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Kokokabana Mexican Grill letterhead & cards. Due to the four color process nature of the logo, the business cards and letterheads of this project had the freedom of full-color, but required a restrained design sense in order to maximize the visual impact of the main logo and character. Our designers utilized some of the design elements of the logo in order to tie everything together.
Foamation. The simplicity of the Foamation logo was carried over into the letterhead design. With such vibrant colors, the graphic stands out, is clearly identifiable - everything the clients asked for.
Random Task. When it comes to letterhead design, color - while secondary to the actual design - is critical for subsequent applications such as printing in the 'real world'. The Random Task logo and letterhead design project is a perfect example why color should be very carefully selected during initial phases. The client was originally interested in the old Microsoft Internet Blue, a color that was prevalent in the company's old websites. Alas, that color cannot be reproduced in traditional printing (it is an RGB color without any four color process or spot color equivalents). Take a look at the image above - a side-by-side comparison of the web safe blue requested, and a compromise blue that will reproduce across all mediums including printing. Bottom line - just because your letterhead looks 'snazzy' on a monitor does not mean that it will work when you take it to a printer.
Once we had settled on an appropriate color, the 'cyclone' aspect of the logo was carried over into the company's stationery & letterhead design, and the muted color captured the qualities the client desired.
Tanning Factory. Sometimes design simplicity is called for. Case in point - the stationery layout for this tanning salon project. The letterhead is stripped down to the bare necessities - company logo, and contact info - with the addition of a few design elements and a watermark (when using a watermark it's critical to make sure that it's adequately 'screened back' - light enough - otherwise it will conflict with any correspondence that's written on the sheet. The business card, also shown, maintained this theme.
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Once you've finished the design phase, it's on to having your letterhead printed. Many of you will choose to work directly with a local shop, but may be new to working with offset printers and some of the jargon involved. Here's a few pointers on working with your printer and how to insure there's no surprises when your new letterheads are delivered.
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From a design perspective, letterhead artwork that bleeds can be visually appealing, but can add dramatically to the cost of printing. When any artwork is placed on a printed piece, and the artwork is located on the absolute edge of the paper, it is said to 'bleed', referring to the artwork 'bleeding' off the edges of the page. In order to get images, color fields or artwork to 'bleed', we have to print the artwork on paper that is slightly larger than the desired size and trim it back. This can add significant cost to a printing job. In terms of printing letterheads on a desktop printer you should keep this in mind - most desktop printers cannot print 'bleeds' but rather need to place a margin (sometimes as large as 1/2" around the artwork) inside the edges of the sheet. If you're planning to print your letterhead personally using your PC, as opposed to using commercial printers, it's advisable that your artwork be set up accordingly. If you wish to print both commercially and personally, then you might want to have two sets of artwork files setup. This may cost a little more during the design phase, but well worth it for the flexibility. |
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If your letterhead has been designed as spot color material, it is critical that BEFORE having them commercially printed that you ALWAYS check your colors with a Pantone Color Swatch Book. This is the only way to insure that the colors contained in your letterhead will print as you planned. The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is the 'industry standard' for matching colors so if your printer tells you that they don't have one, select another printer. If you plan to print your letterheads on a personal printer, depending on the software you're using, it may not be able to reproduce spot colors accurately as the printer and software try to 'guess' what colors are contained in your artwork. If you're planning to print your letterhead personally, it's best to use CMYK colors - standard printing inks that personal printers use, and available at your local office supplies store. |
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If you're printing your letterhead commercially, always ask for a 'press proof' of your job. While it's sometimes difficult to get a proof that's completely accurate when using spot colors (most proofing systems are set up for CMYK and 4 color process) it will give you a rough idea, and will also allow you to check for typos and spelling errors before it's too late. Reprinting your letterheads because your phone number was incorrect is an expensive proposition. |
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If you're printing your letterhead, business card and envelope package on a combination of coated (glossy) and uncoated (matte) papers - typical with 'glossy' business cards and letterheads - keep in mind that the Coated and Uncoated surfaces may shift the colors and the colors may not match exactly across your stationery. Your printer can adjust for this by using different color inks for each part of your print job, but this may increase the price of the print run. It all depends on your focus - quality or economy. |
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Colors may not match exactly if you attempt to print spot color letterheads as a CMYK (four color process) job. Many printers will simply change the colors to CMYK in your original files - this is haphazard at best. There's a Pantone Spot to Process Formula book that allows you to choose CMKY equivalents to your spot colors. Use that beforehand, or ask an experienced designer to do it for you. Keep in mind that certain spot colors do not convert exactly. Also, if your printer is using a 'gang run' - grouping your letterheads with a number of other pieces on a large sheet - expect varying colors from run to run. This type of printing is designed to be cheap, not precise, and you're not paying for exacting color standards. Be realistic in your expectations. Gang printing is the type of printing used by most 'online' printers. |
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Copyright 2007 - The Logo Factory®. All rights reserved.
The letterhead design examples shown in our graphic design portfolio are the property of the respective copyright and/or trademark holders. Used by permission. All other rights reserved.
See our Classic Logos for older (1996 - 2002) examples. |
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| Yes! The Logo Factory designed the logos featured in our letterhead design examples.View more in our Logo Design Gallery. |
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| Want to get your letterheads professionally printed but your logo is in the incorrect format? See how our logo repair service can help. Turn that fuzzy old design into flawless new file formats that are ready to be professionally printed! |
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