Your Personal Brand using Stationery

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Your Personal Brand using Stationery

Stationery has been an important part of social etiquette since the Victorian era. In fact, business cards have evolved from the practice of presenting a personal calling card to a household servant when you dropped by someone’s house to call on them. Business cards and social stationery are both personal statements and should be a reflection of your personality and style.

Most of us have become so reliant on our email and text messages to communicate with everyone we know that we have lost the art of the hand written note. But I am on a mission to bring it back!

You should think about your stationery & business cards the same way you do your wardrobe. Sometimes you are dressing for the gym and other days you are getting cleaned up for a black tie event; your personal stationery also has levels of formality. For your business card, the recipient can use it as a way to jog their memory about you. A great business card can enhance the first impression you make. There are three important things to consider when working with a designer to create your stationery: type of paper, type of printing and overall design.

Paper

The most luxurious paper in the world is made from 100% cotton and has a beautiful texture to it. It is very traditional and comes in a variety of colors. For a more modern style, a smooth or coated paper stock can have a completely different affect.

Printing

Engraving is one of the oldest printing processes. You can achieve amazing detail and the result is a raised impression on the paper. During the printing process, ink is deposited into cavities in a copper plate and the paper is subsequently forced into the same cavity. The result is a raised impression, meaning the artwork is raised above the rest of the sheet of paper with the ink adhering to the raised surface. Engraving is the most formal type of printing for stationery and business cards.

Letterpress printing creates a deep impression into the paper stock. The heavier the paper stock, the deeper the impression you can achieve. Like engraving, a copper plate is used but the letterpress plate is raised and the ink is placed onto the pate and presses deep into the paper. Letterpress is the method by which the original Gutenberg Bible was printed in the mid-15th century and has come back into fashion for wedding invitations and the like.

Foil Stamping can be a fun way to add some pizzaz to your stationery! Foil comes in a variety of colors. Most foil you see often have a metallic shine to them, but they can also come in glossy or even glittery tones. This print method also uses a copper plate but it is heated prior to printing so that strips of foil can adhere to the paper stock.

Flat Printing is the least expensive method of printing. Ink is applied to a flat sheet of paper and neither an impression or a raised impression are achieved.

Design

They type of font you use and if you choose to include a motif or use a monogram can say a lot about your style. You can have your name written in custom hand calligraphy or use a sleek modern font. The options are truly endless!

Take some time to sit and write someone a note. It actually might prove to be harder than you think! Writing a note can be a nice break from all the constant communication we have on our cell phones. It forces a type of honesty that you can avoid through text messaging. Receiving a hand written note from someone nowadays is such a treat and makes you feel so special. Who wouldn’t like getting something in the mail that wasn’t a bill