Archive for the "Graphic Design" Category

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A Better Blog

Whether you are blogging as a hobbyist or trying to make a profession of it, you want your blog to be interesting. After all, it’s a public forum. I have to assume you want readers. There are many ways to attract readers, but do you retain them? And are you attracting new ones? Let’s look at some things you can do to keep your blog fresh.

Freelance Illustration Portfolio – Rich Murray

Freelancing in Canada, Rich Murray is the highly-talented Cartoon and Children’s Illustrator, as well as Flash Animator

Link Creative Design Review

Lindsey’s on-line portfolio demonstrates her design talents. This freelancer from Ohio, is a master with Traditional Illustration, Graphic and Web Design.

Helping Young Illustrators To Find There Niche

The most effective way to visually articulate a story or article is by using some type of illustration. This can be seen In main stream media everywhere, including the internet, T.V and publications. There really are no limit to the types of mediums that can be used to create illustrations. The artists who are responsible for this tend to specialise in a particular niche and style, using a particular or favourite medium, like painting, drawing or digital pens.

Basic Design Preparations for Letterhead Printing


Letterheads do not entail as much details as flyer, brochures and postcards, given that they mostly contain contact details of the company only. However, careful planning must still go with the look of your letterhead since they serve a very important purpose. This simple print material will bear professional letters and somehow, give the recipient an idea about your company. Hence, it must represent your company well.

Below is a primer on the details that go into letterhead printing projects.

Content

There are not a lot of texts to play with in order to come up with a very unique look. Instead, most of the aesthetics would come from the design elements that go with these texts.

Common letterhead contents are the company name, its address, contact numbers including landline and fax, email address and website, if you have one. It would be best to limit the texts to these since you have to maintain sufficient space for the letter itself.

The most suitable graphics to add is your company logo. Keep its size proportional to the size of your texts. It should definitely be bigger but not too much that it gets the spotlight.

Some people want to get the watermarked look for their letterheads and this is made possible by printing an almost translucent printout (some require at least 5% color density) of your desired image. This faint print is usually an enlarged and faded version of the company logo.

Typeface and font

If you cannot decide on which typeface would go best with your letterhead, you can try creating several letterheads bearing different typefaces so it would be easier to visualize. Play with the effects such as bold, italics and shadow. For the company name, you can also change the spacing between the letters so it would not appear too cramped.

Color

Aside from the contents, colors help set a tone. Choosing dark and solid colors convey a more professional look while vibrant colors and unusual combinations create a more casual impression. If you intend to include your logo, make sure that it does not get lost in the background color. It should stand out.

Also, be careful with the colors you choose since some do not go well together. Make sure that each hue you add helps create a unified design. When you opt for several strong colors, each one would compete for attention and hence, become compartments instead of elements that make up a single design.

Layout

Letterhead layouts follow a somewhat standard format with the logo and company name printed on the topmost part of the paper, followed by the contact information. However, you can also vary the conventional look by placing some of the texts details at the bottommost part of the page. This way, it creates subtle borders that mark the start and end of the note.

Same with typefaces, it would be best to create different versions of each element so you can decide easily on the look. You can ask a panel to pick the most suitable design or get the opinion of a professional designer before you proceed to letterhead printing.

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The Letterhead of the 21st Century

I have been in business for 16 years in a variety of industries – but the common factor for all, was, I would never let my staff mail out a letter unless it was on a company letterhead.

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How a Professional Letterhead Improves Your Small Business Image

If you are a small business, you might have not spent much time thinking about what your image on paper is like. After all, there are the day to day business tasks to take care of, clients to talk to, emails to read, and phone calls to make. However, having a professional letterhead for when you do need to send a letter is a great way to help establish yourself as a professional.

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Letterheads Can be Changed

I would hope the title of this article is a very well known fact, but I have to admit, Ive scratched my head on a number of occasions when Ive noticed companies who seem to avoid this idea.

Certain images and certain themes come and go, often very quickly, and if a company latches onto something very specific to one point in time or another, they have a habit of looking dated very quickly.

