Monetary rewards aren't the only way to recognize your employees and celebrate their accomplishments. Non-monetary recognition like award certificates creates emotional attachment with the person receiving the recognition.
While non-monetary recognition has many forms, we’ll focus on the most popular one: certificates.
Don't just rely on cash to recognize and reward your employees, make it more memorable. Give them award certificates that they can hang on their walls or frame and display on their desks. With gift certificates, you combine monetary reward and non-monetary recognition into one.
To find the best certificate template, we’ve curated a list of the latest and most beautiful certificate design ideas for 2021. Our list includes assorted certificate design templates for awards, gifts, and diplomas from Envato Elements and GraphicRiver. Plus, we'll share some award certificate examples.
Top Certificate Design Templates on Envato Elements (5 Fresh Design Examples)
There are various types of certificate design templates that'll work best for a specific occasion. There's a simple and clean certificate to celebrate the achievements of your employees. You can also provide training or seminar certificates for seminars, training, or workshops they've attended.
Whether it be award certificates, gift certificates, or diplomas, here are our top picks for fresh design templates on Envato Elements that'll create a lasting impression:
1. Modern Certificate
Use this editable certificate template to create your certificate of appreciation with a modern aesthetic. Use its flexible design for your employee recognition, corporate events, and a lot more.
Fully Editable in Photoshop, AI, and Word with 0.25 bleed, 300 dpi—it's CMYK print ready. It’s also available in portrait and landscape layout.
2. Elegant Gift Certificate Template
This beautiful business gift certificate template exudes a lot of elegance and luxury. Any recipient of this gift certificate will be delighted.
The value of the gift certificate can be immediately seen because it’s placed on a golden ribbon background. Plus, the sparking border won’t go unnoticed. It’s very easy to edit on Photoshop, so you can customize it according to your needs.
3. Multipurpose Certificate Templates
Quickly create any professional looking certificates from certificates of achievement to award certificates with this multipurpose certificate design template. It's got straight to the point design, highlighting a ribbon and trophy icon.
You can easily change the colors to match your branding preferences. Plus, choose from 12 certificate styles to suit your taste.
4. Certificate/Diploma Template Pro
This is a modern take to a diploma or certificate. It still carries the usual traditional style, but it's been amped up with modern design elements like swirls/curves. Use it for:
- certificate awards
- recognition
- qualifications
- training
- seminars
- or anything related to academic or corporate activities.
With well-organized layers, you can easily tweak this according to your preferences.
5. Abstract Certification Template
Abstract designs are also exciting elements that you can add to your certificate of achievement or certificate of completion. This editable certificate template with abstract elements will make your certificate stand out. With clean structured files and editable texts, personalize this printable certificate template in an instant.
Envato Elements (Design Without Limits)
Sign up for Envato Elements to get unlimited access to over thousands of digital assets. This includes unlimited use of graphics and templates (certificate templates too!). Choose from web themes to business presentation templates, and more—all for one low price.
That’s right! Download as many certificate templates and graphics as you want, then customize them to fit any of your project needs.
21 Best Certificate Templates Available on GraphicRiver (For 2021)
Celebrate their contribution and award their achievements easily with these 15 beautiful and most creative certificate design templates on GraphicRiver:
1. Award Certificate
This template comes in A4 paper size so that if you need to mail the certificate award, you can easily do so. This certificate comes with four free fonts. Customize the template to suit your needs. This template is perfect for anyone looking for a traditional looking award design.
2. Modern Certificate Template
The modern certificate has a professional design. On the certificate, there's a place where you can add your logo. Easily add any image you need to by dragging and dropping the image into the image placeholder.
This template comes in landscape and portrait so that you decide how you want the certificate to look. Edit this modern certificate template with Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.
3. Modern Certificate Designs
This template has a modern certificate design and is easily customizable. Quickly add any image you want to the certificate by dragging and dropping the image into the placeholder. This template is A4 paper size and can be used in Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator. Choose from portrait or landscape orientation. So, select an orientation that fits what you need.
4. Clean & Professional Certificate Design
This quick and easy-to-customize template only has dotted line vectors as its design elements. It's clean yet still has modern touches.
