How Double Layer Medals Helped Bring the Timesliders Adventure to Life

When pupils take part in an adventure like Timesliders, the experience is about far more than completing a set of challenges.

It is built around storytelling, discovery, teamwork and giving pupils the feeling that they have stepped into something completely different from an ordinary school day.

For the Timesliders adventure at Drum Castle in Aberdeenshire, the medal needed to continue that experience rather than feel like an unrelated award handed out at the end.

We created a custom double layer wooden medal that used physical depth to make the design feel more considered and better connected to the story.

Want to See the Materials Before You Decide?

If you are comparing engraved wood, colour printed wood, double layer medals or slate, seeing the materials in person can make the decision much easier.

Our sample packs let organisers get a feel for the finish, weight, print quality and engraving before deciding what will work best for their event.

An Adventure Through Scotland’s Past, Present and Future

Timesliders tells the story of two young adventurers – Kyla and Eden – who travel through Scotland’s past, present and future in an effort to stop the villainous Professor Curran from rewriting the country’s history.

With the help of a time-travelling device called SUSIE, pupils are transported into an immersive story where they solve puzzles, tackle challenges and work together to progress through the adventure.

At Drum Castle, that means navigating a series of team challenges, riddles and clues within a historic setting.

For an experience with that much storytelling built into it, the final award needed to feel like part of the same world.

The Design Challenge

The main challenge was not simply creating a medal with the Timesliders branding on it.

It was creating an award that felt connected to an immersive educational experience.

The design needed to:

• Feel exciting for school-age participants.
• Reflect the visual identity of Timesliders.
• Have enough depth to feel different from a basic flat medal.
• Remain practical for larger school groups.
• Support the storytelling rather than overpower it.

Why Double Layer Medals Worked So Well

A double layer medal uses a separate raised wooden component fixed onto the main medal base.

That creates genuine physical depth rather than relying on printed shading or simulated 3D effects.

For Timesliders, that extra layer helped the main artwork stand forward from the background and gave the medal a more substantial finish.

The Most Important Rule With Double Layer Design

Adding another layer does not automatically make a medal better.

The raised section should have a reason for being there.

We normally recommend identifying the most important part of the design and using the second layer to emphasise that element.

That could be:

• A character.
• A school or event logo.
• A historical landmark.
• A key object from the story.
• A symbol linked to the challenge.

Why This Matters for School and Educational Events

Educational events have a different challenge from conventional races or sporting events.

The reward needs to work for the age group while still supporting the purpose of the experience.

For Timesliders, the medal provides a clear end point to the adventure and reinforces the idea that pupils have completed something together.

It also gives teachers and organisers a way to visually connect the completion of the challenge back to the story, characters and setting.

Designing Around the Experience

The Timesliders project is a good example of why we prefer to understand the event before designing the medal.

If we only knew that it was a school event, we might design something completely different.

Knowing that it involves time travel, Scottish history, Drum Castle, fictional characters, puzzles and team challenges gives the design much more direction.

For event organisers, it is worth providing your medal designer with:

• The story behind the event.
• The age of the participants.
• Important characters or landmarks.
• Your event branding.
• The location.
• Any key moment participants experience during the day.

Those details often create better medal ideas than simply sending over a logo.

Choosing the Right Medal Style

Double layer medals are not automatically the right choice for every school event.

A simpler engraved wooden medal might work perfectly for a school sports day, while a bright colour printed design may be more appropriate for a colour run or activity day.

Double layer medals become particularly useful when the event itself has a stronger theme, story or visual identity.

What Other Event Organisers Can Learn

Timesliders demonstrates that medal design works best when it starts with the participant experience.

Before creating an award for a school adventure, educational event or themed activity, ask:

• What is the main story participants will experience?
• What should they notice first when they see the medal?
• Would colour help reinforce the theme?
• Is there a particular character, landmark or symbol that could become the focal point?
• Would adding a second layer genuinely improve the design?
• Does the final award feel consistent with the quality of the event?

Those questions usually lead to a stronger result than simply deciding that the event needs a circular medal with a logo in the middle.

Case Study Summary

The Final Result

The finished Timesliders medals added another physical element to an already immersive educational experience.

The double layer construction gave the artwork extra depth, while the colour printing allowed the visual identity of the adventure to continue into the award itself.

More importantly, the design felt connected to what pupils had just experienced at Drum Castle.

That is the aim with any custom event medal: the material, artwork and finish should make sense for the event rather than simply following a standard template.

Planning a School or Educational Event?

If you are organising a school challenge, history event, activity day, educational adventure or themed experience, we can help work out which medal style makes the most sense.

Send us the story behind the event, your branding and approximate quantity and we can suggest a practical design direction.