Letterheads/Envelopes &
Business Cards . . .
Introduction
| Letterheads and Envelopes
| Business Cards
| Production
| Resources, including samples
Introduction . . .
According to Joe Grossman in The Makeover Book: 101 Design Solutions for
Online and Desktop Publishers, 2nd edition, "Your letterhead and cards
are the center of your identity. They can set the tone for all your other
communications. They tell people something about how much thought you've
put into your business or organization, how organized you are and how far
you think ahead. They let people in on a very important secret--how you see
yourself and how you think other should see you."
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Letterheads/Envelopes . .
.
Letterhead stationery contains some of the same content as its counterpart
business card: company name, address, phone and fax numbers including area
code, electronic contact information (email and web site url), and motto or
statement of company philosophy as well as company logo, appropriate visual,
and/or design elements.
Letterhead can also contain list of items such as board members, divisions,
department chairs, company officers, and services offered. Be careful not
to add too much information beyond contact information because you limit the
space left for the message. Is this information needed to facilitate contact
with others in company or to recognize persons vital to the company?
Envelopes contain a smaller version of letterhead design. Normally, however,
it includes only logo and postal mailing contact information. This information
is placed in vertical column at left of envelope or in upper left-hand corner
of envelope.
Some considerations include
- Decide whether to have only traditional business size of 8.5- x 11-inch
paper or suite of stationery, including sizes such as 6- x 9-inch and thank
you or note cards. If you decide to have more than one size of letterhead
stationery, you will need envelopes for each size chosen.
- Decide paper: e.g., color, weight, and texture vs glossy vs matte-glossy.
- Decide whether to have embossed type, visual, or design element.
- Decide placement and size of logo. Normally, logo is placed at
top of page. Logo must be large enough to be noticed, but not dominate the
page.
- Decide alignment for text and visuals: centered, right-justified,
left-justified, or combination.
- Logo and company name can be placed at top of page with the other
contact information at the bottom.
- This information can be placed in a vertical column on the left of
the page covering 20 to 25% of the width. This column can be separated from
the rest of the page with a vertical rule (line) or screened background with
or without color. Vertical column layout works well when you need to list
board members or departments or similar information.
- Or it can be placed in horizontal rows at top and bottom on page. The
parts of the contact information at the bottom of the page can be separated
by white space, bullets, or other design elements. A horizontal rule (line)
can be placed as a top border above this information at the bottom of the
page.
- Decide typography:
- font (for example, Palatino and Helvetica which involves matters such
as serif vs sans serif and display or decorative, slab serif, and script)
- font style (such as bold, italic, underline, shadow)
- size (i.e., 10 pt, 24 pt, or 36 pt)
- Decide illustrations and design elements to be used:
- visuals (consider using clip art/ click art by importing or cut-and-paste'ing)
- design elements (for example, drop cap's, small cap's, vertical/horizontal
lines and bars, lists with dingbats, or word art).
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Business Cards . .
.
Business cards create an initial, immediate image and "tone" (such as formal
vs informal or modern). This impression begins with first sight and first
touch of a business card.
As with all communication tasks, decide audience, purpose, and
uses (see, for example, first phase of Rude, comprehensive editing). Is this
business card to serve marketing or informational purposes?
Normally, business cards contain an individual's name and title,
company, address, phone and fax numbers including area code, email and web
site url, and motto or statement of company philosophy as well as company
logo, appropriate visual, and/or design elements.
Some considerations include
- Decide paper size: traditional 3.5- x 2-inch rectangle or other, such
as as rolodex card or card folded in half into traditional size.
- Decide whether to have one-sided (single-sided) or two-sided
(double-sided).
- Decide paper: e.g., color, weight, and texture vs glossy vs matte-glossy.
- Decide orientation: landscape or portrait.
- Decide alignment for text and visuals: centered, right-justified,
left-justified, or combination.
- Decide whether to have embossed type, visual, or design element.
- Decide whether to have raised type.
- Decide typography:
- font (for example, Palatino and Helvetica which involves matters such
as serif vs sans serif and display or decorative, slab serif, and script)
- font style (such as bold, italic, underline, shadow)
- size (i.e., 10 pt, 24 pt, or 36 pt)
- Decide illustrations and design elements to be used:
- visuals (consider using clip art/ click art by importing or cut-and-paste'ing)
- design elements (for example, drop cap's, small cap's, vertical/horizontal
lines and bars, lists with dingbats, or word art).
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Production . . .
You can create a well-designed letterhead/envelope and business card using
Word. If you have limited experience with computer software,
however, you may want to cut-and-paste. You can print textual and design elements,
sketching in graphics or printing out graphics and pasting them on the business
card.
To obtain columns aligned straight on the paper, use non-repro
paper (has blue grids that do not reproduce when xeroxed) or tape to window
(to provide light so this approach will not work at night) paper with grid
drawn with dark lines and then tape paste-up page on top of grid page.
Note that some glitches and not-so-professional production are
allowed.
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Resources . . .
- Grossmann, Joe. "Letterhead & Cards." The Makeover Book: 101
Design Solutions for Online and Desktop Publishers. 2nd ed. Ventana,
1996. 31-43.
- Parker, Roger C. "Business Communication." Looking Good in
Print. Deluxe CD-Rom Edition. Ventana, 1997. 253-65.
Online Resources
- You can also access a list of resources at "
Designer's Jumpola
" accessed from Ideabook.com
," but bookmark web pages you like because often the back
arrow doesn't work.
Samples
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Last modified: 10-15-02
09/30/03 For the letterhead, scroll to bottom to see design,
but then also reduce percentage to 50% so you can see the overall design
(thumbnail).