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Graphic Design

Business Card Examples, Printing Samples and Design Ideas

Business Card Examples, Printing Samples and Design Ideas

1 Sided Business Cards Samples

These design examples show how well designed business cards with professional quality printing can have more impact and be remembered more than a plain card, enhancing the success of your branding, marketing and sales efforts.
 

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Double Sided Business Card Samples

These design ideas show how doubling the real estate and presentation space with a two sided business card gives you a lot more opportunity for making the case for your business services or product.

2 sided business card sample double business card sample 2 sided business card 2 sided color business card 2 sided business card example sample 2 sided business card double business card example double business card exmple

 

Vertical Business Card Examples

Full color vertical business card designs allow for different design presentations and can be more unique and interesting.

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Folded Business Cards Examples

Get four times the space to share your business information and marketing message. These can be used like a mini-brochure or catalog, getting a lot more information into the hands of your prospective clients and contacts.

folded business card folded business card sample

For quality business card templates use Freepik.com

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About RGB and CMYK

Important Information About RGB and CMYK

Many graphics software programs give you the choice to work in either RGB or CMYK. These are called “color spaces”. Scanners, phones, and digital cameras create images using combinations of just three colors: Red, Green and Blue (called “RGB”). These are the primary colors of light, which computers use to display images on your screen. Printing presses print full color pictures using a different set of colors, the primary colors of pigment: Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow and Black (called “CMYK”). This is “4-color process” or “full-color” printing that comprises the majority of magazines and marketing materials you see every day.


 

It’s Best If You do the RGB-to-CMYK Conversion of Your Images

You will have more control over the appearance of your printed piece if you convert all of the images from RGB to CMYK before sending them to us. When we receive RGB images, we do a standard-value conversion to CMYK, which may not be perfectly to your liking. We want you to be happy, so please, take the time to prepare your file properly. We cannot be responsible for sub-par results if you furnish your images in RGB. Even though monitors always use RGB to display colors, the colors you see on your monitor will more closely match the final printed piece if you are viewing them in the CMYK color space.

Be aware that it is possible to see colors in RGB that you can’t make with CMYK.

They are said to be “out of the CMYK color gamut”. What happens is that the RGB-to-CMYK translator just gets as close as possible to the appearance of the original and that’s as good as it can be. It’s something that everyone in the industry puts up with. So it’s best to select any colors you use for fonts or other design elements in your layout using CMYK definitions instead of RGB. That way, you will have a better idea of how they will appear in your printed piece. Here’s a common example: many programs translate the 100% Blue in RGB into a somewhat purple-looking color in CMYK. We recommend a CMYK value of 100-65-0-0 to get a nice clean blue. Working in the CMYK color space allows you to select the CMYK recipe, or “screen build”, that gives you the results you want.

 

Here are some examples of how various RGB colors to CYMK:

 

rgb colors

rgb colors
(what you see on screen)

cmyk colors

cmyk colors
(printing inks will do this)

how rgb colors print

rgb colors
(what you see on screen)

how cmyk colors print

cmyk colors
(printing inks will do this)

 

 

 

You most likely won’t notice this kind of color shift in a color photograph.

It is more likely to happen if you pick a very rich, vibrant color for a background or some other element of your layout. It probably won’t look bad, it just won’t look exactly the same. But it may not be noticeable at all either.
To purchase a color guide with over 3,000 process colors and their CMYK screen percentages visit the CreativePro Pantone store.

 

Converting to the CMYK Color Space

Here is a list of several common programs with instructions on how to make sure you are working in the CMYK color space. If your program or version is not listed here, don’t worry. Most of these instructions will apply to all versions of a program. If at any time you need further help, please call us for assistance. We are happy to talk you through the steps needed to get your document into the CMYK color space.

Microsoft Publisher 2000

Microsoft Publisher defaults to RGB. It is easy to convert everything to a CMYK color space or to start a new document using the CMYK color space.

Use the following menu options: Tools/Commercial Printing Tools/ Color Printing and select Process colors (CMYK). Please note that all images incorporated into a layout need to be linked and not embedded in order to maintain the CMYK color space within the image. Using the following menu options does this: Tools/Commercial Printing Tools/Graphics Manager and highlight the embedded image. Click Link and click Browse to locate the original file and link to it. You will then need to send both the images and the layout file to us for printing.

