The Complete Professional Stationery Wardrobe

When it comes to business success, specialist knowledge is key – and choosing your professional stationery is no different. From business cards to letterheads, the choices you make are about much more than just paper products. It pays to understand what you’re saying with each item.

You’re selecting communication pieces expressing your company’s values. They will be used at every level of the business, helping to support professional and personal connections with clients, partners and stakeholders.

Read on to find out all you need to about building a complete executive stationery wardrobe for your business. And remember, it’s your careful eye that makes success a reality – even with the smallest details.

Information to Include

Traditionally, your professional stationery should include your company’s name and primary contact method – an e-mail address, phone number(s), mailing address, website or a combination of all of these.

Depending on its purpose and your position, your professional stationery can also include your name and title, a social media handle (i.e. @craneandco) or information to help clients find you on the online platform most suited to your business. For example, a photographer or fashion designer may want to include their Instagram handle, placing their work just a click or tap away from interested parties.

Ink Color

A groundswell of businesses are using their stationery to express their individual brand and creativity. Livelier ink colors like blue, red, green, gold, bronze, silver and combinations are leading the vanguard of these bright communications. After all, the right colors for your business are the ones that best reflect your company’s unique style and charisma. The possibilities to make a splash with color and design are endless.

Conversely, a traditional approach to your stationery could be even more radical. Conservative colors such as black and grey tell clients you’re a serious operator who’s here to stay.

Stay true to the essence of your firm and you won’t put a foot wrong whichever color route you choose.

Printing Processes

Business and professional stationery can be engraved, thermographed or letterpress printed.

For a style steeped in classic sophistication and delicate craftsmanship, choose engraved professional stationery.

Combined with the gorgeous texture of cotton paper, engraved business cards or letterheads present the reader with a pleasing juxtaposition – the hard, sculpted lines of script indented against the softness of the material, literally raising the paper between the words to sumptuous effect. For a statement that leaves a lasting impression on clients, engraving comes highly recommended.

For a more relaxed, modern style, consider letterpress professional stationery. This style is ideal for creative businesses that want to project a sense of casual playfulness and wit as part of their business cards and correspondence. As the name suggests, your ink on your stationery will literally be pressed into place by a letterpress plate, giving the wording a distinct sunken quality.

Finally, thermography may be the choice for you if you don’t want to splash out on engraving. This technique uses a powder to find a balance between the elegance of engraving and more modern styles. This is ideal for business invitations and announcements that seem both classic and contemporary.

The above are your main areas to consider across your stationery range. What exact items of stationery you choose to make available to the members of your team is up to you but it will depend on their role and responsibilities.

Cards

Calling cards are great for networkers; sales people or account directors who are constantly out building the company’s reputation even when they’re off duty. Calling cards are for exchange during social occasions where business is not on the official agenda.

These small, personalized cards should include an individual’s name and contact details but they should steer clear of the company details and their role and position. A nod to company branding with color will be sufficient but anything further and you’re crossing into business card territory.

Speaking of which… business cards are perfect for moving a relationship forward from casual conversation to let’s talk business. Business cards are just the ticket to allow your staff to leave their direct contact details with new business leads. They should include their name, position within the company, contact details and of course the company name and branding.

Larger Corporate Stationery

Customized stationery and headed paper is still very common in larger businesses and investing in higher qualities papers and printing techniques. Rather than just pushing a print run through your office printer, it immediately distinguishes your company from the competition.

Monarch sheets are designed for use as a business letterhead or for personal business letters and they’re perfect for providing a personal touch on your team’s communications. At 7 ¼ inches x 10 ½ inches they’re not huge, but they offer an excellent space to add a personal note when sending a professional document to a client or business partner.

Other options include jotter cards, which at 3 inches by 5 inches are perfect for taking memos and notes down during client meetings, and correspondence cards, which are traditionally sized at 4 ¼ inches x 6 ¼ inches) and are used to send succinct, handwritten notes following a meeting

Finally, if your company is in the habit of hosting corporate functions, award ceremonies or other formal events, don’t forget to stock the stationery cupboard with business invitations.

Create these for just about any formal business event. These bring a sense of occasion, style and formality to the occasion. Business invitations will usually have the company logo at the top of the invitation, detailing below what’s happening and when.

Do you have questions about etiquette, style or design for your company’s stationery? Email the Crane Concierge at concierge@crane.com

For an independent businessperson, read our suggestions for executive stationery here.

For a small business, the options are a little broader. Read our guide here.

1 Comment
  1. My sister made a suggestion to just have a custom stationery for our wedding invitation. It’s our daughter’s wedding on December 12 and we are already in the preparation stage. We are considering her suggestion and trying to look for boxed paper and custom stationery that will suit our taste.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.