5. Modern Multipurpose Certificate Template
With this professional certificate template made in Photoshop, award anyone for completing any course, training, degree, or job. It's got two color variations with customizable image and text too.
6. Corporate Certificate Design
To keep it sleek, use this corporate looking printable certificate template. Choose from four different colors with just a single click to suit your brand.
7. Modern Gift Card Certificate
Promote your business, products, or services using this gift certificate template. Instantly convert this certificate design template PSD into:
- a discount card
- coupon card
- gift token
- gift voucher
- gift certificate
- cash card
- and a lot more
8. Diplomas & Certificates
Stay traditional with a modern finish for your diplomas and award certificates. This editable certificate template will make you stand out. Just select from nine different styles, and you’re ready to print!
9. Clean PSD & MS Word Certificate Template
With PSD file and MS Word document included in this template, create your unique and creative certificates at your most convenient time. It's got a flexible design so you can use it for probably any type of certificate awards, recognitions, etc.
10. Technical Diploma and Award Certificate
Technical Diploma is a perfect diploma design template for educational institutions looking to celebrate the graduation or commencement exercises of their students. It’s PSD-file ready for printing in five different colors.
11. Gift Voucher Certificate Designs
With Photoshop and AI formats, provide a professional looking gift certificate in a matter of seconds! It's got resizable vector elements and fully customizable texts so you can print a gift certification that truly marks as your own.
12. Modern Dynamic Diploma - Best Award Certificate
May it be landscape or portrait format, this beautifully designed template is fully editable in AI. With three different colors, you can conveniently set up a branded certificate.
13. Professional Certificate Design or Diploma Templates
Whether you want to print a corporate certificate or a diploma, this highly editable Photoshop certificate design template is for you. It includes four border and background styles so you can design your diploma or certificate to your preference.
14. Educational Certificate and Diploma Template
Specially made for educational institutions, this is a smart, clear, and clean looking certificate template. It’s print ready with editable text layers and color shape layers.
15. Certificate PSD - Corporate Certificate Design
This certificate of achievement template is best used for both commercial and non-profit organizations. It's got 2 PSD file that can be fully edited to make a standout certificate.
16. Simple Multipurpose Certificate Template
Simple Multipurpose Certificate is a flexible certificate template that can be modified in InDesign, AI, EPS, or Word. It's got a simple but bold layout that'll captivate and delight the recipients.
17. Creative Corporate Certificate Design
With a stunning background image, this creative InDesign certificate design template is perfect for companies that want to recognize their people who attended training, seminars, or events.
18. Digital Certificate Designs
To go above and beyond, this certificate design template exudes creativity, fun, and digital polish. Change and customize it easily in PSD, Illustrator, or MS Word.
19. Clean and Professional Certificate Design
This certificate has nice black background with gold and white font. The design of this certificate looks fancy and professional. Customize the template to make it look how need it to look. There's a space for your logo and company website. The name on the certificate is a nice cursive font that can be easily read.
20. Modern Certificate Template
This certificate template has a nice gold and black design. This template comes with a free font and is print ready. Choose from landscape or portrait to customize your template how you need it. This template can be edited in Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator.
21. Modern Multipurpose Certificate Designs
This template can be used for several certificate related purposes. It comes in A4 and US letter size and is print ready. Easily add any photo you want by dragging and dropping the image of your choice into the image placeholder. The certificate has a nice textured design that looks professional.
How To Quickly Customize A Premium Certificate Template
Once you’ve found the perfect certificate template, let’s take a look at how you can quickly customize it. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll be using the Clean Certificates Template from Envato Elements.
Let's get started:
1. Choose Your Layout
The Clean Certificates template, like most certificate templates, comes with both a horizontal and vertical layout. So, the first step is to choose which layout you want to use. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll use the horizontal layout. Once you’ve decided on the layout, open it in Photoshop.
2. Enter Your Information
Before customizing anything, enter your own text to replace the dummy placeholder information. All you've got to do is double-click the text you want to edit, delete it, and then enter your own text. As you’re entering the text, customize the fonts by selecting the text and choosing a different font from the drop-down menu.
