May 2021

With the re-introduction of fans hopefully back into stadiums for the 2021-22 season, it’s important to get prepared for the new season. There’s lots to sort for many football clubs across all levels in the summer. Whether that’s getting the next big transfer sorted or laying new turf down on the pitch. But one of the biggest priorities will be getting ready to welcome fans back as we all have learnt this season, football without fans is nothing.

At Swype, our expertise of supporting dozens of clubs across the football pyramid with our plastic card products has placed us as one of the go to card providers for the industry. From global Premier League juggernauts to small non-league clubs, we deal with them all.

Our product range means we have a variety of options to suit your club including choices of cards for season tickets, staff passes and club shop cards.

We’ve put together a hat trick of card products to help your club get set for next season.

1) ID Cards

ID cards are the most popular plastic card choice for many football clubs. Used commonly for season tickets and also for executive box passes, plastic ID cards are the go to option. We offer a range of identification cards whether it’s photo ID, RFID or even NFC compatible cards. More clubs are now going for the advanced option of placing a chip inside the card depending on their requirements. This allows a seamless entry into stadiums and grounds allowing a greater fan experience whilst ensuring safety regulations are met by restricting access to unauthorised personnel.

We also have a state of the art manufacturing facility able to digitally print any bespoke design you would like on your season ticket cards. You can match your cards with your club colours or even add your badge to it. Whatever you want the cards to look like, we can print and produce them.

Plus, it’s not just your supporters who can benefit from our ID card options, it’s also your whole club. Alongside season tickets, we can also offer staff ID passes that can be personalised to the exact details you require.

Check out our full range of ID cards here.

2) Gift Cards

The benefits of a gift card for football clubs are endless. These are a great way to gain extra revenue whilst enabling fan engagement across all levels of your club. Commonly used as part of seasonal campaigns and promotions to push new merchandise items such as replica kits, more and more clubs are opting for bespoke gift cards which they can sell online or in stores. With our experience in the sports industry, the choice of personalised gift cards is rising every year even more so during COVID.

Many football clubs are using gift cards to allow supporters to buy for themselves or use as a present for a family member or friend to then purchase club merchandise in the future. It’s a really creative way to grow your fan base, drive revenue and boost the image of your club.

You can find out more about them here.

3) Membership Cards

Majority of clubs now likely have some sort of fan club or membership scheme. We can produce membership cards that allow your supporters to have a tangible product showing their club loyalty whilst reaping the benefits of it through exclusive member promotions.

Plus, with all of our plastic card products, we believe they should work for both the user which in your case is the fan as well as your club. It’s not just supporters who can enjoy the benefits of a membership card, you’re also able to track their behaviour to better upsell new products that suit them. Not forgetting, it allows you to create stronger customer retention and gain further insight into fans personas.

Learn more about what membership cards can do for you here.

With all of our card choices, the designs can be as creative and as bespoke as you like. These are just some of the choices we think with our knowledge and expertise that could benefit your club. However, we also have a number of other plastic card products that may fit your club strategy. This includes eco-friendly options if you’re looking to become more green or our new anti-microbial card which can help your club adjust to the post COVID climate.

Looking to assist your cards with some print?

We also have a full printing service able to produce branded brochures, supporting display carriers or even help with any direct mail fulfilment for your club.

Why Swype?

For nearly three decades, we’ve supported football clubs of all shapes and sizes with their plastic card needs. Each year, we produce up to 20 million cards for all industries and specifically hundreds of thousands of these produced for some of the most well-known football teams in the world. Our expertise as a short run specialist who is able to deliver a fast turnaround means we can help you get set for the season. To get your order started, fill in your details here.

Swype prides itself on delivering a fast-turnaround, short run service across multiple combinations of card requirements.

Our service to you is important to us, and to keep things moving on schedule to your customer, communication is everything. 

We’ve put together an overview of our lead times and artwork policy to help you understand how we work. 

Standard & Express Delivery Lead Times

Standard Jobs

Studio and artwork lead time is 1 to 2 days and your dispatch date will be quoted once the artwork has been approved by yourself. Any delays in your approval turnaround will affect your lead time.

The lead time for standard jobs is 5 to 7 days from artwork approval. Lead time for production is scheduled and begins at the point of artwork approval. Your turnaround time will depend on your job type and dispatch dates will be generated at the point of artwork approval.

Express Jobs

You can request a 3 Day Express Service with your Account Manager who will inform you if it is possible based on the production time of your job. It is also subject to current capacity in production.

Express jobs are also charged at an additional 20% of the value of the job.

