When creating identification cards for your organization, there are four factors that you should consider before beginning your design.  There are many uses of ID cards throughout the world and being in the industry and developed cards for thousands of customers, we have seen and experienced several of the benefits and downfalls of their use.  Regardless of your reason for creating a photo ID card these factors should at least be reviewed.

Landscape VS Portrait

The first thing to consider when it comes to the orientation of your card is what will be its primary method of being used.  If the card is going to be stuck in a wallet only displayed for specific events or functions, then doing a landscape card allows more information be placed on the card.  When using a landscape format, you have more room for lengthy titles or the personal information of the carrier.

If your staff will be wearing their identification on their jacket, lapel or worn with a lanyard, then it’s best to go with a portrait setup.  When the card is setup portrait, it doesn’t seem to get in the way as often as compared to a landscape card.  Although when you are planning on your staff wearing their badges, then it should be a large enough font to be easily read by another person without having to study the card.  Another item to consider when creating a card that will be worn is what information should be on their credentials.

Individual's Personal Information

When it comes to the information you want your staff to have on their photo id cards, it should be limited to the information you want the readers to have access to.  If your purpose is for the person to wear, then it’s best to keep the information limited to the individuals name and title.  If the card will be carried in a purse or wallet, then you can put more information on the card since the card will only be displayed when the person chooses to show the ID card.  Items such as height, sex, and weight can help better describe the carrier.

If you are working in an industry that has mandated or suggested that your staff have company identification, then you should be sure to check their guidelines.  An example of this is for police identification cards.  Legislation has dictated what is required for law enforcement officers in several states.  Another example is for individuals doing contract work on another’s premises.  Commonly these organizations have some suggested guidelines that should be followed.  Be sure to check any requirements set or suggested by these organizations.

In a nutshell, we suggest that you limit the amount of personal information for your identification cards.  The caveat is for people that need information in cases of emergencies such as police officers, fireman or any dangerous profession or industry.  In these scenarios, we even recommend putting any specific medical information that would be beneficial in the event of a medical emergency.  Alternatively, most people would not care to show the world their medical conditions at a trade show.

Back of the Card

The back of the card is commonly not used and this is valuable real estate that you can make good use.  Some organizations use the back of the card for additional personal information especially if the card is formatted in a landscape orientation.  Some of the best things that we have seen on the back of a card are something that you want your organization to live by such as a company’s mission statement or company’s statement of purpose.  Another item that you should consider is a mailing address that the card should be sent to if the card was lost and then found by someone.  It’s common that the post office will forward the identification card if it’s simply dropped into a mailbox.

Other things we have seen this real estate used for are things such as important phone numbers, barcodes for job tracking or time clock tracking.

Other Uses

Before you begin to design your card it’s best to consider what other uses you might be able to make of your companies new identification cards.  There are time clock applications that can use the cards by adding a simple barcode.  There are more sophisticated solutions that have to do with access control, but this commonly adds a much larger investment for the hardware to read the cards and unlock access to secure areas.

In summary, it’s most important to start with the primary reason you need identifications cards for your organization.  Their benefits come in many ways ranging from corporate reorganization and branding, to having critical medical information available for individuals in hazardous industries.

Author of Personal Discipline: Tools for Consistent Success and founder of http://www.fullidentity.com and Virtual Tournament Director, Allen Richardson has been a leader in developing solutions for registration and ID cards for organizations for over seven years.  Additionally, he as served Southwest Airlines and Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway as a consultant for automation and internal development.