Corporate stationery refers to paper products used by a business or corporation, including letterhead, envelopes, business cards, notepads, brochures, and thank-you cards. It can serve as a valuable public relations tool, as well as helping to define the image and standards of the business. Choosing the best corporate stationery will depend on the goals and needs of an individual company, but some factors to consider include design, types and amounts of stationery required, security features, and ease of re-ordering.
The design of corporate stationery may play a huge part in the public image of the company. Logos, graphic designs, and other images may be used on corporate stationery to help promote a cohesive image of the business. Custom stationers can work with clients to help design a company logo that is easily incorporated into all types of corporate stationery. Other design considerations, such as layout, format, and font, may also help graphically depict the nature and mission of the business. A quirky t-shirt company may have corporate stationery that imparts a casual vibe and sense of fun, while a law firm may choose to emphasize its commitment to quality and honor by using traditional, handsome design principles.
Assessing the stationery needs of the business is an important part of choosing the right corporate stationery. If a company likes to send out promotional materials to prospective clients, it may need lots of small notepads that can be given as free gifts. A company trying to keep the budget for stationery down may want to have letterhead printed, but use plain envelopes instead of custom-printed versions. Properly understanding how paper and stationery is used in a business can help make stationery orders cost-efficient and suitable to the needs of the company.
Some stationery can serve as a built-in security device for a corporation. By using watermarks, holograms, and other difficult-to-imitate technology, company stationery can be used to ensure that a document is authentic and official. Security-enhanced paper products can be very useful for businesses that deal with proprietary or classified information, or even those in competitive industries.
Since corporate stationery is seldom re-usable, it tends to get used up rather quickly. An easy and convenient re-ordering process can help ensure that the business never runs short of letterhead. Patronizing a larger stationery business instead of a small, custom-order calligrapher or designer may help ensure that repeat orders have a short turn-around time and can be handled quickly.
