Letterhead and Envelopes: Brand Consistency to the Mailbox

A quote, invoice or formal letter makes a different impression when it's printed on professional letterhead, in a matching envelope. Yet this is often the last part of a brand identity businesses think about.

The most common formats are C6 (for an A4 letter folded twice), C5 (for an A4 folded once) and C4 (for an unfolded A4, for example for documents you don't want to fold). The choice depends on what you're sending and how formal it needs to look: a C4 envelope with an unfolded document usually comes across as slightly more polished than a folded letter.

Windowed envelopes are useful when the address is already printed on the letter itself: no separate label or address line needed, the address is simply visible through the window. Without a window, an envelope looks a bit more personal, and is more flexible for varied content.

Print uses CMYK colours, a screen uses RGB. When your letterhead, envelopes and business cards are each ordered separately, at different times, a small colour difference tends to creep in. So work with fixed CMYK values for your brand colours, and use them consistently everywhere — not just a screen colour that "looks about right".

The simplest way to guard colour consistency is to have letterhead, envelopes and business cards printed in the same order. That way, we use the exact same colour settings for every piece. Curious about the options? Check out our letterhead & envelopes page or our business cards page.