- The letterhead is the voice of the client
in physical form.
It's incredible how many variations are possible
with a blank sheet of paper, contact information,
and the logo.
The brand values and identity system will guide the choice
of typeface, color and logo.
You can work with these to make something powerful
and unexpected.
First and foremost, the letterhead's job is you guessed it,
to contain the content for a letter.
The answer may seem obvious,
but I've seen some solutions that leave little space
for the actual letter.
A letterhead is 8 1/2 by 11 in the United States.
In Europe and Asia, an A4 size is standard.
It contains the company logo, the legal company name,
complete address, telephone number,
fax number if they still have one, and website addresses.
At times, the client may add a list of additional offices,
partners, or donors.
I add all of the content
and look at possible layout options.
I like to do this in a program such as Adobe InDesign
or Illustrator that allows me to add many pages
for exploration.
I will also add a fake letter.
It's the primary reason for the letterhead to exist.
And this helps me work with the design
as the recipient will see it.
The letter in place makes it clear
that some items may need to move.
Most business correspondence will have a date, the name,
address of the recipient, greeting, body of the letter,
closing, sender name, title, and signature.
Set the margin so the body text is not so long
as to be difficult to read.
Once I place the elements, I look at different variations.
Try a version with the logo on the upper right
and the information on the left,
or the logo on the top and information on the right.
Add pages as needed.
Copy and paste all the elements on a page.
Play with a layout and move on to the next page.
Maybe the logo is huge on the backside of the letter.
Push yourself to take chances and try many options.
Once I complete multiple versions,
I print them out and lay them out as a group.
Seeing the printed item makes a big difference
from seeing it on the screen.
Choosing one or two options from these
is usually straightforward.
I like to add some visual guidelines
that will help the end user.
I always fold a letter incorrectly
and it doesn't fit in the envelope.
For my sanity, I had guidelines to mark
where the page will fold.
A tiny mark helps the person using the letterhead
fold in proper thirds.
I also use one of the elements as a guide
to highlight my margin for the letter.
The element can be the address information, the logo,
or just a mark.
Letterheads have a job to do.
And it's nice to help the driver.
The letterhead may also have an accompanying second sheet,
blank if the budget is an issue,
but use the same paper as the letterhead.
Or the logo is printed with no other information.
A document with 10 sheets of letterhead,
containing all the content stapled together,
looks like 10 individual documents.
A good letterhead can be wild and fun
or classic and refined.
The client's tone sets this.
The most important thing not to forget
is that it needs to hold a legible letter
and be so incredible that nobody will ever discard it.