When it comes to designing company stationery, many designers and clients view their envelope as a ‘throwaway’ – the process involving slapping on the company logo, a return address, and we’re all set. In order to maximize the ‘ah-ha’ factor of any corporate identity work-up, shouldn’t we look at ALL the various stationery components – business card, letterhead and envelope – as important? After all, isn’t an envelope the first thing many will see before viewing the enclosed letterhead and/or business card? Having said that, there are some caveats to envelope design and it’s probably a good idea to understand what is, and what isn’t possible when it comes to designing an envelope, and how some designs, while visually nifty and all, may cost a small fortune to reproduce.
Firstly, printing of an envelope, generally speaking, is quite different that that for a letterhead or business card. More often than not, printers will use envelopes that are already constructed (with flaps and pockets already in place) and this represents some unique challenges on the press. An envelope is not flat, so it tends to move around a little when being printed – air can get captured inside the envelope – something which has to be factored into the design and the tolerances for registration are not as exacting as for other printed pieces. Also, it’s very difficult to use bleed printing or artwork on a pre-constructed envelope (unless the envelope is printed BEFORE construction – which is fantastic, but can lead to very expensive production charges). Because of press slippage, it’s also best to avoid four colour process printing to avoid registration problems. It’s more effective (and more economical) to utilize either a spot colour or one colour version of your logo and business information. Now, that’s not to say you CAN’T feature full colour bleed artwork on your envelope design, or that you shouldn’t – you can. It’s just going to be more expensive to print your envelopes if you choose to do so.
In terms of what goes on an envelope design – well, that’s pretty well standardized. Company logo, name, return address – maybe a tagline or call to action. Generally speaking, we don’t put phone numbers on envelopes (though you can if you want). Recently, the debate has become whether or not to feature your company’s web address on the envelope design. And why not? After all, shouldn’t your web address be on every single scrap of paper that leaves your desk? And while an envelope is often headed quickly for the ’round file’, the few seconds it’s in front of the potential clients eyeballs should certainly be a factor in the design. See our main site for more on stationery design. For those of you who are new to this whole printing deal, we’ve put together a printing primer – some tips for working with printers – should help you avoid some unexpected nasties when it comes to getting your new corporate material printed for the first time. You can read more about the Alter Eat Go (pictured above) project here.
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