Letterheads are important to give your business the professional look that will
attract customers. If you want to stand out from competitors, design a letterhead
that makes it easy for people to contact you and keep them coming back for
more. Here are 8 tips for designing an effective letterhead.
1) Use colors wisely.
Colors can be used in any number of ways when designing a letterhead, but if you
use them sparingly they create interest much faster than using too many colors
at once. The idea is not to overwhelm people with information, so make sure
there’s plenty of white space on the page as well as color where needed.
2) Keep it simple.
You want your letterhead design to be clean and uncluttered. Think of your
potential customers when you design the letterhead. Just because there is plenty
of space on the page doesn’t mean it has to be cluttered up with images or text.
A simple font will work just fine, so use one that’s easy to read so people can see
what you have to say quickly.
3) Make it easy to read.
When designing letterheads, the biggest mistake people make is that they don’t
use a large enough font. People spend very little time looking at letterheads, so
you have to get your message across quickly, but it’s equally important that the
font is readable. If the font is too small or too thin, nobody will take the time to
read it. The rule of thumb is that your letterhead should be approximately 12
points in size.
4) Only use what you need.
It’s a good idea to design a letterhead that includes all the necessary information
but doesn’t include anything more than absolutely necessary. You want people to
see your contact information — name, address, phone number, and email — but
you don’t need to include your full mailing address unless space is critical. You
might also consider including a tagline that summarizes what your company
does if the letterhead doesn’t have enough room for all this information.
5) Use letterheads just once.
The best way to get people to pay attention to your letterhead design is to use it
just once. You can have a different letterhead for every client if you want, but
using the same one repeatedly turns it into a piece of paper that’s simply filed
away in a drawer somewhere. Once people see your company name and logo on
a single sheet of paper, they’ll feel much more comfortable with you and that will
lead to increased sales.
6) Create a letterhead template.
The easiest way to design a professional-looking letterhead without going
through the hassle of re-creating images or text is to use a letterhead template.
These are available from many sources, but some good places to start looking
might be computer software websites, clip art websites or simply type your
company name into Google image search to find free images that can be used in
your letterhead design.
7) Create unique letterheads.
You might also consider creating unique letterheads for different types of
mailings. For example, if you’re sending out a newsletter to customers and
vendors, use a letterhead that features your company logo prominently so people
know it’s from you. For an email newsletter or a regular mailing to be sent
through the postal service, use a simple letterhead with just the necessary
information so people can easily contact you if they have any questions.
8) Make sure it fits in the envelope.
The last mistake people make when designing a letterhead is making it the wrong
size. Don’t assume that just because you’re printing your letterhead on
standard-sized paper that everyone else does as well. If it doesn’t fit, nobody will
use it and you’ll have wasted all your time and effort so be sure to double-check
before you print anything.
Creating a letterhead can be very frustrating sometimes. If it comes to that,
consider using Venngage — a free infographic maker that offers a wide range of
online letterhead designs for everyone. Here are some professional letterhead
examples from their website!
