5 Steps to Making the Perfect Custom Lanyard

The lanyard is a great personal branding tool for your company. Whether you use them during promotional periods or you distribute them at trade exhibitions, there’s no denying that the lanyard is a powerful friend to have.

They only work when customised, however. You need these items to reflect your company and the messages you are trying to communicate. Thankfully, creating a custom lanyard is easy. Let’s take a look at how you should go about making the perfect custom lanyard.

The Design Process

The design process is important because you can make it as simple or as complex as you feel necessary. Most companies will use an online tool provided by their lanyard provider. This is often a matter of ticking a few options and selecting a colour. It is ideal for companies that do not have much technical experience and/or need their lanyards fast.

You may decide to create a lanyard template using a programme like Adobe Photoshop. Most businesses will accept these templates and work from those, although this may incur an additional fee.

Employing a professional designer can cost a lot of money if you don’t already have one in-house. It can easily cost you hundreds of pounds to receive a number of lanyard mock-ups.

Whatever way you choose you will have to take into account the below factors.

1. The Material

Embroidered and printed lanyards are slightly different. The differences are few, but they are critical in the design process. Here are the primary differences between embroidered and printed lanyards:

• Printed lanyards have a wider number of colours and the ability to add more intricate detail.
• Embroidered lanyards have a particular texture that gives off an impression of higher quality.
• The per unit cost can differ significantly, with embroidered lanyards being more expensive.

You should make this decision first because it will impact the final design.

2. The Design

The design is the second decision you have to make in the creation process. The design is partly influenced by your choice of material.

For lanyards, something simple works best. These are already small items, so large amounts of detail will not show as intended, or it will be so small that someone looking at it is unlikely to notice.

The design should be something easily recognisable and unique to your company. Whenever someone sees a lanyard hanging from one of your staff members, it should evoke an image of your company.

We recommend having a design that fits in with the rest of your company. Using a company logo is the easiest option available, but for promotional lanyards you may want to choose something else.

3. Colour Scheme

You can have as many different colours as you like as part of your lanyard. But too many and you risk your lanyard looking odd. Too many colours can make them blend into each other. You want something that pops out from a distance, without obscuring the message the lanyard is supposed to convey.

Contrary to popular belief, light and dark colours work equally well. Try to have some contrast between the logo/text on the lanyard and the primary backing colour. Colour schemes like black and yellow or white and royal blue work well.

Create uniformity with the rest of your company. It works and many popular brands use it. These names never change their colours for any reason, and, as a result,they remain recognisable brands.

4. Testing Process

At this point, you have all the features of a promotional lanyard in place. Do not hit the ‘Order’ button yet. This is where many companies go wrong as they don’t test out their creations. You should gather together a number of design variations, using the above steps, and test them out.

Present the designs to a focus group consisting of your most loyal customers and see what they think of the different designs. Ultimately, it is what the general public thinks that matters the most.

5. Numbers

Think about the numbers you need to be printed. This will be a major influencer of price in the long-term. You might even decide to make a bulk order.

The Step-by-Step Process

Some people might think this step-by-step process is a tad too simple. The reality is that making the perfect custom lanyard is easy. You already know your company best. Most lanyards are based on already existing promotional items. By purchasing lanyards,you are increasing your range.

We believe lanyards are the perfect promotional tool for any company that wants to go that much further. Start designing your lanyard today to take full advantage of their marketing strength.

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