John Hathaway
Deal Toy Expert at Polaris Custom Awards
John Hathaway has worked in the custom awards and deal toy industry since the mid-1990s, with experience spanning design, production and manufacturing.
Over the course of his career, he has worked directly with Lucite, crystal and resin factories across North America, Europe and Asia, developing a firsthand understanding of how materials, manufacturing processes and design decisions affect the finished piece.
From 1999 to 2023, John led creative teams and studios in New York, London and Hong Kong, producing work for major global banks, private equity firms, pharmaceutical companies and corporations around the world.
Today, as Deal Toy Expert at Polaris Custom Awards, he brings that experience to every project, working with clients and the Polaris creative team from initial concept through production to create custom deal toys, financial tombstones and awards that are distinctive, meaningful and made to last.
His approach is grounded in a simple idea: a deal toy or custom award should be worthy of what it represents. The strongest designs go beyond commemorating a transaction or milestone. They capture something meaningful about it and turn that meaning into an object people are proud to keep and display.
Selected Insights
John writes about deal toy design, materials, creative judgment and the process of turning an idea into a finished piece in the Polaris Custom Awards Knowledge Center.
Approach to Design
Great deal toy design starts with understanding what makes a transaction worth commemorating. The challenge is to find the idea, image or detail that captures something distinctive about the deal, then build the design around it.
That requires judgment as much as creativity. Materials, dimensional elements, imagery, symbolism and typography all offer possibilities, but every element should have a reason to be there. The strongest designs aren't the ones that incorporate the most ideas. They're the ones in which the right ideas work together.
Just as important, a concept has to survive the transition from rendering to reality. An understanding of materials and manufacturing helps shape decisions from the beginning, so the finished piece preserves what made the original idea compelling.
Ultimately, a deal toy isn't simply a place to put transaction details and logos. It is a physical symbol of something people worked hard to accomplish. The goal is to create something distinctive, meaningful and worthy of what it represents.
In The Industry
John's perspective on deal toy and recognition design has appeared in industry publications including GRAPHICS PRO, where he has written about design, language, materials and creative problem-solving in custom recognition.
For more from John on the design, materials and manufacturing behind deal toys, visit Deal Toy Expert
Work With John and the Polaris Team
Have a transaction or milestone you'd like to commemorate? Share the basic details with Polaris and we'll help develop an approach that fits the deal, timing and budget.