14 Best Practices of Certificate Design (Google, Harvard, AWS, etc.)

Would you like to create a professional-looking certificate but don't have the necessary skills or don't know which design will be the best one for your purpose?

Well, you don't need to look for any other software or an online certificate creator.

With Certifier, you can create professional-looking certificates in minutes.

There are two ways of issuing certificates – you can either use ready-made templates or use a certificate creator to make unique certificates tailored to your needs.

Read more: How to design a certificate? Step by step guide

There are several types of certificate design templates that will work best, depending on your purpose. For example, a simple and clean certificate template is a great choice for celebrating the achievements of your employees.

In addition to this, you can issue personalized training or seminar certificates, training or workshop certificates for those who attended any of these events.

It is, however, necessary to remember that following the industry’s best practices is vital for creating a certificate design.

In this article, we collected 14 examples of the market's best certificate examples from giants like Google, Amazon, Harvard University, London School of Economics, providing an in-depth analysis of the elements placed on the certificates they issue.

Google certificate – a minimalistic design showing the most important details

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - Google

• Certificate’s name (Certificate of Completion)

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Expiry date

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Certificate’s name (Search Ads 360 Certification Exam)

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - Google

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Date the exam was taken

• Expiry date of the certificate

• Certificate ID (Completion ID)

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - Google

• Certificate’s name (Digital Analytics Fundamentals)

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Completion date

Read more: How to use dynamic attributes to create and send certificates in bulk

Amazon Web Services Solutions Certification – a lot of information provided

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - Amazon Web Services

• Certificate’s name (Solutions Architect - Associate Level)

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Name and signature of the person responsible for issuing the certificate

• Issue date

• Expiry date of the certificate

• Certificate ID

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Certificate’s name (AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner)

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - AWS

• Name and signature of the person responsible for issuing the certificate

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Expiration date

• Certificate ID (Validation number)

• Link enabling to validate the certificate

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Certificate’s name (AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate)

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - AWS

• Name and signature of the person responsible for issuing the certificate

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Completion date

• Course duration

Read more: Steps To Effective Certificate Design

Harvard University certificates, awards, or diplomas - design depicting the organization’s culture

Must-have elements of diploma design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the diploma

• Degree name (Doctor oder Professor of Political Sciences Economics)

• Department’s name

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - Harvard University

• Emblems of the organization issuing the diploma

• Names and signatures of the people responsible for issuing the diploma

• Name of the diploma holder

• Issue date

• Diploma ID

• Description of the degree

Must-have elements of diploma design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the diploma

• Award name

• Organization’s stamp

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - Harvard University

• Name and signature of the person responsible for issuing the diploma

• Name of the award receiver

• Issue date

London School of Economics diplomas – consistent layout and structure across different degrees and courses

Must-have elements of diploma design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the diploma

• Degree name (Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy)

• Department’s name

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate

• Level of honors

• Emblems of the organization

• Names and signatures of the people responsible for issuing the diploma

• Name of the diploma’s holder

• Issue date

• Description of the degree

Must-have elements of diploma design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the diploma

• Degree name (Doctor of Philosophy)

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate - LSE

• Emblems of the organization

• Name and signatures of the person responsible for issuing the diploma

• Name of the diploma’s holder

• Issue date

• Description of the degree

Must-have elements of diploma design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the diploma

• Course name (Introduction to Corporate Law and Governance)

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate

• Emblem of the organization

• Name and signature of the person responsible for issuing the diploma

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Grade

• Date of the course taking place - Summer 2015

• Certificate ID

British Council – the best-known language proficiency certificates

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate

• Emblems of the organization

• Name and signature of the person responsible for issuing the diploma

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Level of language proficiency - C1

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate

• Name of the course

• Name of the course moderator

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Duration of the course

• Date of completion

• Result of the certificate

• Certificate ID

• Level of language proficiency - C1

Must-have elements of certificate design in this example:

• Name of the organization issuing the certificate

• Logo of the organization issuing the certificate

• Name and signature of the person responsible for issuing the certificate

• Name of the certificate (Certificate of Completion)

• Name of the course

• Name of the certificate’s holder

• Duration of the course

• Date of completion

• Result of the certificate

• Certificate ID (Class Code)

• Student ID

• Course level

• Course duration

Certificate design – summary of best practices

Here is a list of elements that can be placed on a certificate you issue based on the practices listed above:

• Course name/name of the organization issuing the certificate/award

• Logo of the certificate issuer

• Emblems of the organization issuing the certificate

• Organization’s ID

• Organization’s unit code

• Certificate holder’s first name

• Certificate holder’s last name

• Certificates ID/number

• Start date of the course

• End date of the course

• Certificate’s expiry date

• Award name

• Award date

• Award expiry date

• Degree name

• Department name

• Description of the award

• Contact to the organization issuing the certificate/award

• Award credit value (if applicable)

Optional certificate design elements:

• User Email

• Course trainer’s name and surname

• QR code

• Course duration (in hours/weeks/months)

• Link enabling to validate the certificate

• Organization’s stamp

• Signature of the person responsible for issuing the certificate

If you want to start issuing professional certificates with custom-made designs, create a free Certifier account today. Just follow this link to start creating outstanding certificates.