Membership Card Design Ideas
A good membership card design does one job well. Try a lake or ground photo with a name panel, a bold colour for each level, a member number big enough to read at the door, a season badge, a club crest, or satin black with gold foil. Here are 10 ideas, each drawn to scale.
Once you’ve found yours, our membership card design guide teaches the method, and our design service can build it for you.
The short versionChoose by what the card has to do, then the look. Nine of these ideas are standard full colour cards from £75.00 +vat for 25 from one design, with names, numbers and other extras priced on your quote. Satin black is hot foil, quoted from your design.
10 membership card design ideas
All 10 fit our 86 x 54mm cards and are drawn to scale for made-up clubs. All but idea 8, a hot foil card, are standard full colour PVC, 760 microns thick and printed on both sides at no extra cost, with the print sealed between clear PVC sheets that are bonded, so it can’t scratch or wear off.
1. A photo with a name panel
Why it works: a photo of your lake, ground or clubhouse makes the card feel like yours, and a plain panel keeps the wording easy to read. Watch for: run the photo 3mm past the edge and supply it at 600 dpi. It’s the same photo on every card, because we can’t print a different photo on each one.2. The member number as the hero
Why it works: a door card needs to be readable at arm’s length in bad light, and a number this big gives it the best chance. Watch for: printed numbers are normally Arial or Times New Roman, so design around one of those. Format your Excel column as Text, or leading zeros are lost.3. A bold colour for each level
Why it works: staff see full, junior or family at a glance, and every card shares one layout. Variants cost nothing extra when ordered as one job. Watch for: pick colours that are easy to tell apart, so the colour code still works if a shade varies from one order to the next.4. A clean logo front, with everything on the back
Why it works: the front looks like a brand rather than a form, and the back has room for the name, a signature strip and a QR code. Watch for: put a signature strip on white, at least 4mm from the edge. Nothing can be printed on the strip itself, so words like “Signature” go beside it.5. A year badge
Why it works: last season’s card is obvious from a distance, and many members enjoy collecting them. Watch for: a printed year means new cards every season. For one card that lasts for years, leave the date off or use a write-on panel.6. A heritage crest for an old club
Why it works: a card with a proper crest feels more official than text alone, and it carries the club’s history. Watch for: a crest scanned from old stationery may print soft. Send a vector file if you have one, or at least 600 dpi at the finished size.7. Portrait, for a lanyard
Why it works: with a slot in the short edge the card hangs straight and reads the right way up, so it stays visible through a session or a regatta. We supply lanyards too. Watch for: lines of text are shorter, so a long email address may have to wrap. Set the artwork up 60mm wide by 92mm tall. Slots aren’t available on RFID cards. Our portrait or landscape guide goes further.8. Satin black with gold foil
Why it works: the plastic is black all the way through, edges included, and gold foil stands out strongly on it. It suits a VIP level or a private members’ club. Watch for: hot foil prints flat colour only, so no photos or gradients, and nothing within 3mm of the two long edges. Keep text and logos bold and simple, because small type can fill in. Our guide to designing a black plastic card has the limits. If you need a name or number on each card, ask us.9. A barcode on a white box, on a dark card
Why it works: the card keeps its dark look, and the white box helps the scanner read the black bars. The number underneath can be typed in if it can’t. See membership cards with barcodes for sizes and types. Watch for: ask your till or software supplier which barcode type it reads, and add a postal proof to test real cards on it. Premium Matt (£20 +vat per order) has no glare and hides surface scratches on very dark cards.10. A space for a photoseal
Why it works: a passport-sized photo lets someone at a door check who holds the card, without access control software. Watch for: leave room for the photo in your design. The clear seal covers one side of the card. Photoseals are easy to attach, or we can attach them for you.The clubs are made up and the colours are illustrations. The barcode and QR code are patterns that won’t scan.
Which membership card design should I choose?
Start with what the card has to do, then choose the look.
| The card has to | Look at |
|---|---|
| Be checked at a door | 2. Big number or 5. Year badge |
| Be scanned | 9. Barcode on a white box |
| Show who holds it | 10. Photoseal |
| Hang from a lanyard | 7. Portrait |
| Show different rights | 3. Colour by level |
| Last for several years | 4. Clean logo front with no date, or a write-on panel |
| Feel worth keeping | 1. Photo, 6. Crest or 8. Satin black |
You can combine ideas, such as a photo front with a barcode on the back. Our guides to what to put on a membership card and font sizes go further.
Which extras change how a membership card looks?
