Friday, May 13, 2011

Designing Highly Effective Corporate Stationary

By Gnifrus Urquart


Good looking corporate stationary can do a lot more for business than just being a means of passing on contact information to a potential customer. For most people the first dealings they have with a company will be through receipt of a business card and first impressions count.

It doesn't matter what the business name is or how great the logo looks if the prospect looks at the business card a month later and can't remember what the company does. There are certain things that need to be taken into consideration when designing corporate stationary with impact.

It's not always possible to know from the name of the company, or even the logo design, what business is being represented. This is especially the case with companies that use the owner's or partner's name as their business identity. A short description explaining something about the business type, which can be displayed just below the company name, can be very helpful. It's also an opportunity to announce any specialist skills that may be of particular interest.

When deciding colors for a logo, it's just as important to consider how they will appear on other material used in the business as it is on the website or any other marketing material. The colors chosen may work well as a logo but if they are too light for use as text, black or another color may have to be introduced in order to clearly display the contact details and any other textual information that may be required. This may make a difference to print costs and should be discussed with the designer and printer in advance.

It's always a good idea to talk over all aspects of the design with those that are going to produce the stationary, as they will be the most knowledgeable about the whole process and what works best. Some things are a matter of personal preference but a printer will be able to show examples of previous print jobs. Looking through paper, typestyles and color combinations is helpful in deciding what works best.

Some businesses will find they won't require letterheads very often. In that case they may want to consider having a letterhead designed as an image that can be imported into their word processing program, as and when needed. They can use the same basic layout for invoices if needed and they then only have the cost of business cards. Other companies may require the full range of stationary including compliment slips and labels.

With a little thought about stock, color and how best to display contact details and other information about the business, it's possible to make a simple letterhead and business card work hard. This is where corporate stationary becomes a powerful marketing tool.




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