How to Design a Social Badge for Your Event

Social badges are one of the easiest ways to get your event noticed—and shared. A well-designed badge gives your participants a simple, eye-catching way to show they’re part of your event, while helping you build buzz across platforms like Instagram and Stories.

What Is a Social Badge?

A social badge is a customizable graphic with your event branding that drivers, vendors, or attendees can download and personalize with their own car photos, booth name, or social handles. Once edited, they can post it to their own accounts to show they’ve been approved, are attending, or just to hype up the event.

In CrateOS, you can upload your social badge to the Upload Center as a public document or an approved-only document. We recommend uploading it as a JPG or PNG image with space for users to add their car or logo on top.

Recommended Badge Types

• Driver Badge – Says “Approved,” “Featured Car,” or similar
• Vendor Badge – Includes “Official Vendor” or booth branding space
• Attendee Badge – “I’m Going” or RSVP-style templates

Design Tips

• Use a clean background – Include your logo or event name in the corner
• Leave open space – Design it so users can easily overlay their car photo or IG handle
• Vertical or square layout – Works best for stories and mobile
• Keep file size under 20MB – Ideal for uploading to CrateOS

Pro Tip: Make It Editable

Most organizers design these in Canva or Photoshop. To make it easier for your community, consider sharing a Canva template link or editable PSD file as part of your Upload Center. This way, participants can drag and drop their own image without starting from scratch.

Why It Matters

• Builds event awareness as drivers post it to their own networks
• Reinforces your event brand
• Gives participants something to be proud of—like a digital badge of honor

Need Examples?

We’ll be posting a few sample badge designs soon. Follow @crateonscene for visual inspo, or reach out if you'd like help creating your own version.

This article is part of the Organizer’s Room series—tips and tools to help you run better car meets and shows with CrateOS.