This is a guest post by Jim Sinai, Eventbrite’s Director of Business Development.

As Director of BD here at Eventbrite, I go to a fair amount of business events. One thing I have noticed lately is the wide variety of badges I am given. Some badges are hip, some are stale. Some hang from my neck, while others pin onto my jacket. But for the most part, most of the badges I get are useless. Here’s why:

No one can read these badges!

In a crowded event floor or exhibit hall, its hard to read small fonts with burying your face in their chest or staring hard from 2 feet away. This is awkward for a variety of reasons. Most badges have nametags that include my first name, last name, and company. These pieces of information are usually the same font sizes.

In reality, however, all I care about is your first name and your company. If I want to follow up, I’ll ask for your card. So here is what I propose for making success name badges:

1) Make the first name HUGE

LARGE FIRST NAME

Smaller last Name
LARGE COMPANY NAME

2) Don’t waste white space: too many badges are just black ink on white labels. While that’s cheap and efficient, they don’t pop out as much.

3) Use lanyards instead of clips or pins. They’re less of a clothing hassle, and you can even sell sponsorship on them.

4) Invest in a bit of graphic design.

Here are two examples from recent conferences:

One thing that’s great about Eventbrite is that we offer an easy tool for creating badges. Just click on the title of your event, then select ‘Print Name Badges’ from the left-side feature list. You’ll be able to customize the badge layout:

It’s a snap to create a badge that pops:

Thanks in advance for making networking easier!

[Jim Sinai does not really work for Company. He works for Eventbrite.]