Jan

Designing Your Business Card, Letterheads and Envelopes

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Business Cards

Business cards are the one marketing tool used by every business, large or small. They give your business credibility and provide your customers and your associates with a reminder of what your business is about and that you are the person who will be their point of contact.

Your business card will incorporate the name of your company and your logo, utilizing the basic design and colors that you have chosen. In addition, your business cards should have the following information:

Key information about your products and services
Your name and position with the company
Company address
Telephone number
Fax number
Web site address
Email address

In the beginning, I would suggest that you do not print too many business cards unless you are sure that all of the information will stay the same. If you have a computer, you can buy business card stock (preferably 150 – 220 gsm, depending on how heavy your printer can handle) from you local office supply store and use your jet ink printer for your first cards. The most common business card size is 2″ x 3.5″. We recommend that you stick with a standard size due to the fact that many business card scanners and business card holders are made to fit this size.

When you are ready for higher quality cards, you can outsource the printing to an offset printer and print larger quantities (the larger quantity you print, the lesser the amount per piece it will be). But again, don’t print too large quantities. Estimate a good quantity you can probably use in a year.

Letterheads and Envelopes

The last of the basics needed for initially branding your company is to design and print your letterhead and envelopes. It is important when you communicate by mail for your company to project professionalism. Even the smallest business will be well-served by having simple, well designed stationary. Commercial business envelopes come in several standard sizes and are normally expressed by a number such as #9 or #10. See the chart below for a list of the most common sizes. Most business envelopes are manufactured using 16 lb. to 40 lb. paper stock. Personal envelopes are also available in a wide variety of sizes and colors.

This is generally a fairly simple task. It generally utilizes your logo and your company name. In addition, both the letterhead and envelope will have the company’s contact information including:

Company address
Telephone number
Fax number
Web site address
Email address

As with business cards, I would suggest that you do not print letterhead and envelopes in large quantities unless you are sure that all of the information will stay the same. You can buy good quality paper and business envelopes (in whatever color and texture you choose) from your local office supply store. Lay out your letterhead and envelopes in your word processor or a graphics program. Your jet ink printer will provide for your needs without a heavy front-end investment. Later on, if you decide that you want higher quality letterhead and envelopes in a larger quantity, again you can use an offset printer. The key is deciding which choice will serve your company better in terms of budget, timing, and quality.

Design tips

Being a graphic designer myself, I have designed and created numerous logos and stationaries for various types of clients. In this regard, I would like to share a few important design tips for you to follow:

Keep it clean and simple. Avoid visual overload or clutter.
Match the “tone” of your design to your type of business and market space.
Strive for contrast and balance.
Stick to one (or at the most two) font styles.
Pull colors from your logo for other background elements and type colors.
Do match color tones.
Don’t use light colors that are difficult to read or have an excessively dark image in the background
Don’t use clip art for your logo
Do pay attention to alignment.
Avoid unusual stylish dimensions and shapes.

I have attached below sample logos and business card designs that I did for various clients, mostly done when I was working as an Art Director in a design agency in the Middle East few years ago. You can use these designs as your reference on how to arrange and layout all the elements on your business card. If you need further help or advice in designing your card and stationaries, don’t hesstate to contact me by sending me an email at melotorres@yahoo.com or by just simply flagging me a comment.

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