The digital age we’re currently living pushed letters towards the past, and made them far less trendy than they used to be. This is why letterhead examples are so rare.
However, letters are not completely forgotten, and trying to make them look beautiful can be the exact distinctive advantage that can make us better than our competitors.
It is because people generally perceive letters as a pleasant form of interaction, and they take them much more personally than an email or a text message.
Needless to say, letters with a professional letterhead are very brand-centered, and allow us to use our company’s name, logo, information, and colors when communicating with partners and customers.
Image source: Muhammad Ali Effendy
The importance of letterhead design is what makes it such a challenging experience. More often than rare, our business letterhead design ideas will be the first thing customers get to know about our brand, and their initial and genuine impression.
Due to this reason, letters can make or break interactions, and we need to find a way to make them more effective and personalized. The two essential criteria to consider when designing a corporate letterhead are the informative details, and the memorable, eye-catchy design.
The rule of simplicity
Image source: The rule of simplicity
The rule of simplicity applies to every type of design, and matters particularly to delivery mechanisms, such as the letterhead.
Remember: the content of the letter is an entirely different task. Your first important duty is to design the appropriate structure that can support it.
Image source: Jennifer Lucey-Brzoza
Most of the time, you’ll read that you need a cool letterhead.
But what does that actually mean?
Explained the easiest way, letterhead designs need to be beautiful and practical at the same time, and remind of the content that is going to be displayed below them.
Image source: Steve Wolf
Still, don’t go over the edge trying to win your reader’s attention, because he can feel overwhelmed by it, and miss what is really important about your letter.
Include your brand in a smart way
Image source: Simeon
The logo is compulsory for business stationery in general, and matters even more on the letterhead. Still, that’s not the only tool to do branding on your letters, and there are many other creative ideas you could employ for the purpose.
It doesn’t even have to be the entire logo – you can cut portions of it, and apply them on your letterhead the same as your business stationary and envelopes.
There are two reasons why you should do this: The colors will be the focus of the design element, and will therefore be remembered by your customers, while the brand image will be ‘pushed true’ in a less obstructive and pushy manner.
Work with the best available software
Image source: Ruslan Latypov
Photoshop is almighty when it comes to graphic design, and it is perfectly suitable for drafting personalized stationery.
However, there are tools that were specifically developed for the purpose, and offer a variety of interesting options that can make your letterhead unique.
Our suggestions are InDesign and Illustrator, as both of them are vector-based, and offer a variety of typography controls for drawing and repositioning elements.
Any love for Corel? If you’re a Corel user, than there’s no need to switch to PS or AI just for letterhead design.
If you have no choice but to use Photoshop, remember to consult the print supplier in advance, as artwork designed in Photoshop must be produced at 300dpi to meet the letterhead requirements.
Make the most of your space
Image source: Ruslan Latypov
The reason why letterheads are called like this is that they are most often placed on the top of the page, but this is far from a rule.
You’re perfectly allowed to use any of the four sides, or to display information in more than a single location. You choose!
Typography matters
Image source: Jakub Ptačin
If you want an elegant and classic solution, typography will be the main element to work with.
With the appropriate knowledge, you can mix typefaces and create an interesting contrast between bold and shadowed, or modern serifs with vintage-like scripts.
Image source: Mark Gerlach
The more beautiful your information looks, the more likely people are to read it.
Organize elements in a hierarchical order
Image source: Mister Bumbles Interactive
More than beautiful, letterhead design has to be practical, and convey information in a readable and effective manner.
Sometimes, it will even be the most critical part of the letter where you need to share your own details, or indicate the purpose of communication.
Image source: Ryan Brinkerhoff
For the reader, that will be a source of information on how to contact you, so make sure you include all telephone numbers, addresses, emails, and faxes.
Still, don’t forget that these details are not as important as the name of your company is!
Before you start, think of the most important details to be conveyed with the letterhead, and apply the same hierarchical order on the letterhead. Make them as visible and accessible as possible, and tuck extra information away where they may or may not notice it.
