What is letterhead – and why is stationery, such as letterhead, so important for your business? What purpose does it serve? Why should you care about an old piece of paper? You may think of letterhead as a relic of carrier pigeon days, destined to be forgotten and tossed aside like common junk mail – Don’t worry, we’re not going to let you make that mistake.
The fact that most business communications are done digitally these days gives traditional print a massive boost – the presence commanded by a quality, well-designed letterhead conveys distinct importance. Think of how much more impact an employee bonus letter or business reference would have when presented on company headed paper. When standing out is as easy as putting in a little extra attention to detail, why wouldn’t your business want to take advantage of this tried-and-true tactic?
Keep reading for 5 tips on how to create high impact letterheads!
1. Letterhead Lends Itself to Brand Consistency
When designing your letterhead, find peace in knowing that you don’t have to completely reinvent the wheel. Your company’s signature branding exists for a reason, and it makes creating new collateral a whole lot easier. Use your existing logos and brand colours in a fresh way for new impact that aligns with your business. To read more about the importance of brand consistency, check out this article we wrote about how it can be the key to your business success.
Don’t forget that brand consistency goes beyond colours. When coming up with the layout of your letterhead think about the way it will be used: How can you design your letterhead in a way that will best represent your message? We’ll touch more on layout and formatting shortly.
2. Letterhead Design is all in the Details
By looking into the possibility of creating custom letterheads in the first place, you’ve already shown that you are someone who pays attention to the details. It only takes a couple of seconds to make a first impression and these seconds’ matter when you are setting the tone for a customer’s experience. Show your audience that you go above and beyond for quality service by presenting your company in a visually appealing, organized manner.
Think about what information is important to include in your design; You may want to have your contact information and location where its memorable and accessible to the reader or alternatively create a simpler design with your company name. Ultimately your design is all about what’s going to work for your business, so consider these factors when drafting up a sample.
3. Choose Stationery that works for you
Maybe it doesn’t make sense for your business to design a custom letterhead, but you can see yourself getting tons of use out of envelopes or notepads. You do you! The key to becoming successful is by customizing your approach in a way that most benefits you and your clientele.
Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard offers a variety of stationery such as envelopes, notepads, and business cards to suit your needs. Browse our website’s products and solutions and our value-add services to get more inspiration about the available options.
4. Explore Different Letterhead Layout Options
When it comes to the nitty gritty of design, the possibilities are truly endless. To provide an entry point for those who may have never ventured into the world of letterhead design before, here are a couple of ways you could start to format your layout:
- Full border
Decorate the outside border of your paper with colour and design in a consistent square shape, leaving the middle free for any text or images you may later want to share. - Graphic border
Use shape and colour around the border of your text for a unique look. - Header and footer
Keep your design to the top and bottom of the page, leaving the middle and sides available. - Background graphics
Watermark your paper with graphics in a muted shade so that text can be written over top. Think you might like some help? Our graphic design professionals will make sure your business stands out visually across all advertising and marketing platforms, we offer graphic design services for all kinds of projects!
5. Pick your paper wisely
Your paper is the foundation of your letterhead so choose wisely! Pick from light to heavyweight stock and different textures and colours. Generally, the heavier a sheet is, the more important it feels. Want to add a tactile pleasing touch? Embossing or debossing adds a little extra. Distinguish your design with a satin, matte, or glossy finish to make the colours pop and there you have it – the ultimate finishing touch!
Post Press
Feeling ready to create your own letterhead? We can’t wait to help you dive in. Contact the team at Minuteman Press Calgary Shepard today to chat about how we can help you achieve your goals.
We Design. We Print. You Profit!