Things I'm Loving: Plastic Cards

What can you possibly do with a plastic card? SO. MANY. THINGS. I recently did a project creating membership cards and they turned out so great I've been looking for ways I could use them for other projects. The vendor we used was 4colorprint.com and I loved their site because you can check and uncheck options to see how it effects the price. They have a lot of extras, for example: adding a signature panel, lanyard punch, gold foil, spot UV, barcoding and more which increases their versatility. They also offer mini cards which I love. Let's take a look at all the different ways they can be used.

Let's start with the card I designed, a membership card. These cards are awesome because they serve as a constant reminder of a group you're a part of and are a great physical 'thing' to give out if the membership or service isn't something tangible. These featured gold foil and a signature panel for putting in your personal info.

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This card was used as a business card but they incorporated a little ruler on the back which I think is smart and a fun idea that could work for a service oriented business.

These little mini cards are so fun, the first one to show off your VIP status and the second one as a little business card. For the second card I would recommend using the back for something useful, a discount code, a road side assistance line, something that would make this card more helpful on a day to day basis.

These cards were used as a ticket. They used variable data in the white box to act as a unique identifier. Such a fun use of a card!

Am I the type of business that can have gift cards? Of course you are! Gift cards are easy to produce. You can have a code printed in variable data on the back, enter it into your e-commerce site once purchased with the amount, buy custom printed sleeves (also available on the same site) and boom gift cards! It also opens you up to a whole new gifting market especially if you have the type of product that feels like a splurge.

A coupon on a plastic card feels more elevated than a paper coupon. Using a paper coupon at a restaurant makes you feels a certain way (ie. super cheap), but using a plastic card changes all that since it feels more like a gift card. It's also more likely the user won't throw it away since it easily slips into a wallet.

Look at these completely legit credentials. Why are they legit? Because they're printed on plastic! You have no other choice but to think they're real. Often times, credentials require a name, date or another element that changes from credential to credential. Print the information and graphics that are common to all and then leave a space to fill in the other info with a sharpie. You can either have a lanyard hole punched or you can slip the plastic card into a card carrier from amazon. 

This is a plastic card with a mini card or cards attached. This is fun for a membership card where the user needs to have quick access to it, maybe the large plastic card is directions and the tear off card is the membership card or maybe you get a large and mini card. These cards also work great as a fundraiser and are a lot more user friendly than the postcard type fundraisers that are often sold.