Information > Case Studies

Library cards for Neath Port Talbot Libraries

When Wayne John of Neath Port Talbot Libraries wanted a new design high quality library card they immediately though of Debbie Green at Spectrum Plastics. Although they had not used the company before, they had met with Debbie Green at the Library and Exhibition show in April 2007. Wayne had a product guide and samples, and had been receiving Library Talk, the Spectrum newsletter for libraries for over a year.

Wayne John of Neath Port-Talbot Libraries says:

“At Neath Port Talbot, we had been looking for some time into the possibility of redesigning our Library Membership card to incorporate a new logo and branding that would instantly portray to our customers the wide range of services and facilities that they could expect from their local library.

Spectrum Plastics proved to be extremely helpful in providing advice and support throughout the project, from the initial design concept, through to the testing, production and delivery of our new library card.

At every stage, we were kept informed of the progress and given ample opportunity to amend or revise our initial design. Proof sheets were sent out, revised to meet space requirements and barcode compatibility with our Library Management System.

We are extremely pleased with the final product, which was delivered well within the estimated timescale and budget.

A number of the design concepts from the card will be used on the exterior of our new Mobile Library which will come into service in October 2008, to coincide with the launch of our new Library Membership card and the start of the Happy Days marketing campaign in Wales.

As a new supplier to Neath Port Talbot, I can highly recommend our experience with Spectrum Plastics and we will continue to use them as our preferred supplier.”

Praise indeed!

The job was straighforward. It involved 12,000 library cards being produced to a new artwork design.  The barcode was in an unusual place on the face of the card and Spectrum had to ensure that the artwork would leave sufficient space for the barcode to be read properly.

With this objective in mind Debbie supplied a number of artwork proofs with different size images and placed in different areas around the face of the library card. This then enabled the Neath Port Talbot to see which design they preferred when the barcode area had been enlarged.
Debbie from Spectrum says:

“I was very pleased with the finished card for Neath Port Talbot, the job ran smoothly from start to finish, with good clear instructions from the customer. Not only were the cards a new design, but also Neath Port Talbot were a new customer, the cards were supplied within a calendar month, from date of order to delivery of the cards.”