Its the start of the New Year and everyone's making plans to be better than last year. So why not make this year as big as its ever been! Lets be the best we can be and reward those that are deserving of the same. Encourage creativity and reward with innovative creations!
How frustrating is it when what you want doesn't exist!? Well this is where we step in - looking to make a custom award and replicas to go with it? Look no further - Lut Crystalworks' Custom Division specializes in unique custom awards, deal toys and promotional products.
D- Design
The design process begins with taking your idea and putting it up on the drawing board. With this we need to look at what our time frame is, budget and where this will be shipping to, how many pieces need to be made, the types of materials needed, etc. Our custom design team is experienced and very well versed and use their resourcefulness and experience to educate clients about the options, possibilites and capabilities that are available within the given time frame and budget. The more information you provide our design team, the better we can educate and explain whats the best direction for your project.
C-Create
There are multiple ways in manufacturing custom projects - no two projects are the same. It can be as easy as water jetting a piece of glass or as complicated as creating molds. Our experienced staff will explain and guide you through the best available options so you can decide which path to take. Manufacturing times depend on complexity and quantity of the order.
D- Deliver
We deliver the world of manufacturing and design to your doorstep so we challenge you to challenge us!
Let the season of snow and "lights, camera, action" with the hottest celebrities begin! Its officially the awards season where your favorite celebs get glammed up for the biggest and most watched award ceremonies.
Golden Globes: Jan 15th
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is celebrating their 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 15th 2012. What better way to start the new year by celebrating one of the most esteemed award ceremonies and its nominees. The HFPA is a non-profit that raises money and donates it to entertainment- related charities as well as supporting scholarships as well as other programs to help preserve and support the future of film and television professionals.
Some of the leading nominees are: The Help: Best Motion Picture (Drama), Viola Davis - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) Bridesmaids: Best Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), Kristen Wiig - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) The Descendants: Best Motion Picture (Drama), George Clooney - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama), Alexander Payne - Best Director (Motion Picture)
SAG Awards: Jan 29th
The 18th Screen Actor's Guild Awards will be hosted on January 29th featuring the most talked about and acclaimed actresses and actors in the industry. "The awards focus on both individual performances as well as on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture. These honors are fundamental to the spirit of the Screen Actors Guild Awards because they recognize what all actors know – that acting is a collaborative art.
In that same spirit, the SAG Awards® also commends the outstanding performances by film and television stunt ensembles. "
A few of the Nominations are:
Dexter: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Michael C. Hall - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series Modern Family: Outstanding Performance by and Ensemble in a Comedy Series, Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Grammys: Feb 12th
One of the most respected award ceremonies in the world that gives acknowledgment to musical artists that stand out and have truly worked and sacrificed to get where they are. Its bringing all talents within the music industry and giving praise to those that have pushed the envelope with creativity and hard work.
Some of the top nominations are: Adele: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance Katie Perry: Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance Bruno Mars: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year
Got an event or ceremony where you want to make a STATEMENT. Let Lut Crystalworks help design and create a show stopper for your event! If your in a time crunch and need something now - just check out our Glam pieces that will definitely be eye catcher!
Smells of gingerbread, pine and homemade cookies infuse homes along with the sounds of laughter, cheer and joy this holiday season. Being that this is always a crazy time of year for everyone you talk to but especially for those who create, design and plan the events. Some examples are the galas, award ceremonies, conferences, golf outings, black tie dinners and even new years eve parties! So who's the ones busiest of all?- The EVENT Planners!
When you have to take care of the venue, food, seating charts and even lighting let Lut Crystalworks help you out and make it easy when it comes taking care of the events awards and recognition plaques. With plenty of options for conservative to extravagant budgets and quick turnarounds, we can easily take one more mountain of stress off your to do list.
At times there is no budget and you have to get the best and most creative awards/products but have no clue where to begin. Lut Crystalworks representatives can help guide you so we can bring your ideas into life! If you have a concept in mind don't hesitate to give us a call. Since we specialize in custom projects and have unlimited capabilities amongst a variety of materials, we can practically get anything you need designed and manufactured all under one roof. Lut Crystalworks is here to make your life a little easier because we know how hard you already have to work during this season... so take a load off and call today!
Everyday we pass by people, some we know and others we have never met before. Take a look around and you'll see nurses and doctors; bus drivers and police officers; corporate professionals and educators - all people who take part in what makes this world go round and in some way, shape or form to make our lives just a little bit easier. How can and do they get rewarded for all that they do?
Law Enforcement/ Fire Fighters:
Each day they put their lives on the line for our safety and well being. Some examples of award ceremonies that take place are: Massachusetts Firefighter of the Year Award and Illinois Firefighter Medal of Honor Awards
Shown are some products that these heroes can be commemorated with. Know of any hero's that deserve some awards? Lut Crystalworks has pristine awards for police officers and fire fighters and if you don't see something you like, we can always design and manufacture you a custom design. What about a concept of handcuffs embedded into a lucite award or a custom fireman hat award thats engraved and color filled with the recipients name on the front for starters?
