Custom Made 38mm (1½") Pin Badges

The 38mm badge is roughly the same diameter as an Australian 50 cent coin — immediately recognisable, easy to read at arm's reach, and comfortable to wear all day. It's our most popular size for bulk giveaway situations, and for good reason: it's large enough to do a job without being so prominent that people take it off after ten minutes.

At a Glance

• No minimum order — order as few as 1 to test a design before committing to a larger run
• Standard turnaround: 4 business days from artwork approval
• Printed and assembled in Melbourne by Make Badges, in business since 2004
• No setup fees or artwork charges
• Significant price savings from 100 badges — ideal for events
• Standard and express delivery available across Australia

Who Orders 38mm Badges — and Why

The 38mm size hits a sweet spot that most other sizes miss. It's visible enough to be noticed, small enough to be worn willingly, and priced at volume so it suits almost any budget.

Bands and Music Festivals

A 38mm badge sits neatly on a jacket lapel or bag strap without fighting for space. It's large enough to feature a band logo and album title clearly, and cost-effective enough per unit to give away freely at merch tables or festival entry. Orders of 100–500 are common here, and the volume savings make it an easy add-on to any merch run.

School Fundraisers

Schools handing badges to students need something durable and wearable for a full school day. At 38mm, the badge is substantial enough that kids actually want to wear it, but not so large it becomes a distraction. A simple design — school crest, campaign slogan, year group — works perfectly at this size.

Charity Awareness Days

A 38mm badge gives you enough room to pair a symbol with a short message or organisation name, turning a passive supporter into a walking conversation starter. Ordering in bulk for a workplace or community event brings the per-badge cost down significantly, making it one of the most affordable awareness tools available.

Corporate Events and Lanyards

When a secondary badge sits next to an event name badge on a lanyard, the 38mm size holds its own without overpowering. Company logo, event name, or department identifier — this format is clean and professional without adding bulk.

Design Tips for 38mm Badges

At 38mm, design simplicity pays off. A logo with a short word or tagline reproduces well; dense illustrations or more than 4–5 words of text quickly become hard to read when printed at this scale.

• Keep body text at 8pt minimum — smaller than this won't be legible once printed
• Use high-contrast colour combinations (dark on light or light on dark) for best readability at a distance
• Avoid fine detail and thin lines — these can soften during the print and crimp process; keep outlines bold
• Centre your key message — the outer edge is used for bleed only and is trimmed during assembly

Download the Adobe CC artwork template (Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign) from this page to set up your file correctly first time.

Ordering Your 38mm Badges

Start with a single badge if you're testing a new design — there's no minimum. When you're ready to order for an event, the savings at volume are hard to ignore. The more you order, the less you pay per badge — and the price drops are significant, not marginal. By the time you're ordering for a fundraiser, festival, or corporate event, you could be paying a fraction of the single-badge price. For events where you're handing out hundreds of badges, that makes 38mm pins one of the most cost-effective promotional items you can put in someone's hand.

Check the pricing table above for current rates, upload your artwork at checkout, or use the online design studio if you're building your design from scratch.