the definitive guide to
digital badge design
BEFORE
AFTER
The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
foreword
Thank you for downloading the Accredible Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design. This guide is for
issuers creating digital badge designs for students, members, affiliates, and more. In this guide we will
explore digital badge designs issued for different pathways, how to keep badges consistent to brand
style guidelines, and what goes into an eye-catching design.
Who we are: Accredible is an industry-leading digital credentialing platform. Founded in 2013, Accredible
believes that everyone should be able to prove their credibility with ease regardless of who you are, where
you live, or how you gained your knowledge.
Our experience serving millions of credentials globally has enabled us to understand and meet the needs
of organizations undergoing digital transformation. As one of the longest-serving digital credentialing
platforms, our insight into the space is unique and unrivalled. We provide actionable guidance at every
step from research and evaluation, through to launch, growth, and development. Our knowledge informs
the best practices for organizations to start, scale, and succeed in digital credentialing.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
table of contents
AN INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL BADGES 4
WHAT IS A DIGITAL BADGE? 4
HOW TO USE A DIGITAL BADGE 5
PLANNING A DIGITAL BADGE DESIGN 6
PLANNING A DIGITAL BADGE DESIGN CHECKLIST 8
CREATING A DIGITAL BADGE DESIGN 9
CREATING A DIGITAL BADGE DESIGN CHECKLIST 15
IN SUMMARY 17
Who is this guide for?
This guide offers actionable advice for organizations designing digital badges to deliver to their
candidates. Discover how different badges are used for various learning environments and what key
design elements should be included. Use the included print-friendly checklists to plan digital badge
details and provide guidance for inhouse or external graphic designers.
How to use this guide
Use this guide to:
• Plan digital badge designs for various environments
• Establish what information to include in the design
• Create digital badges for progressive learning
• Understand what goes into successful design
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
an introduction to digital badges
What is a digital badge?
A digital badge is a type of credential issued to candidates for meeting certain criteria. This includes
students completing educational courses, employees passing training, individuals signing up for
membership or becoming an affiliate of a non-profit or association. Digital badges follow the Open
Badge Format and are portable, verifiable, and include detailed context about the represented
achievement or affiliation.
Digital badges are versatile in their use and can be issued as a standalone achievement or as part of a
‘stacked’ micro-credential collection. Stacked badges can be collected in various models:
• Vertical: Progressing through levels in a single topic, for example Microsoft Word levels 1, 2,
and 3
• Horizontal: Building a collection of awards across numerous topics, for example Microsoft
Word level 1 and Microsoft Excel level 1
• Hybrid: A combination of both vertical and horizontal where the learner builds a personal
portfolio of different skills to various levels of competency, for example Microsoft Word levels 1
and 2, Microsoft Excel levels 1, 2, and 3, and Microsoft Powerpoint level 1
Standalone Badge Progressive Badge Set
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
an introduction to digital badges
Digital badges are more than simple images. A digital badge created and issued through Accredible’s
platform is automatically encoded with the necessary credential information. This ensures that badge
designs don’t become cluttered and third-parties can still retrieve the important credential details.
Badge name
Badge criteria
Badge URL
Issue date YOUR LOGO
Issuing organization CERTIFIED
Recipient information PRACTITIONER
Expiry date
How to use a digital badge
Digital badges are easily shareable, can be added to LinkedIn profiles, and embedded on websites and
in email signatures. Encouraging recipients to celebrate their achievements by sharing their digital
badge is a great way to increase visibility for the brand and the credential. It also allows recipients to
showcase their abilities and professional development for improved employability.
Using Digital Wallet Cards, recipients can upload their digital badge to the wallet on their smartphone
device for display and verification on the go. This is convenient for recipients that have to show
credentials when arriving on job sites or during an interview.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
planning a digital badge design
Digital badges follow the Open Badge Infrastructure developed by the Mozilla Foundation and
currently administered by IMS Global. The Open Badge Infrastructure states the included metadata
should enable a third-party to verify:
• The recipient the digital badge was awarded to
• The skills/knowledge/experience gained
Contextual data helps to establish the value of the digital badge, especially for external use outside the
native badging system, and should be thorough and detailed.
The badge image itself is the most visual part of a digital badging system and involves more
consideration than simply throwing some design elements together. Issuers need to decide the type
of digital badge to be delivered and how digital badges relate to each other, i.e. are they standalone
achievements or part of a progressive pathway?
Types of Digital Badge
Skill Badge
Used to recognize professional skills gained through on-the-job training or education.
Knowledge Badge
Used to represent knowledge acquired through training, education, and experience.
Participation Badge
Used to recognize and reward participation such as volunteering, sponsorship, and attendance.
Identity Badge
Used to represent affiliation and membership to associations or communities.
Certification Badge
Used to award candidates for achieving a certification. Many organizations issuing career-advancing
credentials tend to use digital badges to represent individual modules that culminate into a digital
certificate.