Microsoft Publisher 2003-2007 or later

Select File Tab, then select Info. Select Commercial Print Settings. Select Choose Color Model, then Select Process Colors (CMYK)

Adobe Photoshop

If the file already exists select the following menu options: Image/Mode/CMYK When starting a new file select CMYK for the mode before clicking OK.

Corel Draw

Select each object you want to convert. Select the Fill tool and click Fill Color Dialog. Make sure the Color model is CMYK. For each object with an outline: Select the Outline tool and click the Outline Color Dialog. Make sure the Color model is CMYK.

Adobe Illustrator

Select File/Document color mode/CMYK color

Quark Xpress

Use the following menu options: Edit/Edit Colors/Show Colors in Use/Highlight Color and click Edit. Change model to CMYK and deselect Spot color. Remember to send us your layout and linked images!

Adobe InDesign

Use the following menu options: Window/Swatches and Window/Color. Double click color in Swatches Change color mode to CMYK and color type to Process. Any colors created in the document that are not in the Swatches palette, need to be changed to the CMYK color space. Select each object you want to convert and make sure the Color palette reflects the CMYK percentages. Click top right arrow in the palette to change to CMYK if necessary. Remember to send us your layout and linked images!

Adobe Pagemaker

Use the following menu options: Window/Show Colors. Double click “colors” in palette and select Model to be CMYK and Type to be Process. Please be advised that Pagemaker does not successfully represent CMYK color on the monitor.

The following programs do not have the capability to convert to CMYK. No worry, we will convert it for you free of charge!

Adobe Photoshop LE
Adobe PhotoDeluxe
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Powerpoint
Microsoft Works
Microsoft PhotoDraw
Picture It Publishing


If you do not see your program listed here, or are having difficulty converting RGB to the CMYK color space, please call us at 800-930-2423 for further assistance.

For more info on color see: Guide to Using Color and Ink in Commercial Printing

 

 

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Build a Calendar in InDesign

Learn step by step how to easily build a calendar in InDesign using a script and free templates.

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Build a Calendar in InDesign

Build a Calendar in InDesign

Everyone needs a calendar sooner or later. Learn how to easily build one inside InDesign using a script we’ve provided for you.
by: David Blatner

I’m always amazed at how many people need to make calendars: big calendars, small calendars, one-month calendars, full-year calendars. Fortunately, InDesign offers a “make me a calendar” feature… no, sorry, not really. But it’s so easy to make a calendar in InDesign that it’s as though the program did have such a feature. The trick is to download a template or script that does a lot of the work for you.


Use a Template

One of the best and easiest ways to make a calendar is to use a template designed by someone else. Search for the word “calendar” in the InDesign section at the Adobe exchange and you’ll find a number of free templates.
 
While most are year-specific, there are a couple called “25-year calendars,” such as the clever one rusty Wright built. these contain 28 different master pages, each of which reflect one possible month layout. For example, if January 1 begins on a Monday, you’d apply that particular master page layout to your January document page.
 
You can also find calendar templates for a small fee. Chuck Green’s The InDesign Ideabook includes several calendars on its accompanying disc. note that most of these templates have paragraph styles for each calendar element, so changing the typefaces and overall look and feel of the calendar is typically as simple as editing a few styles.
 

Use a Script

If you need more flexibility than a template offers, consider using a script to build your calendar for you. One of the most popular and easiest scripts available is called Calendar Wizard, written by Scott Selberg (based on ideas and code written by Jan Suhr, Robert Cornelius, and Steve Nichols). Here’s how it works.
 

InDesign Scripts panel1 – Download, install, and run

Calendar Wizard is available here.InDesign Scripts panel
 
After you download and unzip it, install it by putting it inside the InDesign > Presets > Scripts folder (in CS2) or inside the InDesign > Scripts > Scripts Panel folder (in CS3).
 
Note that this gives you four files: the script to make the calendar, a script to realign the calendars, a script to fit a calendar to a frame, and a readMe file with lots of good information on how the script works and how to use it.
 
After installation, you’ll immediately find it in InDesign’s Scripts panel (Window > Automation > Scripts). To run it, double-click on it in the panel (Figure 1). If you get an error at this point, simply open a document, then double-click on the script again.
 

2 – Choose the Date Range

The first two items in the Calendar Wizard dialog box (Figure 2) are straightforward: They let you choose the starting and ending months and year(s) for your calendar. You can pick any year from 2004 to 2017. If you were hoping for 2018, you’ll have to wait until next year; the script looks only 10 years ahead.
 
