Name badges are extremely important when it comes to events and other situations where a business is being represented. It is often the first impression someone has of you and your business. A poorly designed badge will scare off potential customers and business partners, either as a result of an unprofessional design or unclear information. To design the perfect name badge you should consider various elements during the design stage.
Keep reading below to see a summary of some of the most important factors to consider when designing a name badge for your business.
1. Choose Contrasting Colours
Colour is without doubt one of the most critical aspects of print design. Many businesses, however, fall at this very first hurdle. Choosing the right colours is essential for making an badge that stands out. If you combine the wrong colours, the rest of your design suffers with it. As we mention further on, the colours should reflect your brand's style. But that doesn't mean you should go overboard. Not every colour has to match your brand, especially if those colours don't work together. Your badge will typically consist of text and a background. Make sure that these colours contrast together. A light font colour on a light background will be difficult to see compared to light and dark. If you are at a networking event, attendees shouldn't have to squint their eyes up close and personal just to read your badge. Don't forget that what you see on the computer screen will be different to the final printed product.
2. Make Room for Long Names
When designing a badge it can be easy to fall into the trap of viewing the design with a specific name in mind. This can make things even more difficult if the name you use as a placeholder is quite short. If you know the names of all employees receiving a badge, test how each one looks. If you don't know the names at this point, try and make sure there is some leeway for someone with a particularly long name. You don't want to finalise your design only to discover that a design element is blocking you from fitting in someone's name.
3. Is the Font Readable?
In essence this design element continues on from a previous point. A badge is not just there for show or to act as an attractive clothing accessory. It should display important information about you and your business. This could include the business logo, your name and contact information. If none of this is readable then the badge is pointless. As well as contrasting colours you should choose a legible font size that can be read at a fair distance. When at full zoom on a computer screen the font may be easy to read, but will appear this way at print size? Another tip is to avoid fancy fonts that are difficult to read. Readability is far more important than presentation in this scenario, especially taking into account the fact most people will only glance at the badge.
4. Clarity of Logo
The logo of your business is one of the badge's most important pieces and the main element for integrating your brand's style into the design. The logo should stand out and be visually appealing. One quick glance should be enough to clearly identify the business that you're representing. Make sure that the logo is high resolution. It can be quite common for business to use digital-only files or to incorrectly re-size the logo without a fixed aspect ratio. A low-quality, blurred and squashed logo won't win you any business.
5. Maintain Your Brand's Style
If you want to attract new customers and partnerships, your badge should utilise a professional design. The design should allow you and your employees to clearly represent the business at an event. At this stage you will likely have already set guidelines outlining the colours, fonts and other design elements that form your brand's style. Ensure that these elements carry over to the name badge, but as mentioned earlier, don't go overboard. Choose what makes sense for this particular marketing activity. What's right for you will be different to what's right for another business. For instance, Luxury Student Homes is a business that typically requires badges that are attractive to a young student-oriented audience, the polar opposite to that of a corporate business attending a high-end networking event.
Design Your Bespoke Name Badge
As specialists for providing name badges in the UK, we know what it takes to design the best bespoke badges for businesses. To get started on your ID badges, browse our collection of badge styles. Simply provide us with your logo and design details and we will begin to process your order.