Look at anything from the eighties and then look at something from the nineties and the difference in colors and themes will be immediately noticeable. A lot of the marketing material made during these periods embraced different aspects of the popular culture, and this certainly applies to letterhead printing as well.

Many companies created letterheads that were entrenched in the popular culture, and so when the culture changed, the letterheads quickly looked dated, which made the companies look outdated as well. Whether or not this is true doesnt really matter, because perception can do quite a bit to decide how a person acts towards a company.

Im pretty sure that I know what the problem is as well.

Letterheads are part of marketing, yes, but they arent active marketing at all. Because a company doesnt need to actively do much with them they dont put as much thought to them. This is emphasized by the fact that they will often get such massive orders of letterhead printing, that they can last for a very long time from those first pages done. Even if a company is getting regular printing done they often set up a system to automatically get new letterheads printed when they run out, so they still arent putting much thought to them.

Slowly but surely time marches on, and as it does the styles change and the popular images change, but the letterhead remains the same. Eventually people start getting letters from this company and they shake their head at the outdated look of the letterhead, which then makes the company appear to be out of touch.

All of this can so easily be avoided by regularly updating your letterhead. Really, going beyond the problem of being outdated, its just nice to provide people with something new. Active marketing shouldnt be the only thing youre focusing on. Keep a careful eye on all of your marketing and be sure that you have a nice amount of variety in what youre doing.

You never want people getting bored with your marketing, and even though a letterhead isnt the biggest part of marketing, varying it up can still create a good, positive reaction and improve your sales. If youre staying on top of all your other marketing, it wont take you much longer to stay on top of your letterheads as well, and never risk being outdated.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit Letterhead Printing

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Attractive printing letterheads can attract not just attention but new business!

A Letterhead is an important tool in business. It is the document, which not only represents your company physically but legally as well. Letterheads also give your customers a generic idea about the companys attitude. While a colorful and vibrant letterhead portrays the company as an enthusiastic, lively and fun place, a more professional looking letterhead with minimal colors can portray the company as proficient, strong and dedicated. Neither one of these images are unflattering. There are a number of ideas in the market today for you to create a letterhead that will best represent your company.

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What Goes Into a Good Letterhead?

There are some very effective types of marketing out there that are far more subdued and indirect when compared to the more well-known methods. Letterhead printing is just one of these styles.

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Letterhead And Envelope Design: Important Pieces Of Your Marketing Strategy

One of the best and easiest ways to make your company look professional and experienced is to have nice letterhead. Matching envelopes make a nice touch and exude an even more professional image.

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Designing Your Letterheads

There are good letterhead printing design and there are just some that are well Anyway, careful planning can make a difference. Before starting any letterhead design, you must have a clear idea of what you want to project. A successful letterhead printing design should be able to convey what you or your business wants to establish. This could be achieved with a proper layout. A good layout trains the eye and mind towards the single most important word in your print letterheads: the name of your business.

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Letterhead: Create An Impression At First Glance

Creating a good impression on the recipient of your letter is very important. In fact, it can spell a lot of difference if the letter itself commands attention at first glance because of the letterhead.


The letterhead might be taken for granted by some people but the truth is, it can open your doors to more opportunities and could even expand your business ventures.


This letterhead has so much importance in the business sector as it represents the company and is considered as the legal document of the company. Letterheads are used for the official matters relating to different issues of businesses and is considered at the same time as part of the flow of communication within different departments and also to the outside the organizations. Thus, every business has its letterheads for sending letter across the organizations, to send business proposals, to make quotations, making appointment letters, official letter movements, to purchase inventory and related matters.


Because it is considered as a legal document of the company, it can be enforced in the court of law on the basis of a letter head. So letterheads are very important for the business. It gives a corporate image to the people and makes an identity of the company that distinguishes one company from another company.


So, when planning and designing for your letterhead, consider what feeling you want each of your customers to have when they receive something from you, and incorporate that into your letterhead design. One thing to think of is the color that you will use since a black and white letterhead can be considered too conservative and is not open to other options. What is quite popular now though is the use of colors. Color printing is not that expensive, and the positive impact it will have on your letterhead is significant. But bear in mind to use colors that emphasize the purpose of your business and that evoke the type of feelings that you want your customers to have.