These five extras work on standard full colour membership cards, and each has a limit worth knowing before you design around it.
| Extra | The idea | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| QR code | A code that opens each member’s online record, where their photo can sit too. | At least 15mm square. A different code on each card comes from your Excel file. Phones vary, so print your proof at actual size to test it, and add a postal proof if it has to scan on members’ phones. |
| Write-on panel | The secretary writes in a renewal date or a level, so one batch lasts for years. | Any size, and it takes an ordinary pen. A typical strip is 75 x 8mm. It must stop at least 4mm from the edge. |
| Embossed name and number | Raised characters, just like a credit card. | On one side, in the bottom half. 5mm or 3mm tall, up to 22 or 27 characters on a line, in black, silver or gold. It distorts the print on the back. Not available on key tags or combo cards. |
| Gold foil on one word | “VIP” in gold foil on a full colour card, so the top level reads across a room. | Simple line art only: no gradients or photographs, and fine detail fills in. |
| Metallic base card | The whole card is gold or silver, printed over in full colour. Silver makes a good platinum level. | White text and images aren’t possible. The metallic base can vary in shade from card to card and from batch to batch. It’s a different product from our hot foil metallic cards. |
Our optional extras page has the full details of each, and extras are priced on your quote.
Membership card examples: what do real cards look like?
Real membership card examples look like the drawings above, only with real clubs’ photos and badges. These five are from our own gallery, plus a satin black card to show the foil. See more on our membership card examples and club membership cards pages, and look beyond your own sport: a layout from a bowls club may suit a sailing club.
How do I turn an idea into artwork?
Pick one of three routes: use our template, design it yourself in Canva or with AI, or have us design it for £29 +vat.
What happens next
- Your files. In design software, use CMYK, 600 dpi at the finished size (at least 2173 x 1417 pixels for a full-bleed photo) and fonts converted to outlines. Our artwork check covers bleed, resolution, colour mode and set-up, and a technical fix is £10 +vat.
- Names and numbers. Personalisation is an optional extra, priced in your quote with the cards. Send them in an Excel file. Check your spreadsheet before you send it, because our artwork check is technical and doesn’t cover names or spelling. See personalised plastic cards.
- Your proof. We email a free photorealistic proof, which shows where the names and numbers sit, so you can check the layout and wording. The colours on the proof are a guide only, because every screen shows colour differently. If a colour has to be right, or a barcode or QR code has to work with your reader or on phones, add a postal proof to your order: £65 +vat, around 5 working days, full colour cards only.
- Satin black. The colours on the proof are a guide only, and the same foil can look different on a frosted, white, satin black or metallic card. If in doubt, email sales@cpcards.co.uk to ask about a sample colour being posted to you for approval.
- Timing. Standard production is 7 working days from proof approval and payment. Express takes 3 to 4 working days: ask us for cost and availability.
Standard full colour membership cards start at £75.00 +vat for 25, £85.00 +vat for 100 and £175.00 +vat for 500, from one design and your print-ready artwork, before names, numbers and other extras. Satin black cards are quoted from your design.
Questions & Answers
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What makes a good club membership card design?
One clear job, and no more than four or five pieces of information on the front. The club’s name and badge should stand out, and the name, number and year should be easy to read at a glance. Keep text at 6pt or larger, use no more than two fonts and move everything else to the back.
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Can a membership card have a photo on it?
Yes, in two ways. A photo of your ground, lake or clubhouse can fill the design, printed the same on every card. We can’t print a different photo of each member, so a photoseal fixes a passport-sized photo to the card instead, and you can attach them yourself or ask us to.
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Should a membership card be portrait or landscape?
Landscape if it lives in a wallet or is swiped, because wallets hold cards that way and swipe readers expect it. Portrait if it hangs from a lanyard or carries a photo above the name. It’s the same card at the same price either way.
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Is there a membership card template?
Yes. Our free membership card template comes as a Photoshop file and a PDF, with sample wording to copy. In Canva, start from a custom size of 86 x 54mm, because its business card template is a paper card size.
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Can you design a membership card for me?
Yes. Our design service is £29 +vat, with no limit on reasonable amends. Send your logo and wording, and tell us which idea or example you like. We email a free proof so you can check the layout and wording.
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Where can I get membership cards designed and printed in the UK?
CP Cards supplies plastic membership cards printed in England, from £75.00 +vat for the minimum order of 25 from one design, with names, numbers and other extras priced on your quote. Delivery is free within Great Britain, and our delivery prices list the charges for Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands. Every full colour order gets a free email proof so you can check the layout and wording; the colours on the proof are a guide only, because every screen shows colour differently. For a quote, email sales@cpcards.co.uk or use our quote form: we often reply within minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Seen the idea you like?
Tell us its number, how many cards you need and whether each one needs a name or number. Send your logo and wording, or your finished artwork, and we’ll quote by email, often within minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Your free photorealistic proof shows both sides of the card, so you can check the layout and wording before anything is printed.