Relate the style to your industry
Image source: Device
When you work in a creative agency, the only letterhead rule is that there is not rule at all. Tips were, in fact, developed for people who don’t have the will or the design experience and need a scheme to follow, but your creative team should definitely ignore them.
Creative agencies and retailers are in need of the most impressive design which will entertain their customers when sharing promotional information.
It is exactly these cases where designers need to pay the most attention to attract readers and to deliver unique artwork. If you’re designing for a business like that, that’s your perfect chance to balance between brand-centered and trendy design.
Consider the medium
Image source: Damian Hernandez
It was easier to design letterheads in the past, as they were exclusively printed and delivered to the office to be typed over. Still, this type of communication is rarely used nowadays, and letters are printed directly from Word or another similar template.
Before you design whatever, try to understand how people are going to use it, as even the most beautiful letterhead won’t work with inappropriate dimensions.
For instance, if your intention is to design for a self-printed option, leave the margins larger at the edges, and choose tints you’re absolutely sure would be neatly reproduced on office stationary.
Pay attention to the paper
Image source: FFFactōry.
The impression your letterhead is going to cause will not depend as much on its beauty, as the quality of the paper on which it will be delivered.
Thick and luxurious pieces with a specific texture are perfect for corporate correspondence, as they highlight the fact that you’re running an artisan brand and a serious business.
Conclusion
Image source: Maccy Adalid
When you design your letterhead with attention and planning, it can turn into your most effective asset to boost brand-awareness, and to impress people before they’ve even read what you have to tell them.
More than anything else, your letterhead should be the product of your imagination, and there is only a ‘handful ‘of technical tips you have to follow to get it right:
The letterhead should contain brand-specific elements presented in a creative way, be it the logo, slogan, icons, or simply colors. These elements should be coordinated with the ones used on other printed elements (the envelope in particular), or even be absolutely the same.
Before you start designing, take a look at good examples, and use them as your source of inspiration. Even when the letterhead is supposed to entertain readers, stay professional, and include all vital corporate information in a hierarchical order.
Image source: Andrew Littmann
The letterhead provides an important addition to a brand’s image, with a simple and careful placement of it’s logo and corporate design.
Its importance must not be underestimated when working on a company’s identity and stationery.
Finding letterhead designs for your inspiration is pretty hard, especially when you need something top notch to see in order to have some guidelines for your project.
In this article you have a little over 60 cool examples of letterhead and logo design inspiration which should help you get an idea on how other designers have worked on the identity and stationery of various brands.
More letterhead inspiration
Trifekta
Ecolic corporate identity
Valens Energy Drink – Identity
Artindustria Identity Guidelines
Exider Logo and Stationery
Freq Nightclub
Then Corporate Brand Identity
B’seen Visual Identity
Cooper & Ford
Vision Trust
PrintEasy Stationery Set
Dioxyportfolio Corporate – CRI
OEN Identity
Stepcase logo + stationery
Dynasonic Identity Suite
Corporate identity – Cool ideas
Sama
Tobias R. Duerring Identity
Law firm corporate identity
Brandcore corporate
Xnilo Design Studio Visual Id
BlueBells logo and products
Typography Stationery by Moshik Nadav
Sartorom logo + business stationery
PDESIGNS
FIM – Financial Solutions
CRANES stationery
Snowball Studios
Dice – Stationery Design
Wockbar – logo & business card
CloserStill Identity
OCEAN Corporate identity
AISI
Computing Ver.2 CommSet
La Castagnas
Ring King Studio
Dylan’s Barbershop Identity
MM Oil Corporate
Sunshine Orchard
Choice Stationary 01
ArtOfPrint
Integrity Spirits Identity
Troya
ID collection by David Garcia
Mahdis – Water purification
H2R – Insulation Branding
Superman corporate identity
Stationery Design by Jordon Mazziotti
Choice Stationary 02
The Pixel Cup – stationary
Master of Disguise
Express Printing
Coos! – corporate identity
CRESO
SZ Developments
Lewin Consulting
Eastside Bookshop identity
Gulp: Explore Your Thirst
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