Photo ID Design 101

Getting Started

You've just been handed the task of designing ID cards for your company, and you haven't a clue on where to begin. Or, the security manager comes over to you and says that the present ID cards need a "security upgrade" and you need to take care of it--and the only thing you know about ID cards is that you need to wear one!

While the exact design of any ID badge will be unique to your needs, there are some design processes and elements that anyone can make use of. Also, there are certain basic things that should be on any card to help make it more secure. This page is intended to help you begin the design process for your card.

A Simple ID Card

At it's simplest, an ID card should contain three things; your company name (so you know it belongs on your site), the badgeholder's name (so you can cross-check the person without having to rely on their say-so), and the badgholder's photo (so you can match the person to the badge). Other data might be nice (like title, department, employee number and so on) but these three items should really be on any ID badge. At left is an example of just such a basic badge.

(I didn't say it'd be pretty. I just said it would be simple.)

Notice a couple of things about the card.
1) The picture is large. This makes it easy to see the person on the card matches the one wearing it. This is probably the simplest security feature of all, but one that gets overlooked in many card designs.
2) The person's name is larger than the company name. Again, the card is suppose to identify the person. In this case I used just the first name, which seems to work better in American society. First and last names also work, though they can be a bit more of a problem fitting on the card. Last name only, unless in a very formal situation, can be uncomfortable for many employees. After all, too often we only know people around the company only by the info on their ID badges, and Americans prefer to be known by their first names.
3) The card is in portrait (long way up and down) orientation. People tend to be taller than they are wide, so it makes it a bit easier to find places to hang a badge if it is widest top to bottom. The other way (landscape, or long way side to side) has its uses, but I think portrait is a good place to begin.

A Simple ID Card, Take 2

This is the same layout, only using a more pleasing font for the words and a bit of color. This could be the corporate color scheme, or it could be a security feature allowing access to certain areas based on the color stripe. Note that the color is only in a simple box, and not the entire background. ID card printers can have a hard time printing a card with a solid color background, especially one with saturated (intense) blues or reds. Keeping large areas of color off the card and using smaller blocks of color can help solve this problem. Also note the photo is still black and white. I happen to think that a simple card all in black and white is very classy. We have a customer who has a design all in shades of black and white, and I happen to think it is one of the best looking cards we print.

These cards designs took me about ten minutes to design, in total, using one of the programs we have available for sale ( Print Studio ). While learning any program is slow at first, some of the software is easier to use than others. Any program will allow you to quickly design a card like either of the two shown here.

For more design ideas, go to part 2.