The type of paper to be used is also necessary, as the smoother the paper, the better your letterhead will look. You yourself would prefer using an attractive paper rather than using a drab and dull one.


Pay attention to the logo also as it should play a big role in your letterhead being placed in a visible and prominent location. Since you will be using your letterhead on virtually everything you give out, it is going to build up name recognition for your business and your logo will make that even easier.


Moreover, if you commonly send out letters from your office, you might want to consider getting envelopes that match the type of paper you use for the letters. It may seem like a superfluous cost, but it can have a tremendous impact on the recipients.


And a final thing to remember is that never miss the opportunity to use your letterhead. Put it on all of your letters and other things that you print from your office. Also, send it along with all of your other printed material when you send the designs into your printer. Your letterhead should appear on all of your brochures, business cards, posters, fliers, and everything else that you use in your marketing campaign.

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Knowing the Specifics: Letterheads

A letterhead is whats going to be at the top of your letter. When it comes to any letter youre likely to have your name, address, phone number, and company name at the top of the letter no matter what. This is just the standard for any kind of business letter youll send out.

But a real letterhead is going to be more than just the information. You will present the information in a more stylish fashion. This will likely consist of some additional image combining all of your basic contact information together. This will definitely contain your company logo.

Sometimes a letterhead will actually wrap around the entire page. You might create a different barrier that loops around the page and is combined with the image at the top of the page. But I would say its rather standard that the bulk of your visuals will be right at the top of the page.

Letterhead printing is something that should be done right at the beginning of a business. The earlier you use it the earlier you can benefit from it, even if you arent fully aware of just how much that benefit is.

Every single letter you send should have your letterhead on the page. There is never going to be a reason to send a letter without it, and if you set things up properly, the paper you would naturally use for letters will just always have that letterhead. Consider it an extensive of your company logo.

The reason why you should use letterhead printing isnt immediately obvious, or at least the impact of it isnt. I would think most would be aware that the primary reason to get a letterhead made is so that you can add that extra visual flare to your letters.

Letterheads can be a powerful marketing tool even if you dont immediately see the results of it. Letterheads work particularly slowly in the way they influence people.

Part of marketing is getting people to remember who you are and what your company name is. They have to know about you to then think of you when it comes time to buy something. A letterhead is providing your name in a way that draws the eye. They wont just sweep their eyes across your letter, but pause on your letterhead because it demands attention with its design.

People look at the top of a page first, which is why this design will naturally be there. The first thing theyll see upon looking at your letter is your strong letterhead, which naturally helps them to remember you, and sets a good tone for the letter that follows.

Letterhead printing is so cheap I dont see any reason why a company wouldnt get some done. Such a simple investment can lead to some very effective, long lasting results.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit Letterhead Printing

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5 Tips on Letterhead Printing That Will Get You Noticed

Usually when a small business owner is making a list of all the marketing materials he needs, hell forget about letterhead. Other business owners may not think letterhead is that important. But letterhead is extremely important. Along with a business card, a nice letterhead gives off a feeling of a professional, established company.

When creating your letterhead design, think about what kind of reaction you want potential customers and current clients to feel when they first see your letterhead. A fun, laid-back company with a bright, colorful letterhead design? Or a serious, strong company that doesnt take anything lightly? Neither one of those choices are bad, and there are numerous choices in between these extremes. Whatever gets the feeling of your brand and your company across is right.

Here are some tips to help you get started in creating your letterhead.

Dont necessarily shy away from color. Granted, most professional companies, like banks, have black and white letterhead. But, these designs border on being boring. Using colors in your letterhead can make the page really pop and grab someones attention who might otherwise ignore your letter. Just make sure to use appropriate colors, like light blue (relaxing) for a spa rather than bright pink. If you can pull one color out from your logo design to use, that makes a nice design element. Because you should always

include your logo.
You should already have a logo to include in all of your marketing materials, but if you dont, get one. Generally, logos are the centerpiece of letterhead design. Your letterhead will be seen over and over again in direct mail letters, invoices and other business communications, so you need to get your logo on there so people will recognize it when they see it other places.