Artwork Turnaround

Our talented in-house artwork studio allows us to offer that extra level of service to customers. Here is our current artwork charging policy.

Standard Artwork Time Per Job

Your job includes 30 mins of artwork time as part of the price. This is for one artwork per job.

Will I be charged for extra studio time?

If your artwork requires over 30 minutes in studio time, we have detailed our charging policy below:

• First 30 minutes one artwork = Included in Price

• First proof plus 2 amendments (within 30 mins) = Included in Price

• Additional artwork (within 30 minutes) = £5.25 Plus VAT Per Artwork

• Extra time (over first 30 minutes) = £25 Plus VAT Per ½ Hour

We will assess your artwork and contact you should it require overtime. You may either fix the artwork and resubmit yourself, or alternatively pay for the extra time and Swype will complete the fix for you.

If you do need anything else or want to discuss further then feel free to give our team a call on 01744 815 475.

Gone are the days when plastic cards were restricted for use as credit or debit cards, today they are used for countless items as loyalty cards, gift or membership cards, photo ID cards or even business cards. Whether you’re visiting a concert, getting into the office or paying for a coffee at your local shop then more than likely you’ve got a card to do these things.

Regardless of how you intend to use your plastic cards, the design is a key part of the process. How it looks can make all the difference. This is where we’re here to help.

At Swype, we pride ourselves on our expertise and knowledge so we’ve put together some guidelines on how you can create the perfect artwork for your cards to represent your company in the best light.

Make your artwork bleed

You should always extend or ‘bleed’ the background elements and images beyond the edges of the document by an additional 6mm (3mm on all 4 sides). Therefore, artwork for a standard credit card size card of 86mm x 54mm will need to be supplied as 92mm x 60mm. This prevents unwanted white borders around the edges of your cards once the cards are cut to size.

Be careful with placement

It is always advised that you avoid placing important elements such as text or logos within 5mm of the edge of your artwork. For this reason, we would advise not to create borders on your design as any slight movement during the punching process, where sheets of cards are cut down to individuals, can make the design look ‘printed off centre’.

Matching colours

Colours are to be set to CMYK, this will ensure you get the best finish on the final product. If you’re trying to match a specific colour or not sure where to start, then we have a talented in-house design studio on hand to provide guidance for the best CMYK values to use to achieve this colour.

Use high quality images

We see thousands of different styles of artwork each month, some with images, some without. One of the most crucial tips to bear in mind is ALWAYS use high resolution images. These are normally 300dpi.

Generally, if you’re using images downloaded online from Google Images then be aware that they tend to be low quality and will dramatically affect the quality of your cards. There are dozens of online tools where you can purchase images that are high quality so do look around to see what works best for you.

Other important factors to remember:

• Please outline all fonts within your artwork
• Flatten any layers or transparencies
• No cutting guides, signature panels or magnetic stripes on print ready artwork
• Images should be embedded. If you’re unable to embed them, please supply copies of your images.

Looking to get started with your plastic card order?

We understand that our customers and partners have the day job to do. Not everybody is a card expert. That’s why customers have chosen us for nearly three decades to help guide them through the plastic card journey.

From expert support from enquiry to order, we’re here to help every step of the way. Plus, with a highly experienced design studio on hand to deal with any technical queries then nothing is too much trouble.

We’ll also provide you with a digital PDF proof of your plastic card or key fob to sign off. This representation of your final card, giving you the opportunity to see exactly what they will look like before you give us the approval to print.

If you’re looking to get started with finding out what plastic card product you need then check out our full product range here and get in touch on 01744 815 475 to discuss further.

Keep one step ahead of the game by impressing your clients with an NFC Plastic Business Card.

We all know that your business card is an important tool when making new contacts and leaving a good impression. You have to stand out from the card. Be memorable but how will your business card help this?

The simple business card has developed over recent years from traditional paper based cards to many companies now taking advantage of all the benefits which a plastic business card has to offer. Even the plastic business card has evolved, now taking advantage of the latest technology, the NFC Plastic Business Card is the latest big thing the world of business cards.

With an NFC enabled smartphone, you can transfer all the data from your business card to a smartphone instantly. The possibilities are endless with NFC technology and there’s no need to download any Apps, a simple tap of your phone does it all.

The chip hidden within the card will ask your phone to do anything once it has been programmed. This could be anything from saving your contact details, loading websites, reports, images or even ask the phone to play music or videos. Be creative with your networking and you will stand out with an NFC plastic business card.

We have nearly three decades of experience on hand ready to guide you through the process step by step. Drop us an enquiry and our team will be in touch shortly.