The
Letterhead
Group 3
Chlea Aquino
Thecia Paye Corpuz
Rochelle Joy Navarro
Christian Tenedero
What is a Letterhead?
A letterhead is the heading
at the top of a sheet of letter
paper (stationery).
● It usually consists of a name,
address, logo or trademark;
● And sometimes a
background.
●
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What is a Letterhead?
●
●
●
A letterhead is a type of document displaying the general information
of an individual, company, or organization.
Letterheads are what you see at the top of formal documents that
serve as the heading showing the general information of their sender,
author, or owner, usually an organization/company. They consist of
the company’s name, official brand logo, address, and general
contact information set.
Letterheads are generally printed by either the offset or letterpress
methods. In most countries outside North America, company
letterheads are printed A4 in size (210 mm x 297 mm). In North
America, the letter size is typically 8.5 x 11 inches (215 x 280 mm).
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Examples of Letterhead
Company
Letterhead
Doctor
Letterhead
Business
Letterhead
Law Firm
Letterhead
Restaurant
Letterheads
It has a simple
logo accompanied
by a minimalist
background design
company’s
authoritative
business name.
Often on medicalrelated documents
such as modern
medical certificates
and doctor’s notes.
Can be found on
small business
letters and
enterprise
business letters.
Found on legal
documents and
advocate
documents owned
and authored by
law firms.
Their logos come
with minimalist
aesthetics while
showcasing the
complete contact
details of a
construction firm.
Examples of Letterhead
Graphic Design
Letterheads
Construction
Letterheads
School
Letterheads
Real estate
Letterheads
Creative
letterheads found
in the emails and
printed documents
authored by
graphic design
studios and
personal graphic
artists.
Their logos come
with minimalist
aesthetics while
showcasing the
complete contact
details of a
construction firm.
Include the
school’s slogan or
motto, and of
course, the official
school logo.
Can ensure
transparent,
credible
transactions,
bringing with them
a certain elegance.
Examples of Letterhead
Letterhead stationery plays a huge part in a company's
Letterheadsent from a company to its
brand identity. Everything
Stationery
clients (letters, publicity folders, envelopes, invoices) must
create a cohesive, recognizable corporate identity. The
company's logo and address must be repeated on all
business marketing material.
Purposes of Letterhead
•
Just like the early civilizations writing on parchment in ancient
Rome, clay in ancient Babylonia, papyrus in ancient Egypt and
eventually paper in ancient China, the purpose of letterhead has
always been a method of written communication. Originally
called "letter paper," the term letterhead is said to have surfaced
in America around 1890. By the early 1900s, letterheads became
smaller and lighter so that the paper would fit in typewriters. By
the mid-1900s, corporate logos became a popular design
included on a letterhead.
Purposes of Letterhead
•
•
A letterhead's main purpose is to convey a message to the
recipient. The design of a letterhead should not be so busy, and
the graphics should not be so large, that there is little room left to
type a letter.
A letterhead should visually continue to carry out the company's
brand identity with the use of a logo and particular choice of
color(s).
Purposes of Letterhead
•
•
A letterhead must include the company's contact information.
The business name, address, phone number, fax number, e-mail
and Web site address should be large enough on the stationery
for the customer to read easily but not take up so much space
that there is little room for a message.
Letterhead is for your branding is to be recognizable across all of
your business communications.
Purposes of Letterhead
•
Businesses create their letterheads as a means to show
recipients of their letters that the business is a serious and
reliable company. The creation of a letterhead shows
commitment to brand identity. If a potential customer receives a
letter written on professional letterhead, it makes a much more
positive impression upon the potential client.
Who should use a
letterhead?
To Stimulate Visual Interest
Among the Audience
●
People often assume
that only big
corporations employ
letterheads to
communicate
between two parties.
●
●
●
Letterheads can stimulate the
interest of the readers in your
company.
Documents need to have credibility
since they usually contain
business-critical information.
Emphasizing who sent or authored
a letter or document is essential in
written communication.
Letterheads contain your
organization’s contact information.
Parts of a Letterhead
Heading
Salutation
Complimentary
Close and
Signature
01
02
Recipient's
Adress
04
Body
03
05
Heading
●
The heading contains the return address with the date on the last line.
