Understanding the Rules of Company Letterhead Design

Company letterhead is a staple of the business world. However, it is easy to make mistakes because we rarely spell out the rules for the design of company letterhead.

The Key Requirements of Company Letterhead

There are a few formal requirements for company letterhead design. The first is including all of the necessary information for the recipient to contact you. This is why letterheads show the company’s name first and foremost followed by their address. Phone numbers and email addresses tend to be further down. Clarify whether a phone number is a phone line or fax line. Don’t leave out extensions so that someone will call the correct department in response to the letter or will be able to reach the sender directly. Providing multiple phone numbers such as the customer line and a direct line show that the company wants to support the letter’s recipient.

If a specific person is sending the letter, their email address may be included in the letterhead. A company owner having their name on the letterhead shows that they’re in charge. However, you may want to have other senior staff with their own company letterhead. Just don’t send a letterhead with the CEO’s name and email address with it scratched out to say Human Resources. If your company can’t bother to print extra letterhead for such purposes, people will wonder where else you cut corners.

The Aesthetics of Company Letterhead

The aesthetics of company letterhead matter, though they are often overlooked. For example, letterhead printed on heavy, high quality paper shows that you’ve invested in the message itself. It is a point in favor of your firm. There is also a practical aspect to this. The heavier paper is less likely to be damaged or rendered unreadable.

Little touches on the letterhead can reinforce your brand or protect your intellectual property. For example, a watermark built into the paper makes it harder for someone to forge a letter in your name. Using touches of color in your decorative borders makes it easy to distinguish an original paper from a cheap, quick copy.

The Constant Evolution of Company Letterhead

Letterhead needs to be updated when it is no longer accurate. Nothing undermines your company letterhead more than printing a letter on it, and then scratching out the address or phone number and hand writing a new one on it. Order new letterhead when your business moves or receives a new phone number, such as when the area code changes.

If the letterhead is specific to a particular individual, creating new letterhead reflecting changes in roles or the person’s name is a necessity. It actually undermines your legitimacy to have Doctor X send a letter but the patient talked to Doctor Y. Business name changes should prompt the printing of new letterhead, too. This includes when partners join or leave a firm, when it alters the name of the business. After all, you want clients to write a check to the right business name. Conversely, sending a letter in your personal name when clients think that they were dealing with “business X” means they’re less likely to send the payment you demand. This is why the branding on the letterhead must match the brand your customers are familiar with.