Basic Design Preparations For Letterhead Printing

Letterheads do not entail as much details as flyer, brochures and postcards, given that they mostly contain contact details of the company only. However, careful planning must still go with the look of your letterhead since they serve a very important purpose. This simple print material will bear professional letters and somehow, give the recipient an idea about your company. Hence, it must represent your company well.

Below is a primer on the details that go into letterhead printing projects.

Content

There are not a lot of texts to play with in order to come up with a very unique look. Instead, most of the aesthetics would come from the design elements that go with these texts.

Common letterhead contents are the company name, its address, contact numbers including landline and fax, email address and website, if you have one. It would be best to limit the texts to these since you have to maintain sufficient space for the letter itself.

The most suitable graphics to add is your company logo. Keep its size proportional to the size of your texts. It should definitely be bigger but not too much that it gets the spotlight.

Some people want to get the watermarked look for their letterheads and this is made possible by printing an almost translucent printout (some require at least 5% color density) of your desired image. This faint print is usually an enlarged and faded version of the company logo.

Typeface and font

If you cannot decide on which typeface would go best with your letterhead, you can try creating several letterheads bearing different typefaces so it would be easier to visualize. Play with the effects such as bold, italics and shadow. For the company name, you can also change the spacing between the letters so it would not appear too cramped.

Color

Aside from the contents, colors help set a tone. Choosing dark and solid colors convey a more professional look while vibrant colors and unusual combinations create a more casual impression. If you intend to include your logo, make sure that it does not get lost in the background color. It should stand out.

Also, be careful with the colors you choose since some do not go well together. Make sure that each hue you add helps create a unified design. When you opt for several strong colors, each one would compete for attention and hence, become compartments instead of elements that make up a single design.

Layout

Letterhead layouts follow a somewhat standard format with the logo and company name printed on the topmost part of the paper, followed by the contact information. However, you can also vary the conventional look by placing some of the texts details at the bottommost part of the page. This way, it creates subtle borders that mark the start and end of the note.

Same with typefaces, it would be best to create different versions of each element so you can decide easily on the look. You can ask a panel to pick the most suitable design or get the opinion of a professional designer before you proceed to letterhead printing.