InDesign Calendar Wizard
 

3 – Pick the Calendar Options

You can choose English, German, French, or Spanish from the Language pop-up menu to change the way the text appears (Figure 3). Next, pick whether you want the left column to be a Sunday or a Monday.
 
Note that some months take up only five rows and some take six. (If February 1 lands on a Sunday, it’ll take 4 rows.) In general, you should choose Auto from the Date Rows pop-up menu, but if you want to force all the months to the same number of rows, you can choose that here.
 
If you turn on the Include Mini-Calendar checkbox, you’ll get small versions of the previous and next month’s calendars inset into each month’s calendar. This takes longer to build and creates many more objects on your page, but it can be a good addition to one-month-per-page wall calendars.
 

Adding Holidays to Your Calendar

While version .9 of Calendar Wizard is on the Adobe Exchange, the script’s author, Scott Selberg, has provided us with the newest version of Calendar Wizard at http://downloads.indesignmag.com/ supportfiles/. Version 2.0 has several new features, including creating and applying table styles and the ability to insert the names of holidays into the proper date locations automatically.
 
The trick to adding holiday names to your calendar is to type them using a special format into an InDesign text frame. Each holiday should be on its own line, and in this format:
1-1:New Year’s Day
2-14:Valentine’s Day
 
Don’t put a zero at the beginning of each month! Just the month, hyphen, then date.
 
You can find lists of holidays on the Web at timeandate.com and on Wikipedia.
 

4 – Choose Layer Options

One of the coolest things about CalendarWizard is that it can make good use of the Layers panel. If you turn off all the checkboxes in the Layer Options section, the whole calendar is placed on Layer 1. However, I prefer to turn on all three checkboxes to produce the following:
  • The calendar grid (along with numbers and text) on a layer called “calendar”
  • An empty duplicate of the grid on a layer called “calText,” which lets you easily add text at the top of each calendar cell.
  • An empty duplicate of the grid on a layer called “calHolidays,” which lets you easily add the names of holidays at the bottom of each cell. If you add holidays automatically (see the sidebar “Adding Holidays to Your Calendar”), this layer is always created for you.
 

5 – Pick a Page Setup

The last settings in the dialog box control how calendars are laid out on the page. You can pick how many months should fit on each page, whether the page layout should be portrait or landscape, and whether to create a new document or fit the calendar into the current document (Figure 4).
 
If you had a text frame selected on your page when you launched the script, you can also choose Current Text Frame from the Page pop-up menu. In that case, the script places the calendar (but only a single month) into that frame. That’s particularly handy when you need a calendar to fit a specific size and position on your page. When the pop-up menu is set to Auto, and you have a text frame selected, the script automatically places the calendar into that frame.
 

6 – Create the Calendar

When you click OK, the script jumps into action and builds the calendar (Figure 5). This can take up to a minute or more (especially with minicalendars), so be patient.
 
Unless you’ve targeted a text frame for a singlemonth calendar or you have a text frame selected in your current document, the script builds a new document for you. The size and margins of that document are based on the last-used document preset (that is, whatever you last chose in the Document Preset pop-up menu in the New Document dialog box).
 

7 – Add Custom Text

This script creates calendars as tables inside text frames. The numbers and text are in the cells of one table, and—if you added a calHoliday layer or a calText layer—you’ll find one or more duplicate tables on other layers. If you want to insert additional holidays into the calendar, open the Layers panel and Option/Alt-click on the lock column next to calHolidays layer (Figure 6). This locks all the other layers, and leaves this layer unlocked. Now you can click with the Type tool inside a table cell and type the holiday. Similarly, to add to the Text layer, Option/Alt-click next to the calText layer to lock all the other layers.
 

8 – Format the Calendar

The calendars that CalendarWizard creates aren’t exactly beautiful right out of the box. Fortunately, the script builds a number of paragraph styles, table styles (CS3 only), and color swatches. Edit the styles and your calendars update to look far better. If you’re going to print your calendar, check the color space of the three color swatches it creates: DayCellBackground, DayTextColor, and Holiday. In the publicly available version .9, they’re all specced as RGB colors. If you use the script attached to this PDF, they’re likely in CMYK mode. But if they’re RGB, then right-click (or Control-click with a one-button mouse on a Mac) on each of these colors in the Swatches panel, choose Swatch Options, and set the Color Mode to CMYK. The two DayCell swatches control the color of the text and the cells behind the day names (“Monday,” “Tuesday,” and so on). The Holiday swatch controls the color of any holidays you type on the calHoliday layer.
 