Use good quality paper.
You should use bond paper that weighs at least 24 lbs. These papers bear a watermark when held up to the light. Bond paper comes in finishes like linen, which add a nice texture to your letterhead. This texture is an easy way to give the impression that you are a high-class company that people should be doing business with.

Include pertinent info.
Your company name will probably be the primary element of your letterhead. Either that, or your logo, if your logo contains your companys name. You should also include phone numbers, fax numbers, a company email address, your Web site and optionally, the name and title of the President or CEO. Many schools have letterhead with the Principal and Vice-Principals names and phone numbers. This makes it easy for parents (customers) to reach someone at the top of the chain.

Dont forget matching envelopes!
Matching envelopes in the same type of bond paper and with the same font or logo in the return address section exudes class. It might seem like something extra, but think of how out of place your nice letterhead will look coming out of a store-bought, you-can-almost-see-through-it envelope. People will notice if you dont have a matching envelope. Ask your printer for a discount on envelope printing to go with your letterhead printing.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Letterhead Printing

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When Letterheads Come In Handy

Impressions can happen even without two people physically meeting each other as they can communicate between two parties through their writings. And though a verbal statement is considered acceptable, not everything is taken as legal not until it sees print and on an official letterhead of the company.


That is right. Letterheads may be considered as an ordinary heading in a company stationery, yet it spells a lot of difference when doing official business.


In fact, the letterhead has so much importance in the business sector. It represents the company and is considered as the legal document of the company. The letterhead is only used for the official matters relating to different issues of businesses and is considered at the same time as part of the flow of communication within different departments and also to the outside the organizations. Thus, every business has its letterheads for sending letter across the organizations, to send business proposals, to make quotations, making appointment letters, official letter movements, to purchase inventory and related matters.


As a legal document of the company, it can be enforced in the court of law on the basis of a letter head. So letterheads are very important for the business. It gives a corporate image to the people and makes an identity of the company that distinguishes one company from another company.


When planning for your letterhead, consider what feeling you want each of your customers to have when they receive something from you, and incorporate that into your letterhead design. Among the things you should consider is the color. A black and white letterhead can be effective, but there really is no reason why you should not use color. Color printing is not that expensive, and the positive impact it will have on your letterhead is significant. Use colors that emphasize the purpose of your business and that evoke the type of feelings that you want your customers to have.


Another thing to consider is the paper. The smoother the paper, the better your letterhead will look. In fact, for any literature that you print yourself, you will want to use the smoothest paper appropriate for the task.


Consider also the logo as it should play a big role in your letterhead being placed in a visible and prominent location. Since you will be using your letterhead on virtually everything you give out, it is going to build up name recognition for your business and your logo will make that even easier.


While you can use a bleed and other special ink techniques to enhance the look of your letterhead, it really is not necessary. They will significantly add to your costs, and you can make a perfectly effective letterhead without any of them. Try to avoid these techniques if you can.


Also, if you commonly send out letters from your office, you might want to consider getting envelopes that match the type of paper you use for the letters. It may seem like a superfluous cost, but it can have a tremendous impact on the recipients.


Finally, once you have your perfect letterhead made up, remember to use it. Put it on all of your letters and other things that you print from your office. Also, send it along with all of your other printed material when you send the designs into your printer. Your letterhead should appear on all of your brochures, business cards, posters, fliers, and everything else that you use in your marketing campaign.

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Letterheads: Marketing 101

It is no wonder that a lot of business experts and consultants include letterheads as marketing paraphernalia, albeit these are very useful marketing tools.


The letterhead, whether on print or online, is an effective means of getting your name out there. Your business probably sends out hundreds of emails and letters everyday. Regardless of the purpose of these correspondences, something of your company is sent out to clients and prospective clients daily. Hence, you should not take for granted the letterhead’s power in reaching out to your market. It is this forgotten piece of paper that’s always out there, and always accessible to your market – perhaps even more accessible than business cards, brochures and other advertising.


