, but powerful magnet, is a great backing option for larger and heavier buttons that might rip clothes if they were attached with a pin. This backing is also a great choice for places that want to recycle buttons amongst employees, or have a lot of buttons to choose from. For instance, a fast food restaurant might order their custom buttons with a bar magnet and just keep them all in a drawer in the main office. Employees can easily swap out the buttons each shift without poking dozens of holes in their uniforms.
Bulldog clip backs look a lot like binder clips. The bulldog clip is attached to the back of the button and can be easily clipped onto a lapel or pocket so you don’t have to push a pin through your shirt. Bulldog clips are also great for attaching ID tags to lanyards. When choosing how your employees or customers are going to wear your buttons you have to figure out
how they will be wearing them. If they will constantly be removing and putting the button back on, a bar magnet or bulldog clip fastener is probably a better choice because those won’t damage their clothes. But those fasteners can be a little more expensive, so if you are designing your custom budget on a budget the traditional pinback style might be a better choice.