How to look good on paper

It’s important to use stationery—letterhead, envelopes and business cards—that support your image.

Why you need it

Despite the prevalence and preference for electronic communications and marketing, you can still make a huge impact with a business card or handwritten note. So create a strong first impression with a clean and substantial look, says Peter Richardson of Meade Graphics in Markham, Ont.

Read: Don’t skimp on branding

How it helps

Your stationery alone may not drive business, but it reinforces your brand. Beyond your design and logo, the weight and crispness of the stationery sends a message.

Jason Cumbers, who owns Print 1 in Regina, Sask., likens your letterhead to the clothes you wear when greeting clients. “It should have some class.”

Cheap and flimsy paper stocks—like the sheets most people churn out of their home computers—can make people wonder about your attention to quality in other areas, adds Jim Isman, a partner at Hillside Printing in Victoria, B.C.

Read: Put your name on the street

Good to know

The information on your stationery—name, title, address—should be legible at first glance.

For business cards, front and centre near the logo is best, says Aaron Green, production manager at Kwik Kopy in Halifax. For letterhead, there are no set rules on placement. But too many fonts, sizes and colours create clutter. And your letterhead design must leave enough room for actual business correspondence.

$910 per 1,000 each of letterhead, envelopes and business cards

All prices are for quantities of 1,000.

Twenty-pound letterhead (like the paper in your office printer) can run $280 to $300 depending on design and colour, while 28-pound “feels like it has some heft,” says printer Peter Richardson. It costs only marginally more: $290 to $310. If you want nicer linen stock with subdued lines in the paper, add another 5% to 15%. Envelopes cost around $300 for a standard #10, and you can tack on $100 for linen stock.

For business cards, you might pay $200 for 80-pound stock and an extra 10% for thicker 120-pound stock. Costs go up by about $200 if you want the text embossed, since raising the ink requires a special dye. If you’re looking to invest in just one extra element, Richardson suggests spending another $100 for a matte laminate coat. “It’s a smooth finish, and dresses it a bit,” he says.

Fonts are a matter of taste, but for clarity Richardson favours Verdana, as well as Arial and Calibri. Green prefers using Garamond, Rockwell, Frutiger, Neue Helvetica, Gill Sans, Avenir or Myriad.

It’s best to buy in person. That way you can feel the paper’s weight, weave and grain, and assess the colour. If the raw sample isn’t attractive, your printed version won’t be any better.

Quality letterhead is 24- or 28-pound weight (meaning that 1,000 sheets of standard letter stock actually weighs 24 or 28 pounds), says Richardson. Green says textured papers add flair, and can often be found in off-white and other shades. Business cards can be on heavier uncoated or gloss stock, but can also use cover-weight linens to match the letterhead.

Read: No really, what is your brand?

Who can help

Anyone with graphic design ability and a photocopier can say they run a printing company. You want an operation with presses that consistently cut cards with the logo and text perfectly aligned each time. These companies are usually called printers, not copy shops, and have more production options, such as four-colour presses and the ability to run heavier papers.

Stuart Foxman is a Toronto-based financial writer.