3. Add Your Logo
To add your logo, look for the layer named Logo. Then click on it to make sure it’s selected. You’ll notice there’s a layer that says, “double-click here to replace the logo”.
Double-click that layer, which will open it up in a new window. Then locate your logo image on your computer and drop it onto the newly-opened window. If needed, resize and reposition the logo and then close the windows. Click Save when prompted.
4. Remove or Customize the Frame
Another way to customize the certificate template is to customize the frame. You can use a different color by selecting the Frame layer and then double-clicking the layer’s thumbnail. This opens the color picker tool, and you can then select a new color for the frame.
Or, if you don’t want the frame, simply delete the Frame layer or click the eye icon to make it invisible.
5. Remove or Add Your Own QR Code
The last step is to add your own QR code or remove it altogether. To add your own QR code, select the QR code layer and then double-click it. It'll open in a new window. Drag and drop your own QR code image on top of it.
Resize the code if needed and then press X to close the window. Save when prompted. Then save and export your certificate template.
If you don’t want the QR code, delete it by deleting that layer or by clicking the eye icon on the layer to make it invisible.
5 Quick Design Tips: To Make a Great Certificate in 2021
When it comes to a quick and easy way to raise the morale around your office or celebrate an educational milestone, nothing is more tangible and lasting than a certificate. All recipients will truly feel that their leaders recognize their efforts and contributions.
To create a meaningful and impactful certificate to award in 2021, pay close attention to how you design your award certificates. When using the great certificate templates from Envato Elements or GraphicRiver, follow these certificate layout design tips:
1. Don't Clutter Your Certificate's Layout
While you may be tempted to put a lot of information and design elements into your certificate, this could be working against you. Too much information and visual clutter distracts people from the main focus of your certificate, which is to celebrate the person accepting the certificate or award.
Instead of trying to fit too many things on your certificate design at once, leave some white spaces between words and design elements. White spaces are a great way to better organize content and balance design elements. They separate paragraphs of text, graphics, and other portions of your certificate while helping your certificate look less crowded.
If you keep your certificate less crowded, it allows the reader to find the information they’re interested in much quicker. Thus, improving the visual communication experience. Otherwise, you’ll risk your certificate looking unprofessional and disorganized.
2. To Use or Not to Use Borders
Almost all traditional certificates in the past have had borders. But because of many trends in graphic design, the question of whether to use a border or not to use one is a matter of personal preference.
The key is to understand what the certificate is for. To use a border, theme it appropriately according to the nature of the recognition. You can’t randomly use a border, especially if it'll clash your main goal and certificate design. Although, there are some borders with timeless and multipurpose certificate designs.
3. Brand the Certificate
Branding is also one of the most essential design tips when creating a great and effective certificate. You want the people receiving the certificate or diploma to remember your company or institution even after years have passed.
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Your company’s logo is always a must to include in your certificates. But branding doesn’t end there. When choosing an appropriate color scheme for your certificate, keep your branding guidelines in mind. Use your brand colors and apply them accordingly to your certificate design. Most creative certificate design templates have a variety of color schemes that you can choose from to match your branding needs.
4. Design Your Certificate With Typography
Typography is often overlooked when it comes to designing certificates. But it's essential to communicate your content and your visuals more effectively. Typography is the art and technique of arranging the letters or characters of your certificates or diplomas. It includes the proper usage of font styles, font sizes, and typographical emphasis like bold, italic, or underline.
As much as possible, aim to use only one to two font styles. But readability should be your priority. It’s also important that you assign different font sizes for the different body of thoughts in your certificate. For example, the recipient’s name should have a big font size compared to other content for emphasis.
5. Bring Your Certificate to Life With Images and Icons
Usually, it's recommended to stay away from using a background image in your certificate. Not only that it'll affect readability, but it might also add to the visual clutter. But there are exceptions to this. Just make sure that there's enough contrast to the text.
Instead of using a background image, use a small image that can appear as borders. You can also add appropriate icons like stars, trophies, or ribbons for award certificate templates.
