I’ve been lusting (that’s right, lusting) for a badge press for years. In fact, this is one of the few things my sensible side has consistently managed to veto. So I was boyishly excited when I unwrapped my Christmas presents and found that my sister had bought one for me.

Here’s how I squander my time putting it to use.

Doing the work

This is where I get to unleash my inner child. I try to come up with at least an A3 sheet full of ideas for every batch of badges I make. I try to stay away from text, because I’m the kind of person who’ll try to cram an essay in there if given half a chance.

I lay out all my badge ideas in Illustrator, with a combination of infinite patience, attention to tiny details, and Bushmills. Designing for a 38mm circle sure puts all that moaning about accommodating 800×600 screen resolution into perspective.

I’ll normally print 12 badges in a single batch. When they’re printed (assuming I’ve not forgotten to turn off the design guides), I get to play with my circle cutter. When I first got this, I didn’t notice the cutting mat, and now have to hide some nice round marks on my floor from my landlady.

The best bit

This is what it’s all about. I load up the press with the badge back, front, design and cover, and get to feel all mechanic-like while I pull levers and spin doohickies. I learned the hard way to make sure things are positioned just so before pressing – no-one wants an un-pinnable badge.

And no-one said badges had to be friendly …