Imprint Plus Canada
Are you looking to require your staff or employees to start wearing photo name badges to work every day? While it may seem like a cliché accessory to have and require for any office attire, name badges actually serve a very important purpose for any and every company.
This is why their design and make is also very important. After all, a name badge isn’t just a tool to help you identify your staff. It’s also a tool that can help increase security around the office.
If you’re looking to create and design custom name badges in-house rather than hire a designer to create one for you, then we recommend checking out the following tips to make sure that you’ll be able to design the perfect name badge that’ll serve your company well.
What’s the Difference Between a Name Tag and a Name Badge
More often than not the terms name tag and name badge are often interchanged with one another. However, there is a stark difference between a name badge and a name tag that others might miss.
A name tag is usually often worn as a courtesy towards customers and clients. They usually contain a person’s name, title, and company within them. A name badge, on the other hand, is more than just a person’s name and employment information. In most cases, name badges are also used as a means to heighten security and allow employees to gain access to certain areas of a building or office.
What Information Should You Include in Your Name Badges?
Although name badges are used as a means to increase security in your building or office, they don’t usually require any more additional information than the following:
- Full name
- Company affiliated with
- Company logo
- Job title
Other name badges contain other useful information such as a company’s address and contact number, as well as designated employee numbers. Others even go so far as to include instructions on what to do should a name badge be lost, discovered, or found.
With Or Without Photos for Your Name Badges?
Additionally, other name badges also contain the employees’ photos within them. This, of course, has certain advantages over having name badges without photos.
1. Identification
One advantage a photo name badge has is the fact that an employee is much more easily identifiable by the photo on the badge. This can be a good way to increase security, as a person’s appearance can be cross-examined against the photo on their name badge.
2. Customer Engagement & Relations
Another benefit of having a photo name badge over one without a photo is that it looks more professional, and it’s a good way of showcasing a company’s branding.
If you were to run into two people from different companies, for example, one with a photo name badge, and the other with just a plain-text name badge, wouldn’t you be more inclined to engage with the person whose name badge has a photo on it?
By including a photo on the name badge, it also speaks volumes about a company’s values. It echoes that employees aren’t just a number for them, but that they have a face and a stake in the company as well.
3. Employee Accountability
Another thing that a photo name badge does for your company and employees is that it increases accountability. By itself, a name badge can track whether an employee has checked in or out of your office, and what rooms they’ve gained access to on a given day.
At the same time, having a photo on their name badge also makes them accountable for the badge itself. Should they lose their name badges outside of the office, for example, whoever finds their name badge can easily put a name to their face and return it.
Fonts To Use for Your Photo Name Badges?
When it comes to the fonts you'll be using for your name badges, the two most important things you must take into account are a typeface’s legibility and availability. Not every font is legible (or readable), either from a distance or up close. At the same time, not every font or typeface is available on every piece of design software either.
That said, here are a couple of fonts that we recommend you choose from when designing your name badge:
- Verdana
- Garamond
- Helvetica
- Clarendon
- Arial
- Times New Roman
- Futura
When choosing fonts, it’s important to also consider whether you want fonts with serifs or sans serifs. Serifs are the little lines and flourishes tend to make a typeface look more sophisticated. When it comes to name badges, however, they can also be a bit more distracting. So in most cases, it might be a better idea to avoid serif fonts.
Customize Your Photo Name Badge or Choose from Ready-Made Templates
When it comes to creating the perfect name badge for your company and employees, it’s important to take design principles and elements into account. Creating contrast between your images, logos, and the text, for example, is critical especially if you want the details in your name badge to be visible and readable to others.
If you don’t fancy yourself a graphic designer, then, you can always check out some of our available templates over on our website. That way, you won’t have to trouble yourself with spending too much time fretting over and designing your company name badges yourself.