The first paragraph style you should change is the “cal_base” style, on which all the other styles are based. By default, the font is set to 12-point Times. Change this font, and it will change throughout the calendar.
 
If you’re using Calendar Wizard 2.0 in InDesign CS3, you can also edit the styles in the Cell Styles and Table Styles panels (Figure 7). For example, if you want the cell containing the month name to have a particular fill color, change the cal_header cell style. To change the border around the frames, change the table style called “calendar.”
 
InDesign Calendar layout example
 

Laying out a Document Vertically

InDesign is so flexible, you’d think it would be easy to lay out a spread vertically instead of horizontally—so that the spine is at the top and bottom, which many wall calendars require. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy. However, Anne-Marie Concepción came up with a great workaround you can read in full at InDesignSecrets.com. Here’s the gist:
  1. Lay out the entire spread on a single page. For a 12-month calendar, you’d create 12 tall pages, each containing the image and calendar (Figure A).
  2. Save the InDesign document.
  3. Create a new InDesign document at the finished page size (half the height of the calendar).
  4. Place the original InDesign document into the new one. (If you’re using CS2 or earlier, you’ll need to export a PDF of the tall document first and import that instead.) The first page of the new document should contain the top half of the tall document; the second page contains the lower half; and so on. If you used bleed guides in the original, full-height document, you’ll need to adjust for that in the Import Options dialog box when you import it.
In this model, you design in the tall document and print from the half-height one (Figure B). Then, whenever you edit the tall document, update the modified links in the Links panel of the print version.
 
By the way, if you’re making more than one calendar, just set the styles in one document and then choose Load Paragraph Styles in the Paragraph Styles panel menu to copy them from one file to another.
 

9 – Resize or Realign the Calendars

When you’ve created holiday and text layers, it can be frustrating if one of the grids gets out of alignment (Figure 8). Let’s say you change the height of the month name to be too large for its row. You can use the Type tool to adjust the row height, but now the holiday and text tables are out of alignment. Simply turn to a second script called realignCalendarTables.js, which comes with CalendarWizard.
 
Double-click the realignCalendarTables.js script to launch it. If you have one of the tables selected, it assumes that the selected table is the master—the one all other tables should match. If no calendar frames are selected, the script asks which calendars you want to realign (I usually choose All) and which layer should it assume is the master calendar. This script is easy and painless and saves a huge amount of time (Figure 9).
 
If your frame size changes, you’ll want to use the fitCalendarToFrame.jsx script, which does pretty much exactly what it says: The calendar stretches out to match the new frame size. Note that if you’ve adjusted rows or columns, those changes are lost—all the cells are of equal size after you use this script. Figure 7: CS3’s Cell Styles and Table Styles panels.
 
InDesign Calendar Page Examples
 

Cool Calendars

Building calendars will never be a snap, but with these tools you can change it from a painful, time consuming chore to one you can accomplish quickly. Whether you use a template or a script, you’ll no longer curse under your breath when a client needs a new calendar.

David Blatner is the Editorial Director of InDesign Magazine, the co-author of Real World InDesign CS3, and the co-host of indesignsecrets.com.
More InDesign Tips and Tutorials.
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Text and Type for Printing

Best Quality Text for Printing

Raster vs. Vector Text

  • Raster graphics are bitmap images made up of individual pixels/dots, laid out in a grid. Raster images have a fixed resolution (dots per inch) and lose quality when enlarged. Not recommended for text, as edges will likely appear jagged.
  • Vector graphics are graphics created with mathematical lines and curves. Vector graphics are resolution independent and scalable. Recommended for text, as edges will be clear and crisp.
raster vs vector text quality
BAD                                                     GOOD
Raster type will print blurry & fuzzy   Vector type will print clear & crisp

How to get vector text:

Colored Text

There are two things to be aware of when working with colored text:
  1. Due to their physical limitations, all printing presses may experience slight variations in the positioning of the cyan, magenta, yellow and black plates. Any deviance among the four plates is called misregisration.
    • The printed result of misregistration is colored “halos” around your smaller, finer elements such as text or thin lines.
    • We recommend that colored text is used only at sizes larger than 12 point. This also applies when you are using white knock-out text.
  2. Light colors built of only one or two colors may appear to have rough edges when printed. Adding a color or two to the color build, or using a darker mix of colors, will help to smooth the edges and improve text legibility and appearance.
    • Colored text should be at least 12 point.
colored type printing problems
BAD                                                             BAD                                                       BAD
Colored type smaller than 12            Knock-out type smaller than 12            Light text built of only one or two
point is subject to misregistration   point is subject to misregistration colors    can appear jagged when printed