Social & Life Skill Badges
Used to represent skills or experiences that fall under personal development.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
planning a digital badge design
Types of Badge Pathway
There are various pathways that issuers can design digital badging systems around that enable
candidates greater flexibility during skill or knowledge acquisition.
Standalone Descriptive
A digital badge that doesn’t specifically Digital badges that enable candidates to
connect to any other digital badges through choose their own learning paths that can be
increasing levels or relevance. linear or non-linear.
Prescriptive
Digital badges that follow a linear sequential pathway of achievement and are
usually set by the issuer, for example Microsoft Word levels 1, 2, and 3.
Other terms that are used to describe digital badge pathways include:
Stepping Stones Collection
A sequential, prescriptive path of learning A non-linear, prescriptive learning path that
that candidates follow step-by-step as leads candidates to a specific collection of
determined by the issuer. awards or achievements.
Constellation
A non-linear, descriptive learning pathway that puts control in the hands of the
candidate and enables them to build a custom portfolio of ability.
What information should be included on the digital badge?
To support the design process, the information to be included in the digital badge image itself should
be planned and decided before handing off to design.
Issuers often choose to include their branding or logo, the badge or award name, and the level of the
badge (for progressive awards). Some issuers also include the recipient name, recipient ID, and the
issue date.
The Accredible credentialing platform supports dynamic text known as ‘attributes’ across both digital
badges and digital certificates. Attributes are dropped into the design and automatically return the
required information in the final design when the badge is generated. This is useful when using a single
badge design across many courses where the course name needs to change or for including recipient
names or ID numbers without creating additional admin work.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
planning a digital badge design checklist
Planning a digital badge design checklist
Use the below checklist to help establish the preferred type of digital badging system and the
information to include to inform each badge design.
Yes/No/Comments
Who is the target audience for the digital badge?
What skills, experience, or knowledge does the digital badge represent?
What type of digital badge will be offered?
What type of badging pathway will be used?
Is the brand style guide available for reference?
What specific brand stylings need to be included?
Logo
Color
Icon(s)
Do digital badges need to represent increasing levels?
What information will be included in the digital badge design?
Will attributes (dynamic text) be used in the design?
Is a graphic designer required?
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
creating a digital badge design
Digital badges are a portable representation of the organization which means style and branding need
to remain consistent across different badge designs. How a badge looks will influence how the badge
is perceived and contribute to how motivated candidates are to earn the badge.
Digital badges can be created through the Accredible platform. Navigate to [Link] to try out
the Badge Builder Studio or sign in via the dashboard for full functionality.
Accredible’s badge design tool is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop designer that includes a library of
design elements including shapes, icons, and ribbons, and an image upload feature for adding logos,
custom typography, and additional elements. This guide will refer to Accredible’s Badge Builder
Studio but the advice can be applied across all graphic design applications.
Choose a background shape
There are a variety of options for the background shape of a digital badge including circles, squares,
shields, and other block geometric shapes. Accredible’s badge design tool includes over 100 different
background badge templates to choose from, all of which are easily customizable to feature the issuer
brand colors.
Designers can also start with a basic flat shape and add their own decorative elements such as borders,
banding, decoration, and outlines.
Inspiration for choosing a background shape should be taken from the organization branding and
what elements are used. For example, does the organization logo feature distinct geometric shapes
or does the brand font have hard or soft corners? This helps styling remain consistent and increases
brand recognition when viewed by third-parties.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
creating a digital badge design
Add branding
The issuer of the digital badge should be identifiable at a glance. Logos and branding should be clear
and legible on the badge, rather than squished or shrunk into a corner where they become distorted.
Where brand colors have been used on the background shape, ensure that once the logo is added it is
still visible and doesn’t get lost against the background.
Add the logo or branding prior to any additional design elements such as icons or decorative images.
This helps to keep the focus on the issuer, rather than cluttering the design and trying to fit everything
in together. Once the logo has been added to the design, it’s easier to see where additional elements
can be included. Make sure to include the right size logo for the design, enlarging a logo image file that
is too small can cause distortion and appears low-quality. For reference, the Accredible Badge Builder
Studio shape templates measure 400px by 400px.
The Accredible badge designer includes
‘smart guides’ which appear during the
design process. Smart guides make it easy
to align elements to the overall design
or to elements within the design and
will helpfully snap icons into preferred
positions. For finer control over positioning,
designers can also use the keyboard arrow
keys to nudge a selected element in small
increments of 1px or hold shift + arrow key
to move in 10px increments.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
creating a digital badge design
Add decorative elements
Decorative elements for digital badge designs are completely optional and should be used sparingly to
prevent cluttering the design.
The most common decorative element added to a digital badge is the ribbon. Ribbons traditionally sit
across the background shape and draw focus to a key piece of information such as the badge level, the
badge name, or the issuer name. Ribbons can also be entirely decorative like those used on a physical
rosette award.
