Stationery - Do's and Don'ts

I always try to keep in mind the person who will actually be reading something printed on my stationary. Here are a few of my own personal rules for letterhead design.

• no artwork faded in the background

• no bold colors in large areas (boxes of color stretching across the page)

• address and contact info always at the BOTTOM (with very little exception). The reason is, if I'm sending something on letterhead, it's probably important, so I want that to be the focus rather than my address.

• limited contact info. Of course your address, phone, fax and web address – but no email, no individual name (unless your name is also the name of the company), no cell phones, no description of the services you provide, etc.. Remember, your letterhead is not an ad (at least not in the traditional sense).

• limited color use. Too many colors is too hard to read. Stick with 3 or less. No full color unless it's subtle.

• don't get too creative!!! I can't stress that one enough. People EXPECT certain things with letterhead. Putting your address/contact info on the right may look cool, but it's not where people expect to see it. Using scripty fonts at 9 point type may look cool on screen, but it serves nobody but your own ego.

• leave plenty of "air" in the design. Most people pre-print the letterhead, so you're stuck trying to fit what you want to say in a pre-printed template. Remember that. Always make sure to leave room in your design for margins on the top, bottom and right side. A letter with type going to within an eighth of an inch of the edge of the paper because you used 3 or 4 inches on the left for a frivolous design element will get tossed in the trash, no matter how cool the design looks on a blank sheet of paper.

Get your fix of design software tips, tricks & commentary.

Nice one Jim, thanks.

What about business cards? Anything one should keep in mind whilst designing those?

I always try to keep everything on a one-sided card. If you really want a 2-sided card, or a fold over card, make sure that your name and contact info is on one panel. That way if they put it in a rolodex or in a day-runner all your info can be displayed at once. Use the 2nd side for the logo or web address.

Cards with solid color backgrounds, or no colored backgrounds tend to stand out more than others. No more than 1 font, using 2 weights is also a good rule (except for any fonts used in your logo. Nothing smaller than 6 point type – or larger than 11 is usually best.

I personally like to have 1 sided cards so that customers or potential customers can write notes on the back if they so desire.

Get your fix of design software tips, tricks & commentary.