Staff lanyards worn throughout the working day need to work as part of someone's everyday workwear, not simply carry a company logo. The material against the neck, what is attached to the lanyard and how the finished design sits when worn are all worth considering alongside the branding.
For teams wearing lanyards for several hours at a time, it makes sense to start with the wearer and build the specification from there. That means thinking about the complete lanyard in use, rather than judging it only from the artwork on screen.
Start with what staff will actually be wearing
The material is one of the few parts of a lanyard that the wearer experiences continuously. It sits around the neck while someone works at a desk, moves around a workplace, attends meetings or deals with customers, so the feel of the finished lanyard deserves consideration from the beginning.
We Print Lanyards makes custom printed lanyards from soft satin rPET as standard. Using recycled PET therefore does not mean moving away from the soft satin finish of the lanyard. For organisations looking more widely at their purchasing choices, our eco friendly products include further options across our identification range.
This makes material part of the starting specification rather than something that needs to be added later as a separate sustainable option.
Good staff lanyards are about the complete setup
A staff lanyard is rarely worn on its own. Once an ID card, holder or another item is attached, the finished setup can feel quite different from the printed strap by itself.
For all-day wear, a useful approach is to keep the setup focused on what each person genuinely needs. Someone displaying a single staff ID has a different requirement from a colleague who needs to use an access card regularly or carry additional credentials. Adding unnecessary items also adds weight and movement to the lanyard.
If identification is the main purpose, it can be useful to consider company ID cards and the lanyard together. Holders and other lanyard accessories can then be selected around how the card will actually be used rather than treated as an afterthought.
Keep branded lanyards clear when they are being worn
Once the practical setup is established, attention can turn to how the lanyard represents the organisation. Branded lanyards provide a relatively narrow area for artwork, so clarity is usually more useful than trying to fit every part of a wider brand identity onto the strap.
A recognisable company name, logo or repeated brand element can give the design enough identity without making it unnecessarily busy. Colour can do some of the work too, particularly where an organisation already has a well-established palette.
We Print Lanyards uses CMYK dye sublimation to print onto the soft satin rPET material. When reviewing artwork, look beyond the flat design preview and consider how the repeated design will appear once the lanyard is hanging naturally around someone's neck.
For workplace orders, our business and corporate lanyards page brings together more information for organisations using lanyards and identification across their teams.
Think about the lanyard across a normal working day
A useful way to judge the specification is to picture the lanyard in the situations where it will actually be worn. A member of staff might move between a desk, meeting room and reception area during the same day. The lanyard may sit over a shirt, uniform, jumper or jacket depending on the workplace and time of year.
This shifts the decision away from simply asking whether the design looks good. Instead, consider whether the finished setup makes sense for the role, whether the branding remains clear when worn and whether everything attached to the lanyard is genuinely needed.
Different workplaces will naturally arrive at different answers. A lanyard intended primarily to display identification does not necessarily need the same setup as one used with an access card throughout the day. The organisation's own requirements should determine the final configuration.
Bring comfort, identification and branding together
Choosing staff lanyards for regular use does not need to become a choice between practical everyday wear and recognisable branding. Starting with soft satin rPET gives the lanyard its material foundation. From there, the ID setup and artwork can be considered around the people who will actually wear it.
We Print Lanyards manufactures custom printed lanyards at our UK factory in Long Eaton, Nottingham. If you need a personalised design rather than a stock option from our lanyard shop, you can create the artwork and specification around your organisation's requirements.
Ready to create branded staff lanyards for your team? Design your lanyard.