A key tag card with embedded security won the Judges' Choice award in the 2008 Elan competition conducted by the International Card Manufacturers Association.
Vanguard ID Systems of West Chester, Pa., won the Judges' Choice award for the SpeedBean key tag card, embedded with radio frequency identification. The card has a core of Teslin synthetic printing sheet and outer layers of laminated polyester.
Vanguard developed and manufactures the tag card for Woods Coffee Inc., a retail chain based in Bellingham, Wash., under a contract from Woods' customer-loyalty program and its software provider, Accelitec Inc., also of Bellingham.
A key card was the People's Choice. Plasticard-Locktech International LLP of Asheville, N.C., won for the Sprint cellular-phone-service Daytona 500 Series key card with a PVC substrate and clear PVC overlay sheets.
A series of four magnetic-stripe hotel key cards featured Lowe's and FedEx NASCAR race cars. Plasticard-Locktech made 30,000 key cards that were distributed to more than 50 Daytona Beach, Fla.-area hotels in conjunction with this year's race Feb. 17.
The Unique Innovation and Design winner was a Speed Racer USB-drive gift card for Minneapolis-based Target Corp.'s financial services subsidiary. Target retail stores use the card. Americhip Inc. developed the concept and injection molded the ABS card at its Torrance, Calif., headquarters plant.
An instant-deduction ClearCheck card for the Montgomery, Ala.-based Alabama State Employees Credit Union won the Elan for the Best Secure Financial Card. The Exton, Pa., card systems plant of Oberthur Technologies began with an initial design by Harland Clarke and was shipping the cards within two months. The hybrid construction laminates 3M Co.'s Vikuiti-brand clear card filter, made with multilayered optical film, between two clear PVC sheets. San Antonio, Texas-based Harland Clarke is a financial institutions service provider.
Quatro Card Technology of Markham, Ontario, won the Elan for Best Nonsecure Card, which it manufactures of PVC in Markham. Rogers Video of Richmond, British Columbia, a division of Rogers Cable Communications Inc., designed the Star Rewards card and uses it across Canada as part of its customer-loyalty program. Quatro customer Stored Value Systems, a subsidiary of Comdata Corp. of Brentwood, Tenn., was the intermediary with Rogers.
Premier Card Solutions of Roseville, Minn., won the Best Gift Card category using lenticular printing technology. Different angles on the PVC card, made for Blockbuster Inc., depicted images of Spider-Man in motion and a spider close-up.
Bundesdruckerei GmbH of Berlin won the Best Identification Card Elan for the design of the Matrix eID card, being marketed globally. Bundesdruckerei manufactured the card, for BIS International, from several polycarbonate sheets, each partially printed. Processing was handled in a high-temperature lamination plant.
A spring gift card for Apple Inc.'s iTunes digital music and video service won the Best ``Free Form'' Design Elan. Commercial printer Travel Tags Inc. of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., a unit of IGH Solutions, manufactured the card for Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple.
A card flexibility tester from equipment manufacturer Q-Card of Sunbury, Pa., won the Elan for Best Vendor New Product, Process or Material. In a production mode, the device can check 30 cards at once for flexing and all ISO bending and torsional standards. Brush Holding Co. owns Q-Card.
A contactless Brit Awards MasterCard PayPass card won the Technical Achievement Elan. ID Data Group plc of Petersfield, England, manufactured the card.
The judges for the Elan competition were Fredy Yiap, publisher and editor-in-chief of CardsNow!Asia and PageAgeNow magazines in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia; Henry Dreifus, founder of Dreifus Associates Ltd. Inc. in Maitland, Fla.; and Brad Paulson, principal and founder of Thor Engineering LLC in Northfield, Minn.
The Elan awards recognize design innovation and technical achievement in the card manufacturing industry. ICMA, based in Princeton Junction, N.J., announced the winners April 8 in ceremonies during its conference and expo in Orlando, Fla.