What's a Name Badge For?

We produce name badges for many of our conferences and we have done for years.

We've done clip on badges, pin on badges, credit card style, wallets on lanyards in a variety of sizes. business card ones, badges with printed agendas, hand written badges, accreditation and access control, photo badges and stickers.

We include job titles, companies, departments or regions, hotel references, table number, coach letter, breakout groups or colour groups, QR codes, barcodes and sponsors logos.

What are badges for? What is their first and most important job?

To show a name so that other people know who you are.

Last week I saw a great example of a great badge design. Just a really big name. Really big so that you didn't have to stare awkwardly to try to read it, big enough that it could be read from a distance (useful if you've forgotten the name of that person you met last year). And as an extra spin, it included a really big Twitter address, so of you knew that person from following them on Twitter, you would recognise the Twitter name straight away.

It reminded me not to lose sight of the simple things and the difference they make. Badges need big names.