Corporate professionals:
When sales reps that meet or exceed quota and managers that try keep them motivated, encourage them during frustrating times and guide them to excede their own expectations- this is where a companies growth happens and should definitely be rewarded! The sales department are not the only ones that work hard. Don't forget about the marketing and advertising that are continually contributing to the bottom line. Definitely don't forget about the accounting department basically lives at the office for about 3-4 months out of the year and especially the receptionists that are basically the face of your company. Give acknowledgment where it is due- Lut Crystalworks trophies and plaques are a good place to start and if interested we can create unique custom awards for your event or corporate branding. Celebrate retirements and anniversaries, vendor appreciation, fund raising events and conferences with a little extra shine and sparkle...
Teachers/ Principals/ Educational Staff:
The people responsible for educating tomorrow's future deserve quite the appreciation especially for all of the behind the scenes work they do. Grading papers, dealing with child behavioral issues, children with special needs, salary cuts, finding budgets for extracurricular activities to make sure the kids stay in school and off the streets, etc. is part of their daily tasks. At least stop a teacher and tell them "Thank You" next time. Then if there is an event that recognizes their hard work, be sure to award them with a product that is worth showing off to everybody! Below is an example-
Another year is coming to a close with the holidays and new year approaching where employees are getting ready for a break while employers are preparing to take a quick breather and get ramped up for the next year. Throughout the year employers work hard to stay ahead of the game, motivate employees, get their work done and work towards keeping the company in the green leaving them competitive in the market. While employers work hard to make game plans effective and try new tactics to keep employees to work efficiently... employees are coming in early, staying late and working through their lunches to make sure that they get all their work done to meet deadlines and quotas. Lets be honest though, we've got some slackers that hold the rest back... going around spreading gossip and causing more headaches than solving problems.
So how do you keep spirits high and keep momentum? Encourage creativity and reward hard work.
Take Zappo's for example, where they have continuously been on Forbe's Best Companies to Work For list and have relentlessly strived to bring the best out of their employees and make it a place where everyone works hard, has fun and is respected. From the inception of Zappo's, they have become an industry leader by broadening their horizons, challenging themselves and the employees.
These like many companies are closing up a successful year where they have sustained growth and continuously build momentum within their company structure. The one thing we don't do enough and we are ALL guilty of it is say THANK YOU. Take this opportunity to say thanks to all of the hardworking teams, creative managers, exceptional sales reps, imaginative marketing and advertising teams to just name a few of those who deserve praise and acknowledgment. Here are a few awesome suggestions from Lut Crystalworks on how we can help you spread the creative appreciation.
Everyday we give or receive awards to commemorate hard work, achievement and success. With this we take time to personalize each piece to acknowledge the individual or team/ company that have exceeded expectations and should be recognized for their efforts.
So how do we get your name on the award? Well, the engraving process takes time and has a sequential order to it. First we start with picking out the select style of the award(s) that will be engraving. Once the awards are picked- we make sure we get art approval. Basically we mock up all the names and logo(s) that will be on the award as well as clarify where they will be etched.
When art work is approved, we have to create photomasks of the art work that will be placed onto the awards.
Steps to Create a PhotoMask:
1. Create the art work and print the designs onto a film print.
2. Expose the film print art work to a photoresist film using UV lighting. Areas exposed to the UV light will harden because the film print prohibits the UV lighting to shine through the photoresist which will leave an exact outline of the artwork.
3. Use pressurized water to wash the photoresist film which will wash away the non-exposed areas and leave you with a photomask of your art work design.
4. Clean the appropriate spaces with some glass cleaner where the artwork will go on the awards.
5. Once awards are cleaned and dry- place photo mask on the award where the engraving will take place.
Check out this video to see how to apply a photomask to a flat surface.
However, applying a photomask to a flat surface may not seem as hard and time consuming. So you may ask - what about curved surfaces? Well, curved surfaces are definitely a bit more tricky and timely. As seen in the video above, the artwork needs to be scaled at 100% to make sure it is perfectly accurate. Though, if its a curved surface (such as a bowl or a vase) we need to curve the wording and sometimes the image to make sure it fits well.
Check out this video to see some helpful tips on applying a photomask to a curved surface.
Now that we have approved artwork, turned the artwork into a photomask and applied it to our piece(s) - its finally time to etch/engrave. When sandblasting, we need to use a high-pressure of compressed air and sand that is only the best, purest and highest quality rated that doesn't have any debris which can cause imperfections onto the piece being etched. Once the photomask is taped on and ready for engraving, it is placed in an etching machine where it the piece sits on top of a rack while high pressure sand is sprayed over it. The sand eats through the lighter part of the photomask which in turn ends up being the etched area on the award.
Take a look and let us know what we can engrave for you today!
Now that Halloween's over and Black Friday is right around the corner, it's time to start thinking about the Holidays and gift giving. What better way than to give your clients or employees crystal ornaments! Ornaments carry significance of appreciation and thoughtfulness and a great way to finish the year by saying Thank You!
Lut's stocked crystal ornaments are made from crystal or clear, jade or star-fire glass.
Since ornaments carry such significance, we understand that sometimes your looking for something more specific... for example - an ornament of your logo? Well, let us know what you specifically want so we can make it happen. We can water jet the shape and laser engrave, etch, or digital print your custom design onto the ornament. The ornaments come in pouches or presentation boxes. Prices may vary, dependent upon what type of material is used. Ornaments will be available on our site coming this week! Take a gander...
