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• First Impressions in Print 

 
Who are you? How do you look on paper? Despite the surge in email use, professionally designed printed stationery packages are crucial to making a good first impression. The purpose of letterhead and related items is to express an identity, beyond the actual words used in the message.
A basic corporate identity system or stationery package consists of letterhead, envelopes, and business cards. In some cases, labels are also a basic component. If no logo exists and one is needed, logo design may also comprise part of the complete design package.

Whether designing for a client or for yourself, the first steps to developing a successful identity package is getting to know the business for which the package is intended.

About the business and its clients:


What kind of business is it?

What type of products or services does it produce?

How long have they been in business?

Who are their major competitors?

Who needs the product or service the business produces?

How do current or potential customers preceive the business or the industry in general?

Does the business want to attract or focus on a specific segment of its overall customer base?

About the stationery package:


If the business already has a stationery package in use, what do they like/dislike about the current package?

How will the letterhead by used? (That is, will it be run through laser printers, inkjet printers, be handwritten, frequently photocopied or faxed?)

What kind of budget does the business have and what type of volume is required?

Will color be used? (And how much color will the budget allow?)

Does the client have a preference for or against thermography, single, bi-fold, or tri-fold business cards, or other definite likes/dislikes?
The next steps in the design process involve determining exactly what information is needed on the letterhead and business cards and developing specific design ideas.

Once you've asked the basic questions you're ready to start putting pen to paper and mouse to monitor. Because you'll want to maintain consistency in color, type, and basic layout between all components in the stationery package, start with the smallest -- the business card. Layouts and font choices that look great on letter size paper, can become illegible in the small space of the business card.
Determine what information is needed on the card and letterhead such as company name, logo, name of individual, title of individual, street address, mailing address (if different), phone number(s), fax numbers, voice mail or pager numbers, email address, and web address.

Begin sketching out ideas. Explore layout options quickly with rough thumbnail sketches.

Layout
Look at other business card layouts for ideas and inspiration. For business cards, horizontal layouts may be more "traditional" but vertical layouts could provide more opportunity for creativity. Additionally, it may be easier to translate the vertical layout of the business card to the vertical layout of the letterhead. I'm not suggesting that you should only consider vertical layouts though. It depends on the shape and orientation of other elements of the design as well as the image you want to convey.

These Horizontal Layouts and Vertical Layouts and Business Card Templates provide tips and ideas for business card layout. In some cases it may be easier to work simultaneously on both the business card and letterhead.

Robin Williams suggests that you should stick with standard size business cards but that making them foldover cards will allow the business card to do more than just list contact information. They go from being just identity items to mini-brochures and more powerful marketing weapons for a business.

Don't skimp on the envelope design. Putting beautifully-designed letterhead into plain, off-the-shelf envelopes dilutes the power of that first impression.

Beyond the layout, you'll need to make decisions regarding fonts, color, paper, and methods of printing.

A good identity system has several specific features. In addition to the overall layout, careful choice of fonts, color, and paper help to make a lasting impression.
Fonts
Readability is the most important aspect of font choice. But there are many readable fonts. A basically good design can be rendered useless with inappropriate fonts. Choose fonts that communicate your identity and message.

Color
Are there established corporate colors which you must work with or are you free to explore a variety of color combinations? In general, the more colors used, the more expensive it is to print the design. The color of the paper itself is also a factor in the design. Color is a powerful element of design. It is often the most noticeable aspect of a design.

Color printing can be expensive for many small businesses. Before planning an elaborate design requiring multiple color components, discuss budget with your client. Careful use of just one color can be just effective as an entire rainbow.

Paper
Choose the right grade of paper for each piece of your stationery package. Business cards typically use cover stock and letterhead uses bond paper. Many paper manufacturers produce complimentary color and textured paper in different grades to allow you to coordinate your designs. Hammermill suggests using a smooth paper stock with a rag content of 25% to minimize streaking and blurry type.

Printing/Distribution
One of the questions asked about the stationery package when beginning the design process was "How will the letterhead be used?" If thermography is under consideration as a printing method and an element of the design, be sure to ask your printer if they are using laser-safe thermography techniques. If the client indicates that the letterhead may frequently be photocopied or faxed, you'll want to design with the limitations of those reproducation methods in mind.

Whether you are an experienced designer or just starting out, there are ways to jumpstart the design process. Professionally designed templates can provide complete solutions to your basic stationery needs or provide a starting point for customized designs.

Sometimes the hardest part of designing a business card or letterhead is just getting started. Two ways to overcome that obstacle are preprinted or predesigned paper and templates.
Can it really be your own design and can it really convey a unique or 'stand out in the crowd' image if it comes pre-packaged? Yes, it can - if used properly.

Preprinted or Predesigned Paper
For non-designers who cannot afford to hire a professional graphic designer, preprinted or predesigned papers allow a business to "easily create a cohesive identity with matching preprinted designs for business cards, letterhead" and more. Through careful attention to font choices and placement of information you can put your own stamp on each piece.

Templates
Designers and non-designers alike can use templates 'as is' or as starting points for creating the pieces of a stationery package. "Remember, in many cases templates are designed by well-known designers. We often look at the work of others for inspiration, using templates is simply another way of borrowing from the talents of those around us. Starting with a template is a smart idea." Even when using templates with few changes, you'll still need to make choices regarding color, paper, and in some cases font selection. All these choices will help create a unique and powerful first and lasting impression about a business.

Test Yourself: Self-Guided Project
You can read all the tips and tutorials but it's going through the actual process that makes you a better graphic designer or desktop publisher. If you've never designed a stationery package before or feel that you need more experience, take this opportunity to put the steps outlined here into practice.

Using your software of choice, create a coordinated business card, letterhead, and envelope design for yourself, a friend, or a fictional business. Answer the questions about the business and the stationery found in part 1 of this article. Do some preliminary thumbnail sketches, rough drafts, and final designs as described in part 2 and part 3. You can start from scratch or browse the templates in your software or the ones found online and consider using some of them for your project.

Your design should meet all these requirements:


The company or individual is clearly identified.
Contact information is easy to find.
Design reflects the client's personality.
The pieces in the package work well together and have a unified or coordinated design.
The letterhead design leaves ample room for the letter itself.
The envelope meets postal regulations (placement of return address and other design elements).
If you're doing this for a fictional company you won't be going to the expense of special paper or commercial printing but you can print a sample from your desktop printer and make notes about the type of paper and printing you'd have done if it were a real project. After you're done, you have not only the experience and the satisfaction of completing the project, you'll also have three new pieces for your graphic design portfolio.

Jacci Bear is a freelance graphic designer, writer, and artist who has been writing about and teaching desktop publishing for almost two decades.

Source: http://desktoppub.about.com

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