There are several advantages and disadvantages to printed name tags. We proceed to explore some of those. This information is bound to be of great relevance to a person who happens to be weighing his or her options, in terms of names tags for use in a given setting where that mode of personal identification is useful. If, for instance, you are involved in organizing a seminar or symposium where many people will be in attendance, and where personal identification is likely to be necessary, you could very easily find yourself trying to work out whether to go with the printed tags (or with the other alternatives to such printed name tags). In that sort of situation, an exploration of the upside and downside to the said printed name tags would, naturally, be very welcome.
Without further ado, then, we can proceed into the exploration of the upside and downside to printed name tags.
The upside to printed name tags:
1. The cost factor: compared to, among others, embossed or engraved tags, there is no denying that printed name tags are very cost-effective. That is especially the case when you are trying to get them in huge numbers – where, through techniques such as screen-printing, the cost per unit tag can be pushed down considerably. They may not be the most elegant tags (when compared, for instance, to metal-engraved tags), but we do have cases where elegance is not a particularly important consideration. There are cases where the tags are needed primarily for their identification functionality, and where their elegance is a very secondary consideration. Notice that out of the numerous type of tags which can be used, it is only the printed name tags which can be ‘mass produced’ through techniques such as the previously alluded to screen printing.
2. The permanence consideration: depending on the medium where the printing gets done, printed name tags can be considerably permanent. We are looking, for instance, at a situation where the printing is done on pockets of T-Shirts or Polo-Shirts to be worn in various events: where you can be sure that once the name is printed, it is there for posterity. If the attendees are to come for another similar event, they can simply wear the name-tagged clothing items (thus doing away with the need for the printing of new tags).
The downside to printed name tags
1. The versatility issue: we have to take note of the fact that there are many settings where printed name tags can’t be used. Where elegance is of particular importance to the attendees in a given event – for instance, an event meant for attendance by executives – you may find yourself unable to deploy paper-printed name tags, which seem to be lacking in elegance.
2. The convenience issue: as is the case with all other types of tags, printed name tags typically have to be printed well in advance ahead of the events where they are to be used. This can be inconvenient, especially where organizers don’t get the names of confirmed attendees well in advance. It doesn’t help matters that majority of these tags, especially when printed on mediums such as pieces of paper, have to be pinned onto clothing using safety pins. Yet there are so many people who are likely to express reservations about the idea of pinning such printed name tags on their beloved suits – given the fact that this procedure involves piercing the ‘precious’ fabric.