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  The Business Card
Paper Stock, Business Card Size and Colors
Things to Avoid
Letterhead Design
Custom Envelope Design
Corporate Stationery Design
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The Business Card

Business cards are an essential part of a marketer's arsenal; a key to your complete stationery design. When you hand someone your business card, they will form an immediate opinion about your company. Your business card does more than tell people how to find you: it says something about your company - its mission, its culture, and its goals. Everything from the colors, fonts, the texture, shade, and gloss of the paper you print on says something about you.

Business cards generally consist of a single card stock sheet with an individual's contact information, including name, company name, and company address, phone, fax, email, and website address. Don't make the mistake of trying to cram every bit of contact information onto your business card. If you need to include a great deal of information, use the back side of the card as well.

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Paper Stock, Business Card Size, and Colors

Most business cards are printed on 100-lb. glossy, professional white or off-white stock. This is generally the least expensive option. Many business choose to use specialty stocks to give their business cards extra flair.

Choose your stock carefully because it says as much about you and your company as the words the card. You can choose a vivid, eye-catching color, a subtle textured stock, or stock with high recycled content, among others. Each type of paper makes a statement about your company.

The most common business card size is 2" x 3.5". We recommend that you stick with a standard size due to the fact that many business card scanners and business card holders are made to fit this size.

Over the last several years - full color has become much less expensive. Since the vast majority of cards are printed in black ink on white card stock, adding color is a very simple way to make your card stand out.

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Things to Avoid

If you put a picture on your business card - make sure it has an up-to-date picture.

Watch out for free business card offers on the web. As this offer sounds very compelling, these cards often have a logo or text on the back saying that "This is a free business card - to get yours... " This looks very unprofessional if you plan to hand out your cards in a business type atmosphere.

We do not recommend making your own business cards as this process is often time consuming and will be much more expensive than a profssional. It is almost garanteed you will get a lower rate by hiring a professional in the long run.

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Letterhead Design

Letterhead Design Packages & Tips -- A great letterhead package, with stunning business cards, is the most critical of marketing materials. Along with an effective logo, a letterhead package lends credibility and respectability to the business it represents.

Making a Good letterhead Impression -- All the marketing materials you produce for your business should bring you revenue. Sometimes your business card is the only impression a potential customer has of your business before contacting you. A first rate business package should make it easy for your prospects to understand what you do and the quality of business offers.

Letterhead Cost -- Looking for embossing, four color or foil on your letterhead package? These special treatments look beautiful and make a spectacular impression. However, if you don’t have deep pockets, there are many ways to trim costs back. Standard two color stationery design can be affordable and striking. Are you a start-up? We can make you look like a seasoned veteran. Are you seeking a new corporate image to match your success? When we designs your new look, everyone will sit up and take notice.

Letterhead Design
-- Want a look that is fresh and innovative? We can do it. Looking for a conservative corporate image with flair? We can do it. Is quirky and creative your style? We can do it. No matter what your look, consider an inventive approach to your business card. Two sided, fold over and mini-brochure business cards are both cost effective and stand out from the crowd.

Getting Started -- Once you have accepted our estimate, we will begin the layout process. Our team has a time-tested method for determining your stationery design style preferences. This means you won’t be confronted with imprecise descriptions of your vision. After all, our job is to take your vision from the abstract to the concrete.

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Custom Envelope Design

Envelopes
Commercial business envelopes come in several standard sizes and are normally expressed by a number such as #9 or #10. See the chart below for a list of the most common sizes. Most business envelopes are manufactured using 16 lb. to 40 lb. paper stock. Personal envelopes are also available in a wide variety of sizes and colors.

Commercial Envelopes Measurements

Commercial business envelopes sizes are often referenced by a number such as #9 or #10. The chart below includes all of the most common types used by printers today.

