As seen in previous articles, company badges are used to identify people, control access and promote your company. In order for your badges to fulfil these 3 purposes, it is essential to respect some pre-requisites. Here are a few tips on how to make good looking and effective access badges.

1. Choose the material for your badges

First of all, it is essential to choose badges that are resistant over time. For this, you should choose PVC, which is more resistant than paper or cardboard. This type of badge, with a thickness of 750 microns, is more professional and upmarket. In addition, it is very easy to print data on PVC with a high quality finish. 

2. Personalise your badges

Your company badges are essential for internal security but also to enhance your brand image. It is therefore important that they reflect your company’s image and values. For this, your badges must respect your graphic charter: same typography, same colours and presence of the logo. Of course, the badge must mention the identity of the person with his photo, name, first name, position, identification number, authorization level, validity date, barcode...etc.

At SBE direct, we use the best printing technique (offset, silk-screen or digital) to ensure that your data is forgery-proof depending on the number of colours chosen and the quantities to be printed. Do not hesitate to contact us for any customisation request.

You can also print and personalise your badges directly on your premises using a thermal transfer printer, A4 sheets of badges and design software. This is a quicker and cheaper way to produce small quantities of your own badges for your employees or visitors.

3. Protect your badges

To ensure a long life for your company badges, it is essential to protect them with a badge holder or badge protector. This means that your badges will

 withstand frequent handling as well as external aggression (water, dust, solvents, etc.). In addition, the risk of loss will be greatly reduced because your badges can be worn by your employees thanks to fasteners, clips or a neck strap. Thus, the identification of people within your company will be facilitated.

4. Complete the use of your badges

If you opt for magnetic stripe, barcode or RFID badges, you can automate the reading at the entrance and exit of your company with a badge reader. There are all types of readers that can read these types of badges. The data contained in the badge will be read automatically and access control will be carried out quickly.

5. Make your badge tamper-proof 

Often in companies with more than 500 employees, company badges are the entrance pass for employees. Without a badge, the employee cannot enter the premises and security cannot know the entire payroll. Corporate badge fraud exists and sometimes the badge technology is not complex enough to create a barrier to replication.   

To effectively combat forgery, our customers regularly request customised holograms. This product requires a very high level of technology in order to be obtained identically. Holographic stickers cannot be peeled off one substrate and reapplied to another due to its VOID technology, leaving a trace on the substrate. A badge with a hologram is therefore impossible to reproduce.