5 Top Certificate Design Styles for 2021
Customizing your template is only the first step towards making sure your certificate stands out. To make sure your certificate looks professional and polished, here are top five design styles to keep in mind:
1. Both Vertical and Horizontal Layout Are In
You don’t have to stick to a purely horizontal or vertical layout. Both layouts are trendy and give you plenty of design freedom.
2. Bold Colors Are Trendy
If you opt for a certificate template that uses colors, ensure they’re bold and bright. These color schemes are trendy now, which will make your certificate look contemporary.
3. Simple Design Makes the Content Stand Out
Your certificate doesn’t have to be elaborate and intricate. A simple design looks elegant and timeless and can be used for any occasion.
4. Stick to Two Fonts
Make sure your certificate is easy to read by sticking to two fonts at most. You could use a simple sans-serif font paired with a more ornate script font for the recipient’s name and produce an elegant looking certificate.
5. Try an Off-White or a Neutral Color Background
Consider using an off-white or a neutral color background. This will give your certificate a more polished look and make it stand out from the rest.
10 Times to Use a Certificate
If you don't use certificates in your business already, you should consider them. They be used to recognize achievements and bolster employee morale. Here are ten award certificate examples:
1. Completed Training
If you're a manager and an employee finished their training, then you can give them a certificate of completion. This certificate is great for rewarding training that takes a long time or helps them advance in their career. When you give an employee a certificate, it lets them know that you recognize their effort.
2. Employee of the Month
Giving an employee who's been working hard a certificate enables the employee to know that their hard work is appreciated. This recognition doesn't have to be limited to just the employee of the month. Recognize any employee who's completed a really tough project.
3. Contest Winner
If you had a contest in your company, give the winners the best award certificate along with their prize. An award certificate gives them something to display proudly in their office our home.
4. Perfect Attendance
Is there an employee who's never missed a day? Is there an employee who works long hours? Award them for this achievement by giving them a certificate of perfect attendance award. Giving a perfect attendance certificate award lets your employees know that you see their great attendance and acknowledge that it's important.
5. Big Seller Award
If you're in the sales business, award people for high sales. This can be an awards certificate for that employee who sells the most over time. The sales award certificate could also be for an employee who lands a really big sale for the company. Let the employee know that you appreciate their selling expertise.
6. Retirement Award
Do you have an employee who's retiring soon? Let the employee you that you appreciate the work they did for the company. Give them a retirement award for all their hard work and years of achievement with the company.
7. Volunteer Recognition
Does your company rely on the help of volunteers? Or do your employees volunteer in the community? Is there a group or a volunteer who always helps no matter what? Give them an award to show them that you appreciate their hard work.
8. Team Awards
If your company relies on teams, then there's probably a team that works well and excels at their work. Reward that team with an award or certificate, letting them know that you appreciate their teamwork.
9. Welcome Awards
Are you hiring new employees? Let them know that they're welcome at your company by giving them a welcome award. This will make them feel welcome and ease any nervousness that they may have about starting a new job.
10. Safety Award
Does your company require safety to get the job done? Reward that employee who goes out of their way to maintain a safe work environment for everyone. This encourages other employees to be safe as well. And it also shows the employee that you appreciate their efforts to maintain a safe work environment.
More Great Certificate Template Designs
The above is just a small selection of our certificate template designs that are available on Envato Elements and GraphicRiver. To see even more great certificate template designs, check out the following posts:
19 Most Creative Certificate Design Templates (Modern Styles for 2021)
20 Best Word Certificate Template Designs to Award Achievement in 2020
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25+ Best PowerPoint Certificate Templates (Free PPT + Premium for 2020)
Create Tangible & Lasting Memories With Award Today
Creating your professional certificates for awards, gifts, or diplomas doesn’t have to be stressful. With the large collection of certificate design templates from Envato Elements, select the best certificates suited for your brand, objectives, and needs.
Plus, get more editable certificate templates from GraphicRiver. Easily customize them for a positive impact on your employee recognition or educational programs. An award certificate makes it easier for you to create a meaningful and lasting celebration of your people’s hard work and achievements.
Editorial Note: Our staff updates this post regularly—adding new certificates so you can recognize the achievements of your staff and customers.
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