The letterhead aids in establishing corporate identity. Brand names and insignias don’t always correspond in your market’s mind and the simple letterhead can correct this. In brand building, your market should be able to recall you, the products you sell, your tag line, and your logo. These factors are keys to establishing brand loyalty, the goal in any brand building. Your market needs to identify you with the products you sell and your logo.


The letterhead is generally made up of necessary components, which thereby assures that these factors (logo, brand name, tag line, etc.) eventually align with each other in your customer’s mind. The letterhead should necessarily have your logo, your brand name and your tag line. Whenever you send out a simple correspondence via mail or email, you are then sending out this message to your customers. Depending on how effectively you designed your letterhead, your clients will eventually associate one to the other. Ideally, in time, your customers can identify your brand just by looking at the logo. Or, they should be able to recall your tag line just by mentioning your brand. Through the simple layout of letterheads, you can achieve this much-sought after recognition from your target market.


Of course, in order for letterheads to work for you, you need to have a good one designed. Even when the components of the letterhead are basically the same, a good design can make sure your message gets across more clearly and more effectively to your readers. A good design sticks to mind, making brand recognition faster for your clients.


In letterhead design, make sure to have a logo that truly represents your company. The logo design should be clean and distinguishable. It should also be simple for easy recall. Pay attention to the color of your letterhead. Some letterheads are effective when printed in black and white; while others would work better if they had some color in them. also, apart from including tag lines in your letterhead, you would also benefit from having a call to action. Call to actions encourage your recipients to do something/ buy. And of course, never forget to include your contact information. Always have a way for your clients to reach you.


Once you have a well-designed letterhead, do not forget to use them. As in any marketing paraphernalia, you have to get your letterheads out there.

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Letterheads: Marketing 101

It is no wonder that a lot of business experts and consultants include letterheads as marketing paraphernalia, albeit these are very useful marketing tools.


The letterhead, whether on print or online, is an effective means of getting your name out there. Your business probably sends out hundreds of emails and letters everyday. Regardless of the purpose of these correspondences, something of your company is sent out to clients and prospective clients daily. Hence, you should not take for granted the letterhead’s power in reaching out to your market. It is this forgotten piece of paper that’s always out there, and always accessible to your market – perhaps even more accessible than business cards, brochures and other advertising.


The letterhead aids in establishing corporate identity. Brand names and insignias don’t always correspond in your market’s mind and the simple letterhead can correct this. In brand building, your market should be able to recall you, the products you sell, your tag line, and your logo. These factors are keys to establishing brand loyalty, the goal in any brand building. Your market needs to identify you with the products you sell and your logo.


The letterhead is generally made up of necessary components, which thereby assures that these factors (logo, brand name, tag line, etc.) eventually align with each other in your customer’s mind. The letterhead should necessarily have your logo, your brand name and your tag line. Whenever you send out a simple correspondence via mail or email, you are then sending out this message to your customers. Depending on how effectively you designed your letterhead, your clients will eventually associate one to the other. Ideally, in time, your customers can identify your brand just by looking at the logo. Or, they should be able to recall your tag line just by mentioning your brand. Through the simple layout of letterheads, you can achieve this much-sought after recognition from your target market.


Of course, in order for letterheads to work for you, you need to have a good one designed. Even when the components of the letterhead are basically the same, a good design can make sure your message gets across more clearly and more effectively to your readers. A good design sticks to mind, making brand recognition faster for your clients.


In letterhead design, make sure to have a logo that truly represents your company. The logo design should be clean and distinguishable. It should also be simple for easy recall. Pay attention to the color of your letterhead. Some letterheads are effective when printed in black and white; while others would work better if they had some color in them. also, apart from including tag lines in your letterhead, you would also benefit from having a call to action. Call to actions encourage your recipients to do something/ buy. And of course, never forget to include your contact information. Always have a way for your clients to reach you.