Adding decorative elements such as icons can help identify the type of industry skill gained. For example,
a microscope to represent a scientific achievement or art supplies to represent creativity. Decorative
icons that differ across badge designs should share similar style characteristics to ensure consistency.
For example, using one-color simple icons across all badges rather than switching between 3D shaded
and one-color icons.
Decorative elements are also used to establish levels by including an increasing number of shapes
such as dots or stars to recognize badges within a progressive pathway.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
creating a digital badge design
The Accredible badge designer includes a library of flat one-color icons to use that can be customized
to a preferred brand color. Issuers can also upload their own icons and images via the ‘Images’ tab
using the ‘Upload New Image’ button.
Add attributes
For digital badge designs that need to generate constantly changing information as dynamic text, the
Accredible platform includes the use of attributes. To access attributes, designers need to be signed
into the Accredible platform. The badge designer is accessed via the ‘Designs’ option in the navigation
bar, followed by clicking the ‘Create Badge Design’ button on the right-hand side of the page.
Once in the designer, navigate to the ‘Attributes’ option in the left-hand design menu and then select one
of the default attributes to drop into the design. The appearance of the attribute is fully customizable
including the color, alignment, font, sizing, and spacing.
Custom attributes can be set up by scrolling to the bottom of the default attribute list and clicking the
‘Manage Attributes’ button. This will navigate the user away from the page so make sure to save any
designs you are working on first. Once the custom attribute is set up, navigate to the design tool or
previously saved design and access the ‘Attributes’ option as before.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
creating a digital badge design
Progressive badges
Progressive badges are designed in line with each other and clearly represent the pathways which
candidates need to take.
The badge colors and shapes are typically consistent across the individual badges with the increasing
levels written on the badge and/or represented by icons including stars, dots, or other shapes.
There are many ways to design progressive badges. Some issuers use different colors to represent
different levels.
Some issuers use different digital badge backgrounds to provide variation across levels while keeping
design elements consistent to ensure they are recognizable as a collection.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
creating a digital badge design
If the planned progressive pathway is intended to culminate in a final badge, the “highest-value”
badge within the collection should stand out against the individual level badges. This represents
the increased importance of the final badge within the collection and motivates recipients to work
towards the achievement.
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
creating a digital badge design checklist
Creating a digital badge design checklist
Use the below checklist to inform the design process and what needs to be included or represented
in the digital badge design.
Reminder: The Accredible Badge Builder Studio shape templates measure 400px by 400px.
Before creating the badge design
Yes/No/Comments
What shape will be used for the digital badge design?
Is an optimally sized logo image file available?
Will a ribbon be used in the design to highlight details?
What detail will be highlighted in the ribbon?
Are additional decorative elements going to be used?
What do the decorative elements need to represent?
Are attributes going to be used in the design?
Do custom attributes need to be set up?
Are progressive badge designs required?
Is a final badge design required?
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
creating a digital badge design checklist
After creating the badge design
Yes/No/Comments
Does the badge design meet the brand guidelines?
Is the badge issuer recognizable?
Is the text legible and correct?
Do the decorative elements fit the context of the design?
For progressive badges
Yes/No/Comments
Are badge designs consistent within the collection?
Are badge levels represented correctly?
Does the final badge standout in the collection?
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The Definitive Guide to Digital Badge Design
in summary
Designing a digital badge requires thought about what the digital badge needs to represent and how
to balance the design elements. Key elements to remember when designing a digital badge:
• Digital badge designs should be instantly recognizable as belonging to the issuer.
• When adding branding and additional imagery to the digital badge design, image files should
be optimally sized.
• Included imagery and decorative icons should be relevant to the award.
• Progressive digital badges should be designed similarly across the collection.
• Progressive digital badge levels should be clear and legible in the design.
• If a final badge is to be offered, this should stand out from the rest of the badge designs for
that collection.
Experience making digital badges with the basic Accredible Badge Builder Studio or sign up for a
free issuer account for access to the full functionality of the design tool.
Looking to issue digital badges to over 20 unique recipients or require additional control over
branding the credential experience? Get in touch with the Accredible sales team for further
information and a platform demo.
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BEFORE
AFTER
Accredible is the industry-leading digital credentialing platform that securely issues, manages, tracks, and verifies
millions of high-stakes credentials across the globe. Accredible integrates with learning software including Canvas,
D2L Brightspace, Kajabi, Kryterion Webassessor, Moodle, Thinkific, and more. Over 1,000 prominent universities,
associations, and technology companies such as Google, Skillsoft, Rosetta Stone, University of Cambridge, AMPP,
Zendesk, Hootsuite, IEEE, McGraw-Hill, INSEAD, IAPP, UC Berkeley, and The Digital Marketing Institute rely on
Accredible to create, deliver and manage digital certificates and open badges. Learn more at [Link].
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