Visuals control our world, perhaps, even more so than words. From advertisements that ingrain themselves in our minds like The Coca-Cola Company’s Share a Coke campaign to logos that click on sight like the McDonald’s irreplaceable Golden Arches, we consume more visuals daily than we even think to register.

And for a business, every visual is as important as the next – particularly those on documentation. Of the many documents that a company goes through in their daily use, letterheads are one of the most important and impactful. Not only are letterheads a direct representation of your company’s image, but due to their wide range of use, letterheads can end up with many different audiences, making their visual impact widespread.

And designing the perfect letterhead can get you one step closer to achieving the desired visual image for your business.

Here are 5 design tips for creating your professional letterhead:

1. Be Creative with Brand Imagery

Of course, your letterhead should align with your company’s brand imagery, and the go-to way to achieve that is by incorporating your logo and color palette onto the letterhead. While this is necessary and should be implemented, the best letterheads get creative with brand imagery.

Think about using visuals that play into your business – like a mountain scape for a hiking company or cascading water for a mineral one – while these images may not be part of your regular branding, they help to connect the recipient with the broader purpose of your business. And the more someone can connect, the more effective your letterhead!

2. Pay Attention to Typography

The font you use for your letterhead – both for things like the header to the actual body content itself – can make a world of difference. The rule of thumb is to make your letterhead easily readable without appearing too bland.

You can try mixing in a few fonts in the header where you can afford to be fancier and bring some excitement to what otherwise might be easily skipped-over information. As for the letterhead body, it’s smart to stick with a font that’s classic, visually pleasing, and elegant to add to the persuasive touch of your words.

3. Stamp and Sign to Personalize

With your letterhead, your purpose is to directly communicate with your reader, and nothing aids communication better than some personalization! While you’ll be using the same typed letterhead for all of your formal business communication, adding elements such as a signature and stamp add some personality to the document, making it stand out from the piles that people receive.

Not only will your letterhead achieve a more handwritten look, but the addition of a sign and stamp will better help the reader to engage with your document, pushing up the success of your communication channel.

4. Think about the Reverse

We often only look at what’s in front of us, but to stand out from the crowd, it’s important to be expansive in your thought process. When it comes to letterheads, you can one-up your fellow competitors by paying attention to the backside of your document.

Add in a small message from the owner in a handwritten font, plaster it with a subtle yet striking and relevant pattern, or simply play into your brand’s monochrome imagery. Either way, it’ll help your letterhead command more attention!

5. Use a Template

While all of these tips work, they can be rather confusing to work around and incorporate if you’re not someone with a creative flair. Trying to get the right colors with the right shapes and the right fonts can seem nothing less than rocket science for a person who’s much more comfortable staying away from the world of artistic pursuits.

Of course, you could hire a graphic designer to get the work done for you, but that involves an investment of resources and monitoring to make sure the work is done right. A better – and cheaper – alternative is to use premade, customizable templates for your letterhead. There’ll be no more stressing yourself out over designs and you’ll also get on the fast track with creating your letterhead.

For some of the best designs, you can check out PosterMyWall’s letterhead templates on their website!

So, if you’re looking to design a letterhead for your company, then these tips are the way to go! Remember, just be sure to break away from the crowd and align with your brand’s own creativity and imagery, and you’ll be all set to communicate!