Black & Rich Black
Printed blacks are not all the same.
  • Computers display color with RGB light, while presses print with CMYK ink.
    On computer monitors, all blacks will generally appear consistent. But on press, different ink combinations can create a wide range of blacks: warm black, cold black, green black, etc. It is important to know the CMYK builds of any blacks used in your project so that you can achieve the results you want.
cmyk black builds
Black border looks consistent on screen
 
When printed, inconsistent black builds will be obvious
Some Guidelines:
  • When black is the text color, we recommend using 100% black (0 C / 0 M / 0 Y / 100 K) for crispest results.
  • If you have a solid black area larger than two square inches, we recommend using a “rich black” to achieve a thicker, darker and more uniform color. We recommend a rich black color build of 50 C / 35 M / 15 Y / 100 K.
  • When you have two abutting backgrounds, adjoining color builds should match to avoid color inconsistencies.
  • If your piece has a black or dark color background, we highly recommend that you add a coating to your piece. Dark backgrounds are more likely to show fingerprints, scuffing and smudges, which the applied coating can help minimize.

Laying Type Over Images
Be careful when using images and graphics for backgrounds. Text of any color can become very hard to read when placed over a busy image.
  • The secret is to lighten the image a lot – more than you may think is necessary.
text over image example
   It can be difficult to read text over an image
 
Dramatically lighten the image for easy reading

Sending Fonts
We need the same fonts that you use in your file to be able to successfully reproduce your order on press. It is not necessary to send us standard fonts, but we do need any special fonts that you have used or purchased. This usage is allowed by copyright law.
To upload your font:
  1. Go to the Start menu on your computer
  2. Go to Search/For Files or Folders
  3. Type in the name of your font and search your computer for the file
  4. Once the file pops up, copy the file by right clicking on the icon, scrolling down and clicking “copy”
    • Type 1 fonts contain two parts with the extensions .PFM and .PFB. Both are needed in order for the font to be functional.
    • True type fonts only require one file that uses the extension .TTF.
  5. Paste the font file(s) onto your desktop; do this by right clicking, scrolling down and clicking “paste”
  6. Go to our file upload page
  7. Click “Browse”, go to your desktop, click on the font file you pasted and then click “Upload”
    • Mac users must compress font files prior to upload to avoid corruption.

 

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Letterhead Design and Printing

Designing Letterhead for Lasting Impact

Even in our digital age, companies still rely on printed letterhead for professional communications. Contracts, client or fundraising letters, internal memos and other company documentation still make their best impression on commercially-printed letterhead, especially with matching envelopes.


Letterhead Design Tips

Your letterhead reflects your organization’s image, personality and quality. Express who you are on paper through the different design elements on your letterhead or your letterhead and envelope sets. Keeping the look and feel consistent with your other marketing materials is also important for reinforcing a professional identity. Follow these tips to dress up your letters:
letterhead designs

  • Overall design: How do you want to come across? Solid and steady, quirky and creative, or stylish and sophisticated? A simple design with your logo and contact info may be appropriate for the type of business you have, or you may need a stronger dose of graphics to create the right image.
  • Letterhead Content: Baseline is your company name, address, phone numbers and email address. Also include your logo, company website and slogan, if you have them, on your personal or corporate letterhead. Be creative on where you put the info, you’re not limited to the top of the page!
  • Fonts: What fonts or typestyles best reflect your business? Fonts can be formal or fun, classy or cool – try a few and see what fits with your logo and your style. Or, use what you already have on your other marketing materials. Make sure the fonts you use are readable and not too small – generally stay between 9 pt. and 12 pt.
  • Color: If your company logo is usually black and white, printing your letterhead in black ink only may suit your image just fine. Otherwise, use color to grab attention and reinforce your brand identity. Even the background can include some color, if it’s light enough for the text of your letter to be read whether printed or handwritten.

And don’t forget companion printed envelopes to make a great impression! You’ll generally want to keep your return address at the top left for postal use, but you can be just as creative as on the letterhead in look and feel with fonts and colors on your envelopes. Designing and printing your letterhead and envelopes in tandem creates a unified brand image for best impact.

How do you look on paper?

