- For years, I reprinted stationery
from my firm every few months.
We printed contracts on it, invoices,
letters, and purchase orders.
It was a work horse, and it was fun to design.
Today I have a box of letterhead, envelopes,
and mailing labels, and I used 10 last year.
There just isn't the demand for hard copy
and snail mail today.
If your contracts, invoices, and bulk of communication
are happening online, do you need any of it printed?
Call me fuddy-duddy, but I say, "yes."
They may be few but there still will be times
when a hard copy on your letterhead is required
or adds a special touch.
You may only need 50 of each,
and you can print these digitally
with a good digital printer,
or a company such as moo.com.
Like a stationery system for a client,
you need a letterhead, blank second sheet
on the same paper stock, #10 envelope,
crack and peel mailing label, and business cards.
Let's revisit our designer's brand attributes.
It's important to stay true to these
with the design of these items.
And it's important to remember that
the job of the letterhead is to hold a letter,
not do everything except take you to lunch.
You're not a bank, so the design can be more playful,
but you shouldn't slip into cute or silly.
Clients will hire someone they can trust
with a valuable asset, their brand,
not the funny rooster design company.
Looking at some of the stationery systems
from the industry's past giants,
it's clear that simplicity and confidence were the message.
Now I'll admit that I have trouble with that,
so I design two letterheads,
one that is very simple and straightforward,
and another one with a design on the back side.
I can use the more conservative design
for some communication, and the more playful
version for others.
The irony of the situation is that even though
the demand for printed stationery is less,
it is more important than ever.
Twenty years ago, a client would receive
hundreds of letters a week, now he or she
might be sent only two or three.
If yours is one of them, it needs
to be beautifully printed with stellar typography.
If you want to take an in-depth look
at stationery systems, check out my course
on Marketing Collateral.