college - PaperDirect Blog

April 9, 2018

6 Ways to Frame Your College Graduation Diploma

Congrats! You’ve donned your cap and gown and been awarded your official college diploma. Now, it’s time to show it off. Whether it’s at home or the office, these college graduation diploma frames and display ideas are sure to turn a few heads.

Showcase Your Diploma in a Shadowbox

Preserve several memories of your college years in a shadowbox. The thick casing makes it possible to hang award ribbons, lapel pins, honor cords, sashes, medals, and other mementos alongside your graduation diploma. Choose a solid black felt backing or have it customized with your college colors or to match your room decor.

Decorate a Frame

Feeling crafty? Pick up a plain wooden frame and get creative. Use paint to customize the frame and glue on three-dimensional items. For example, if you went to college at a coastal university, apply seashells to the border of the frame. Were you a top athlete? Hang tournament award ribbons around the perimeter of the frame.

Display Diplomas with a Leatherette Award Board

For a classic look, slip your paper diploma into a leatherette frame. These can be hung or stand up on their own. We love the idea of standing the framed diploma on a bookshelf next to other items from college, including awards and framed pictures of friends and family at the graduation ceremony.

Mount It On an Engraved Plaque

Have you received more than one college diploma? If you have certificates for an associate, bachelor, masters, and/or doctorate degrees, secure each of them to a large wooden plaque so they can always be displayed together. We love the idea of placing an engraved plate with the year each was earned under each certificate.

Mat and Frame Your Diploma

Will your college diploma be displayed in your office? Choose professional matting and framing to show off your hard work. The mat color can coordinate with your office or business colors. For timeless appeal, black or cream are popular options.

Create a Collage Frame

When selecting a wooden frame, consider one that has multiple openings cut into the matting. The diploma should be prominently displayed in the main spot, then fill the smaller openings with photographs from the graduation day, the graduation ceremony program, or your graduation party invitation.

Are you ready to make your college graduation diploma stand out? Browse the certificate frames at PaperDirect for more ways to turn your document into a true keepsake!

Comments Off

September 28, 2011

Diploma Wording & Style Made Easy

Filed under: How to Design Certificates — Tags: college, diploma, graduation, high school, keepsakes, middle school, student, wording — PDWriter @ 8:00 am

Graduation ceremonies are not just any celebration. Graduation day is a moment that students will cherish for the rest of their lives and only happens once in a lifetime. Whether the graduation is from middle school, high school, or college, you want to make sure the diploma wording is correct and professional.

Finding the proper college graduation diploma wording, style, and layout can be challenging. You want to convey the thoughts and emotions of the day in the right way with the right tone and proper message.

Use the 7 ideas below and the diploma shown at right to refer when creating your custom diplomas for your middle school, high school, or college graduation.

1. Your school name can be arched across the top of the diploma in a Gothic-style font

2. The next several lines can be used for the city and state of your school, or for a school motto

3. The student’s name on the sample above is shown in hand calligraphy. Or you can use the same font as the school name.

4. Choose the wording for the center line of the diploma. You may select “College Preparatory Course,” “Honors Course of Study,” or whatever fits the particular student.

5. Include a saying something like this, “He is thereby granted this high school diploma and is entitled to all the rights and privileges which pertain thereto. Dated fifth day of June two thousand twenty-three.

6. Include signatures and titles beneath the signatures. Leave space between the signatures to accommodate a center seal.

7. Add an engraved seal toward the bottom of the diploma. Many schools position it in the middle, but you can leave space by either corner for it.

No matter which of these diploma wording ideas you use, make sure you keep one thing in mind. Customize all of your diplomas to fit your school and traditions. If something seems “off” about the overall presentation, change it. Create diplomas that are true to your school!