Continuing our series of “What Is It’s Purpose?” this post will deal with the Purpose of Letterhead and Letterhead Design.

As we’ve mentioned before let me recap by saying, every design we create serves a purpose. Is it up to us to determine that purpose? Or does each piece innately have a purpose? I think there is truth in both. Our job is to amplify the innate purpose for each piece. Confused? Don’t stay that way, let’s examine one of the pieces we create on an everyday basis and the function they should serve.

Letterhead.

In today’s digital society does letterhead even still have a place in the industry? I believe so. A traditional formal letter still has it’s importance and uses. Businesses use letterhead for Thank Yous and other otherwise “form” letters that they must send out. It’s also useful for subtly reminding your customers or constituents that you still exist and what services you offer. Wait? Can it really do this? Yes.

Let’s jump ahead and look at some of the things you might want to include on your letterhead:

Remember, you can’t possible include EVERYTHING. So you’ll have to pick and choose:

Letterhead Checklist

Here are some of the many details you might include on your next letterhead design.

PEOPLE
Name of person (Nickname)
Title
Affiliations
Professional/academic designations

PLACE
Pronunciation of unusual names
Department/division name
Organization street address
Floor/suite/mail stop
Alternate P.O. box address
City/state/state abbreviation
Zip+four/postal code
Country
Home street address

COMMUNICATION
Voice phone/extension number
Toll-free phone number
Mobile phone number
Pager number
Fax phone number
Home phone number
E-mail address
Web site address

DETAILS
Office hours
Time zone
Map/directions

ORIENTATION
Name of organization
Mission statement/business description
Product/service categories
Resource info
Special offer
Invitation
Illustration/photo
Logo
Organizational affiliations
Sponsorships

Once you’ve determined WHAT you’re going to include, try to think about ways to include it that will make a statement!

Have you designed Letterhead you’re proud of? Email them to me, and I’ll showcase them in an upcoming post with links back to your site!
For today, let’s look at some recent letterheads I’ve designed for clients and personal use:

Download Today’s BookMark. Don’t miss my #365 Design Everyday. Smashing Magazine issued a challenge to designers for the new year, and I’m on board! I tried to decide what type of design I’d want to do and could stretch my boundaries as a designer. So in answer to this Challenge, I will be designing and posting a new Bookmark design each day on this blog. The Designs will link to a downloadable PDF that you can feel free to download, print out and share as desired.

To get you thinking outside of the box, here are some awesome stationary samples that I found on a Flickr collection site.

 

Tell me which ones you like best!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information on the left hand side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information in the upper left hand corner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Information in the upper left hand corner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information pasted onto the letterhead, top center.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Information in the upper right hand corner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information in the upper right hand corner and along the lower right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information along the top and left hand side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information along the top and left hand side.

 

Now that we have business cards out of the way, we’ll explore some "do’s" and "don’ts" of stationary design.  First let’s define what stationary really is. Stationary is comprised of your letterhead and envelopes mainly. These items, combined with your logo and business card, create your identity.

 

Let’s start with letterhead. Normally a full 8.5" x 11" sheet, letterhead normally gives you a larger playing field to house your information. With 4 definite sides, you have the opportunity to think outside the box. No longer does your letterhead information have to appear at the top. You can run it across the bottom, down the sides, or around the other edges.

 

In today’s design standards, DIFFERENT is better. Think outside the box. Try watermarking only half of your logo in the background while the other half runs off the page. Or you might try using pictorial representations of your information to convey your message to your customers (icons for contact information, etc.). 

 

So, what informatin do we want to include on letterhead? Well, we’ll start with the same basic info that we included on the business card. NAME, TITLE, PHYSICAL ADDRESS, EMAIL, PHONE, WEB ADDRESS, and FAX NUMBER. Now, depending on your design, you have the opportunity to branch out a bit, by including a slogan, motto or tag line.

 

Enough talk. Here is the Identity package I created for the Web business I work for.

 

 

 

You have your logo.  Now what?  To complete what is referred to an your identity package you will need a  business card, your envelopes and letterhead.  These 3 elements are often your first “touch” to a client.
 

As a whole, they support your logo & define your “style”. Individually, each piece plays a different role and serves a different purpose.  Putting these three elements together will tell your customers who you are, and what you hope to accomplish with their business.

 

How does it do this? You’re identity packages sets the standard for the branding of your business. Without you are undefined. With it you are recognized, celebrated and can maintain a loyal customer base.

 

I will be dedicating separate posts to each piece: Business Card, Envelopes & Letterhead.