Creative letterhead logo graphic design

How to make a beautiful letterhead.

Designing an effective letterhead is a unique challenge. Sometimes your letterhead design will be the first interaction a customer has had with a particular company, while other times it will be used to reinforce the brand identity. It's crucial to get the details right, but to also produce something that's tactile, eye-catching, and memorable.

01. Keep it simple.

This is a simple visual design, but works to communicate the business information in a compelling, narrative manner

One of the most important principles behind designing effective letterheads is to keep the design as simple as possible. A letterhead is a delivery mechanism. It's not the content itself, rather the supporting structure that delivers that content.It's important that your letterhead looks and feels great in the hand. By all means use your design to showcase the content, but don't try to wrestle it for the reader's attention. It's useful to ask yourself whether you're competing with the content: if you're in doubt, simplify your letterhead design.

02. Use the right software.Photoshop isn't the only tool available. Consider Illustrator and InDesign as alternatives.There are times when it makes sense to use Photoshop as a design tool, and it's perfectly possible to design a letterhead using Photoshop. But there are far more suitable tools available for the job.Top of the list are Illustrator and InDesign. Both these tools have excellent typography controls and are vector-based. They make it easier to draw simple elements and reposition them effectively.If you only have Photoshop available to you, keep in mind that print-destined artwork should be produced at 300dpi. If you're printing your letterheads commercially there will be a bleed requirement.

03. Represent the brand.Effective use of the corporate logo and colour scheme, along with careful typography, helps this letterhead design communicate the brand well.Make sure that you represent the branding when designing your letterhead. This isn't just about the logo, but the choice of colour scheme, font(s), imagery, and much more. If your logo has an exclusion zone, make sure you adhere to it on your letterhead, and equally important is to use the correct font; Helvetica won't cut it if the corporate font should be Univers!