When I was hired by a new medical start-up, one of the first things I was tasked with was to design and get printed 250 customized lanyards for the invited guests to a medical press release. I had to do some research and learn from scratch because I had no idea about the various printing processes of lanyards. I contacted some friends from companies that regularly organized seminars and conferences in Dublin and they ordered lanyards for the same. So, here’s what I found out; when it comes to lanyards, the corporate world prefers sublimation lanyards and with good reason too. With sublimation lanyards, you start off with a blank material and then the design is imprinted onto the material – and that is what you will receive in the completed product. Same colour combination, same designs, same logos etc. There are no restrictions placed on your design team. You can use gradients, shadow effects, fine details — all are possible with sublimated lanyards. The corporate world is a stickler for uniformity. They simply must have the same colours and monograms everywhere; be it their official stationery or lanyards. Other types of lanyards are much more limited in terms of colours and styles, so sublimation was the only method. Next, I found out that due to materials used, not all lanyards are the same. The type and quality of material determines the quality of the print and of the product itself. Most websites and forums that I looked at mentioned sublimated lanyards as the most popular product. When I picked up the phone and spoke with the sales representative of a lanyard supplier, I was asked whether I wished to order screen-printed lanyards or dye-sublimated lanyards. Honestly, I had no idea what screen-printed lanyards were. Were they better than dye sublimation lanyards? In any case, since I had been told by my friends that sublimation lanyards were the way to go, I made my choice clear. Some more research later, I found out that the difference between the two was the number of colours need in the design for your lanyard as well as the amount of detail and clarity required. The sales team at Ireland Lanyards asked me to send over the intended design we had and once they saw it, they recommended sublimation straight away. After my extensive research I can conclude that sublimation lanyards are superior because they use a four-colour digital printing process, that breaks down each colour into cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). This meant that there were absolutely no restrictions on the design. What you design is what you shall receive. You could even add a photo to the design. Screen printing on the other hand, is useful for very basic or monochromatic designs. which in turn explains why sublimation lanyards in the preferred standard in the corporate world. More flexibility to ensure brand consistency across all areas. Essentially, if you want your lanyard to stand out at exhibitions or events with the use of multiple images and/or colours, dye sublimation is the way to go. Also, a fact that is not widely known, but most suppliers include print on both sides for free when going for sublimation printing—a nice bonus! I also found out that the best place to buy your lanyards is at https://www.irelandlanyards.com where the team have fast delivery across Ireland and also very competitive prices.
