Name Tag Experience

Name Tag, Inc. recently donated 150 custom lanyards to Granite Preschool Services. Check out what they sent us in the mail!

We’re always seeking out opportunities to not only help local organizations, but organizations across the country as well. By giving back to communities, we’re able to help support those who need it the most.

If you’re interested in learning more about our donation program, just click here!

Planning an event or conference can be a daunting task, especially if you’re looking to host dozens of speakers and sponsors, on top of hundreds attendees. Whether your conference is big or small, the overall attendee experience needs to be good enough for them to want to come back next time.

After you’ve planned the theme of your conference, booked your speakers, found the perfect venue, and started marketing the conference on every medium you can, there are still a few more things you can do to make sure your conference will be successful:

1. Spend the time planning name tags. For conferences and events, name tags are rarely “one size fits all.” Differentiate between attendees, sponsors, VIP and speakers. You can do this with different colored adhesive name tags or paper inserts for badge holders on lanyards. By making groups of people distinguishable from others, people will feel like they’re part of a group. On top of that, they’ll more easily recognize their relationship with your event, and their relationship with other people attending the event, making it easier to network.
2. Provide a variety of refreshments. Keep in mind that not every guest will have the same dietary needs, and if you put extra consideration into your refreshments, your attendees will notice. Try to plan vegetarian, gluten-free lactose intolerant snacks and refreshments, because chances are you’ll have at least a handful of people who fall into those categories, and they will appreciate your thoughtfulness.
3. Make sure your venue is connected. Plug outlets and cell reception are absolute must-haves for conferences. We live in a digital age, and your attendees will likely be connected to the internet or on their phones for most of the event, so make sure they have somewhere to recharge. (Make sure they know where they can recharge, too.)
4. Hand out grab bags. This is a great way to bring in sponsors and to give something back to your attendees. Stuff those bags full of pens, notepads, brochures, venue maps, custom lanyards, and coupons for local restaurants. You can bring in sponsors by asking them to supply a grab bag goodie, and it gives them the opportunity to put their name on something every guest will see.
5. Allot some safe relaxation space. Designate an area in your venue for attendees to just sit and relax without having to network or be bombarded by anyone. Let your attendees balance work, networking and sanity on a comfy couch and a bottle of water. It doesn’t have to be much space, but let your attendees know it’s there.

Most of the products that we offer require Vector Artwork to be able to include your logo or custom graphic. But a lot of people have never heard the term and don’t know what it means. A common misconception is that JPEG or PDF files can be Vector files, but we’ll break it down so you can tell the difference.

JPEG vs. Vector

JPEG:

• Most cameras save photos as JPEGs, but if you open a JPEG image and zoom in, you will see tiny squares of color called “pixels.”
• If you make the image bigger, the pixels get bigger too, until they are clearly visible to the naked eye. Images where the pixels are individually visible are referred to as “pixelated.”
• Basic shapes and colors use these pixels, placed in a grid, in thousands of different colors. The result when you zoom out is the complete image that you see.
• To make curves in your image, pixels on a grid create a jagged look.

Vector:

• There is no grid of colored squares like in JPEGs. Instead, the outline of shapes making up the image are mathematically plotted by the computer program. Then the program has been told what color (or colors) to fill that outline with.
• The image is very smooth and high-quality.
• To make curves in your image, vector artwork isn’t restricted to a grid, so the curves are genuine and smooth.

Why Do We Require Vector Art?

The key here is the type of process being used to create the image. Laser Engraving, Hot Stamping, and Ribbon Imprinting share a single fact – the process is 100% there, or not there at all.

With Laser Engraving, for example, the laser burns the plastic or metal, removing the top layer in that spot to reveal a different colored layer beneath. The laser has either burned, or it hasn’t – there’s no “half-burned” areas.

Now remember how those JPEGs are made up of squares of color? A curve on a black shape might appear smoother to our eyes by having some of the pixels towards the edges be shades of gray rather than full black. But the laser can’t do that. So those gray squares will be burnt just the same as the black, red, blue, and all the other squares. And you end up with something that probably doesn’t look much like your logo.

But vector art – well, it can tell the laser exactly where the edges of your shape are so that the laser knows just how to get your image onto your product, filling in the outlines as it goes.

The same is true for Hot-Stamping and Ribbon Imprinting, which both use metal dies – either the color foil is stamped on in a spot, or it’s not.

How Do You Create Vector Art?

• Two of the most popular programs are Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw. Vector art files will most commonly end in either “.eps” or “.ai” although there are some exceptions.
• We do have a few options for those customers who do not have vector artwork files of their graphics. And we also can take most images and create vector artwork for them, for a small fee. (And you get to keep the file for future use!)

About the Author:

Melanie Bunch has been a graphic artist for over 13 years and is on the Design Team at Name Tag, Inc.. In her spare time she enjoys scrap-booking, Taekwondo, and arts and crafts. Be sure to watch for more of her articles from a designer’s perspective!