What is stationery, to begin with?

In school talks, it is the notebooks, papers, and pens schoolchildren use. In business talks, stationery refers to anything from envelopes, business cards, and notes to portfolios. Basically, whatever goes with pen and paper, and involves material for written and print communication.

Accordingly, stationery design refers to the style and design of the stationery a business uses. That's what we will focus on. The design includes the layout, specific colors, and fonts a brand uses for stationery. Simple as that, for brand consistency, it is vital to keep the design elements consistent. In a word, it is part of your branding image and is considered a robust branding tool.

To imagine the size and importance of stationery design and production in the world, statistics speak laud. As stated, there are over 27,000 businesses in the retail market for stationery products. And this is only in the US.

Expanding on the topic, this article will cover brand image reflected in the design, how a brand's stationery design affects customers' perceptions and emotions, and give additional tips for creating an outstanding image.

How Stationery Design Affects Your Brand Image

In business, trust comes not only from excellence in products and services but also from the value you place on your brand and how it is perceived from aside. When you put value and thought into each detail, your customers notice and appreciate it. This creates a strong bond of trust. The little things, like stationery design:

• Place the professionalism and credibility of your brand
• Shows your dedication and eye for detail
• Brings trust in customer-brand relationships

Your business success is tightly bound to your corporate brand identity, and stationery design is part of your visual identity. Injecting these elements in the design, you create a distinctive personality in the market, which will distinguish your brand from the rest. The colors, fonts, and layouts– made distinct; your brand owns them.

It is absolutely human to judge a book by its cover, that is, to pay close attention to branding design. Professionalism attracts customers of all preferences and types.

Different design elements can communicate different brand messages. And this can go in subcategories too. Take colors, for instance; when we recall a brand name, we identify it with the color scheme in branding and associate it with the brand colors they use in communicating their marketing messages. Colors communicate messages. The warm palette, such as red, yellow or orange, conveys warm emotions, from love to frustration. Cool colors, like blue or green, transmit calm feelings, from cold to feeling sad.

Typography is another element used in design. It is how your letters and texts are placed to make the copy clear and visually appealing. Different typography and font styles have different emotional and psychological appeals to people's thoughts. People identify typography as a branding element. The common features include a big typeface of around 300 percent in height and width and keeping it consistent. As recommended, you should use stationery of paper size A4, slightly heavier than the regular printer paper.

The Integral Stationery Design Elements

It is an undeniable fact that design elements are integral to branding. They affect the business image and give it a professional look in the market. The stationery design has such an abundance that it is difficult to choose the best-to-have item(s). So, here are the must-to-have items for business stationery.

### Business Cards

How cool it is to have an objective representative for your business when your representatives are absent. Business cards serve to introduce your company, retain connections with customers and prospective customers, and be a reference for content information. Besides putting them in a purchasing bag or sticking to a package, the business representatives should have it ready to hand to new customers. Business cards are tools to network. With a unique business card design, you can transmit a message of a thousand words.

### Letterheads

You have your business documents and paper sheets, both digital and physical. The must-to-have component to look professional is letterheads – a heading engraved on the top of the business papers featuring the company name, address, contact details, and logo. Letterheads shall preferably have the same fonts as the business cards and be of the same colors. Letterheads are used to communicate what your business is about and implant good recognition in customers' minds.

### Customized Invoices

Your invoice paper must have a serious look; however, adding the logo design and customizing it according to the business style will only boost your business image. Customized invoice paper makes it easier for customers to identify with your business. However unaccepted it might be, we often judge a book by its cover. It is quite human, and that should be considered as a business. The well-customized invoice design raises the credibility of your business and people to have more payment reliability.

### Envelopes and Folders

Written letters are not out of style, especially in countries where mailing services are still actual. Even though we are experiencing digitalization, people still send and receive paper-based documents in envelopes and folders. Branded envelopes and folders grab attention and stay in the recipients' attention. With them, you give the message of value placed in your brand. You should have different size envelopes for various purposes and keep folders the same color(s).

These materials are what people associate a brand with. They give a place for creativity. You can experiment with the design as much as you wish on folders and keep the consistency. Investing in elements like envelope and folder designs creates a credible impression among customers and clients that you are dedicated to details.

Tips for Creating Standout Stationery Design

To communicate your message clearly and in the most memorable way possible, here are some tips to base your stationery design on.

### Organizing information

For an attractive and easy-to-read design, organizing the information. For the page layout, you can use hierarchy. Headings in sequence will order the information right. On the top left corner, print your information in a visible format. Keep the white space in balance with the text chucks. Don't make any design element outweigh.

The rule of thirds, a common design concept, helps in organizing information in splits of the page. That is, you break the page up into thirds for a good visual attraction. When you split the space into equal sections, use up to one-third of your available space for logo and contact information. The details can go in a column or be organized at the top or bottom of the page.

Another rule is the rule of odds, which states that the design should contain an odd number of objects. Keeping this rule will create a nice balance of objects and white space in designing your stationery.

### Branding elements (such as logos)

As a face helps identify a person, a logo helps identify the brand. So, for your stationery to stand out, a logo is a must, along with other branding elements: color schemes, names, and fonts. The perfect place to put a logo is on the left. No hustle or brand confusion on the site; a logo design on the stationery makes a distinctive impression for your brand. Not big or small, your logo design creates an eye-catching image for your brand. Place it on each stationery item without exception because it is the face of your brand. Based on your business preferences, you can also add watermarks after you learn how to add a watermark to a photo in our previous guide.

Simplicity wins in every situation. Too many graphic elements overwhelm the design. Depending on the industry of use, you need to keep the graphics in moderation to be more formal. Light graphics create a neat, simplistic, and tidy appearance.

### Designing and Printing

Having figured out what you need as your stationery design element, it is time to think of the actual work, designing. The available online tools will help you create any stationery, from business cards to envelopes, and a well print will finalize the process. When you hand out an envelope or a business card, the recipients shall notice your exceptional design. How sophisticated your design will depend on the client's persona.

Excel with excellent stationery design

An amazing first impression is tied to introducing your business to customers and clients. Stationery design is the investment for an excellent first and lasting impression. The stationery design has an immense impact on branding. It determines the perceivers' emotions and actions. Colors, graphics, fonts, and how you organize them on the stationery affect how people observe your brand image and professionalism. To excel with design, follow the tips suggested in this article.