A great design is only one half of the blueprint for sensational stationery printing. The paper you choose for your letterhead printing is just as important. Look for the following characteristics:

  • Finish: Smooth or textured, you’ll want a quality uncoated stock that you can run through your laser or desktop printer without smudging. Smooth stocks show off your color designs the best and are less expensive and more commonly available and cost effective, while textured stocks such as linen or laid offer a nice tactile, high-end feel. If you want to match your letterhead more closely to your business cards or brochures printed on glossy or dull/matte coated stocks, go for smooth stock.
  • Weight: Don’t settle for less than premium-weight paper for your letterhead and envelopes – the standard bond paper most offices use for copying and printing won’t give you the sense of quality you want to convey in your official letters. Look for 70 lb text or 24 lb bond. You can feel the difference!
  • Color: While plenty of options are out there for colored paper, you can get the same effect by using a colored background in your design that’s printed on often less-expensive white paper. Be aware that ink prints differently on colored paper than on white, so determine what you’re trying to achieve before deciding on a colored stock for your letterhead.
  • Sustainability: You don’t have to sacrifice quality for environmental responsibility. Choose environmentally responsible papers, or ask about fine writing papers that include recycled content.

Work with your designer or favorite graphic design software to put your ideas in motion and create unique letterhead printing that beautifully shows off your business for just pennies a piece.

Need help with your next letterhead project?
Give our helpful experts a call at 800-930-2423.
 
 
 

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Envelope Printing and Design

Eye-Catching Envelope Printing and Design

Envelope SizesDon’t let your important correspondence and marketing efforts go straight from the mailbox to the trash bin with plain, dull, off-the-shelf envelopes. Give your printed envelopes some visual flair to boost your mailing response rates and make it more likely that your critical communications get read promptly.

With the abundance of different envelope sizes, paper stocks and features, printed envelopes are a versatile vehicle for your brand identity. We’ve got the following tips to help you put some pizzazz in your envelope printing.


Envelope Design and Marketing

How much attention do you give plain white envelopes? Envelopes are handy ways to deliver marketing materials anywhere in the world. Whether it’s a greeting card, a fundraising letter or a collection of product information, if it’s worth sending, it’s worth sending in a compelling package.

Your number one goal for your envelope design is to pique recipients’ interest to open it up and see what’s inside. The key is to grab attention quickly through use of color, images and text. An important secondary goal is to build brand awareness by making your envelope printing fit into the larger scope of your brand identity. Keeping your designs cohesive on your business cards, letterhead, envelopes and other marketing materials will put forth a professional image and create the strongest brand impact.

Color – While black and white can make a bold statement with the right graphics, color usually packs a bigger punch. If you already have an attractive color logo, place it prominently on the front of the envelope. Or use backgrounds and/or images that reflect your company’s personality. The beauty of custom envelopes is that they are printed flat, then “converted” into envelopes, so your design can wrap around the envelope, or you can inject visual appeal by contrasting the back or flap.
Envelope designs
Be sure to keep the top right corner available with a light background for a postal indicia imprint if you’re having a mailing house send your mailing.
Images – Creative use of images in your stationery can really help you stand out from the crowd. Sometimes all it takes is a hint of an image faded in the background to instantly set the tone about who you are and what you offer.
Envelope design ideas
Text – To create a sense of urgency or draw special attention, use bursts of texts such as “Special Discount”, “Urgent Time-dated Materials” or “Limited Space – Act Now!” Just don’t overdo it, the envelope is the teaser – the contents of your envelope should do the selling. The real estate on a #10 Envelope allows more room than you think to get a message across. On larger envelopes, such as 9 x 12 Booklet Envelopes, you’ll have more space to play with, although a simple tag line and a pleasing design may do the trick to avoid your envelope getting tossed without a second glance.
 

Paper Quality and Sustainability

An important part of the design is the paper you choose for your envelope printing. Smooth or textured, you’ll want a quality uncoated stock that you can run through your laser or desktop printer for addressing. Smooth 70 lb. stocks, show off your color designs the best and are the most cost effective, while textured 24 lb writing stocks such as linen or laid offer a nice tactile, high-end feel. To match your letterhead and envelopes more closely to your business cards or brochures printed on glossy or dull/matte coated stocks, go for smooth stock.

With custom envelopes, you don’t have to sacrifice quality for environmental responsibility. Choose environmentally responsible papers, or ask about fine writing papers that include recycled content.

Envelopes are one of those things that everyone forgets about and takes for granted. Put some thought into designing these precious packages to ensure you connect with your customers and get a fair shake in your direct mail marketing efforts.

See more corporate identity and business stationery envelope designs.
 
 

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