Size Width x Length
• #6 1/4 3 1/2" x 6"
• #6 3/4 3 5/8 x 6 1/2"
• #7 3 3/4" x 6 3/4"
• #7 3/4 3 7/8" x 7 1/2"
• #8 5/8 3 5/8" x 8 5/8"
• #9 3 7/8" x 8 7/8"
• #10 4 1/8" x 9 1/2"
• #11 4 1/2" x 10 3/8"
• #12 4 3/4" x 11"
• #14 5" x 11 1/2"


Substance Weights for Envelopes
• 16 lb. Used for overseas air mail envelopes.
• 20 lb. Used for commercial envelopes where strength and opacity is not a factor.
• 24 lb. Used for most open side official and commercial envelopes.
• 28 lb. Used for most open and catalog envelopes and large (i.e. 11, 12 and 14) size commercial envelopes.
• 32 lb. Used for heavy duty envelopes and clasp envelopes.
• 40 lb. Used for large envelopes, heavy duty envelopes or envelopes used for storage and frequent reference.

Envelope types
Commercial - Commercial envelopes are normally used for letterhead, invoices, statements, direct marketing mailings, and reply mail. Come in cartons of 2500-5000.

Booklet - Booklet envelopes (open-sided envelopes) are often used to mail annual reports, brochures, sales literature and small documents. These types of envelopes are normally used in high volume because they can be automatically inserted. Come in cartons of 500-1000.

Catalog - Catalog envelopes are used to mail catalogs, large booklets and other high weight articles. Catalog envelopes (open-ended envelopes) do not have the machine insert option. They are often hand packed. These type of envelopes often include a metal clasp. Come in cartons of 500-1000.

Invitation - Often used in formal occasions. These types of envelopes are characterized by their pointed flaps and enclosures. They can come with or without an embossed (raised) border panel. Come in cartons of 2500-5000.

A Size - Announcements, small booklets, brochures, less formal invitations, and promotional pieces. These envelopes have a square flap and come in a wide range of finishes and colors. What happens most often is enclosures are produced custom to fit within the envelope. For this reason they do not have raised panels. Come in cartons of 1000-2500.

Shipping/Packaging - These types of envelopes are typically used for, guess what, shipping items.

These are the types that most envelope companies will offer: Paperboard, Tyvek, Corrugated, Bubble, and Plastic.

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Corporate Stationery Design

Double check contact details -- If there is a typing error anywhere on your stationery design, you really don't want it in your phone number or address. Triple check the contact details and then triple check them again.

Print business card names in one colour -- Names and individual contact information on business cards should be in one spot colour (or black of using full colour printing). This makes it much cheaper to change when the company changes staff and need new business cards

Avoid unusual stylish dimensions and shapes -- Printers are designed for standard sizes of paper. Envelopes are designed for standard sizes of paper. Wallets are designed for standard sizes of business card. Filing cabinets are designed for standard sizes of paper. Need we go on?

Print it all together in one go -- Arrange for all of your stationery to be printed at the same time. Use the same colours throughout and spend much less than if you produce it piecemeal. Also, your colours will match from one piece of stationery to another.

Invest in good quality paper / card -- For a comparatively small increase in cost, corporate stationery can really stand out if it is produced on good quality paper which will look and feel superior to the standard photocopier paper.

Specify laser-safe stock -- If corporate stationery is going to be used in a laser copier then make sure that the paper used is suitable for this purpose. Not all of the high quality papers are suitable for laser printing.

More is less -- If unsure of how much stationery is needed, make estimates higher rather than lower. Once a print job is set up the unit cost is relatively cheap. It can be expensive to rerun a print job at a later date because you run out of stationery.

Cater to faxing -- If you are planning to use letterheads for fax purposes then reserve a space to print 'Fax Transmission' and other fax details near the top.

Leave plenty of room for references -- If letterheads include space for recipients' references, plenty of room should be made available for the purpose. Some company references can be fairly lengthy.

Design to Template -- If the stationery is going to used with letter or fax templates included in a Wordprocessor (such as those included with Microsoft Word) then the design should fit the templates. Research this first since it could save you time and money in the future.

Affordable and effective Logo Design - Business Cards - Envelopes - Letterheads Design and more.

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