Once you have a well-designed letterhead, do not forget to use them. As in any marketing paraphernalia, you have to get your letterheads out there.

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Things Your Letterheads Can Do Without

Have you ever opened up a letter from a company and saw that the letterhead seemed to take up half of the page? Now, sometimes these letterheads have been quite interesting to look at, so I supposed the company managed to achieve something with that, but it still does not change the fact that the thing is so huge it looks out of place and odd.

For those getting letterhead printing done this is the first mistake I see a lot and something you should be mindful of. The best letterheads are the ones that are not necessarily that noticeable. They give their information without jumping out at a person, and they do not draw attention away from what the letter itself is about.

This can be particularly annoying if you are trying to have a serious correspondence and your letterhead is the most noticeable thing on the page. It takes attention away from the matter at hand and a person ends up spending a decent amount of time looking at your letterhead rather than what you wrote in the letter itself.

The next mistake is kind of the opposite, and this is where the letterhead is so plain and basic I question why they spent money on letterhead printing at all. If you are going to create a letterhead at least add to it some kind of distinctive visual element. This might have to do with adding your logo to the top of the page or this might have to do with using coloring that suits your company.

No matter what you pick just be sure that your letterhead has a purpose and is not just there to be there.

Continuing along this same path also consider what information is on your letterhead. I have seen both too much and too little information before. A letterhead is often going to have the basic contact information for your company, not unlike your business card. This is so someone can take just the letter itself and keep it with them. They do not have to save the envelope to see what your address is, and they have your phone number if they need it.

Some people just put way to much contact information on those letterheads and kind of bog down the page with it. Others do not put much of anything, limiting it to just a phone number and address. Do you have a fax number or cell phone number as well for people? Make sure you put all the important information there.

Letterhead printing should really be part of every company, and I would consider the last common mistake of letterhead printing to be not getting it at all. Every company is going to be sending out a lot of letters, and it does not take much to design an effective letterhead, and make sure everything you send out has your basic contact information and your company logo on it.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Letterhead Printing

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Why Should You Invest in Letterhead Printing

Letterhead printing is a standard practice for organizations and firms. This is because letterheads contribute a lot to a firm’s image and of course the formality and credibility of its paper work. Have you received a memo or an announcement from you company with a letterhead? Doesn’t it feel so important, urgent or maybe even officious? Letterheads have power in their own right because of this. Still unconvinced? Then let’s discuss each point.

Makes letters look formal
letterhead printing gives your paper work a semblance of formality. For example, would you take a memorandum or official notice seriously if it was written in some yellow paper or other writing pad? How about legal documents printed only in plain bond paper? It takes a leap of faith to see them as a work of a professional right? There is something about the look of a letterhead that demands respectability and formality. If your company isn’t writing its paperwork with letterheads it will look unprofessional. If this happens how would you think your company image will last against your competitors?

Lends to Credibility
One of the major points for investing in letterhead printing is that it lends to credibility. If you guard your letterheads well, and use them for important documents then people will always believe what those letters say. Moreover they will believe that the letter, memorandum or announcement came from you, your department or your firm. Usually with no questions asked. For example, a CEO or head of an organization can make a policy decision and enforce it just by distributing its announcement with the power of a letterhead. People will read it and of course bow down to the decision so to speak. It is almost like a bill becoming a law. Once it is written with the letterhead, it is believable and it will be done so to speak.

Security
Linked to credibility is security. Again, if you guard your letterheads and use them for official functions then people should always note that they will only believe the official information coming from those notes. This is important in firms and organizations where a degree of security in the paperwork is needed. For example, high level research firms, government agencies and corporate management staff could use guarded letterheads to pass on vital information to colleagues. With the official letterhead stamped on to the header people will think the information is secure and believable. So, if you want to feel secure about your paperwork, then letterhead printing is for you.

Those are the major advantages in letterhead printing. Most organizations and firms print letterheads primarily because of these reasons. However, in the end it is about pride and the firm’s image actually. Having a letterhead in your paperwork tells people that you are credible, believable and of course professional.

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