Sometimes it is necessary to include a line before the date with a
phone number, fax number, or e-mail address. Often there is a line
skipped between the address and the date. It is not necessary to type
a return address if you are using stationery with the return address
already imprinted, but you should always use a date. Make sure the
heading is on the left margin.
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Heading
Example:
Ms. Jane Doe
543 Washington St
Marquette, MI 49855
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
June 28, 2011
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Recipient's Address
●
This is the address you are sending your letter to. Be sure to make it
as complete as possible so it gets to its destination. Always include
title names (such as Dr.) if you know them.
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Salutation
●
The salutation (or greeting) in a business letter is always formal. It
often begins with “Dear {Person’s name}.” Once again, be sure to
include the person’s title if you know it (such as Ms., Mrs., Mr., or If
you’re unsure about the person’s title or gender then just use their
first name. For example, you would use only the person’s first name if
the person you are writing to is “Jordan” and you do not know
whether they identify as male, female, or non-binary. The salutation
always ends with a colon.
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Body
●
The body section of letterhead follows the salutation and takes up
most of the space on the page. It usually includes a business's logo,
name, address, and contact information such as phone or fax
number, email address, and company website URL. The body is the
meat of your letter. For block and modified block letter formats, single
space and left justify each paragraph. Be sure to leave a blank line
between each paragraph, however, no matter the format. Be sure to
also skip a line between the salutation and the body, as well as the
body and the close.
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Closing and Signature
●
Below the body is the closing and signature of the sender. Some letterheads
may include a graphic of the sender’s signature if the letter is to be sent as a
file via email or converted to PDF for use on the Web and now people can
also send signature through online. It is very much needed to have an
authenticity.
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Legal Requirements of a Letterhead
When you’re designing your company letterhead it may seem like anything
goes and you will probably focus on the font and paper type. But there are
certain legal requirements that if you ignore will forfeit all the hard work
you’ve put in to starting your business.
The Companies Act states that the basic things all businesses must display
on their letterheads are:
• The name of the business
• The part of the country the
business is registered
• The registered company
number
• The address of the registered
office
• The address of any other
business location; unless it is
primarily living accommodation
Sole Traders
Partnerships
●
●
If you are a sole trader you
must include your name
(i.e the name of the
director must be displayed)
and your registered
business address on all
business stationary
including letterheads.
If your company is a partnership then
you must include the names of all
partners and a principal office address
on letterheads, orders, invoices and
receipts. Partnerships in business that
operates between two or more
individuals who share both the profits
and liabilities of the business. If your
company does not have a principal
office then you must list the addresses
at which the partners can be found. 20
Limited Companies
●
A private company whose owners and shareholders are only legally
responsible for the company’s debts to the amount of capital they invested.
If the company is exempt from the requirement to use ‘limited’ in its name is
must state the fact that it is limited. Letterheads and order forms, whether
hard copy or electronic must give the name of the company, the place of
registration, the company registration and the address of the office or place
of business if different.
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Charitable
Companies
●
Under Section 68 of the Charities
Act 1993 if the company name
does not use ‘charity’ or ‘charitable’
then all company documents
including letterheads must state
that the company is a charity.
Similarly, an investment company
must state that it is this type of
company in all business
communication.
Overseas
Companies
●
If your company is overseas then
the same rules apply.
Wound Up?
●
If your company is winding up, is in
administration, receivership or a
moratorium then you must state this
on all business communication,
including letterheads whether it is a
hard copy or electronic.
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Other points to consider
●
●
●
If a company is an investment company as defined by Section 833 of the
Companies Act 2006 then they must state that it is this type of company in
all business communication.
If the company has chosen to display its share capital then it must display
the amount of paid up share capital.
A company does not have to display its directors’ names but if it chooses too
then it is all or nothing. The company cannot be selective about which
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Kinds of Letterheads
Letterheads are categorized into four (4) kinds:
Standard
Letterhead
Custom
Letterhead
4 Kinds of
Letterhead
Specialized
Letterhead
Executive
Letterhead
Standard Letterhead
A standard letterhead usually refers to
an entity in whole and is typically used
for administrative or service-oriented
purposes.
Specialized Letterhead
The specialized letterhead is much like the
standard letterhead except that it typically
comes from a specific department of the
company such as accounting, legal or
marketing.
Standard Letterhead
The custom letterhead is typically more subject
specific than the other types and generally comes
from one specific person. These letterheads are
commonly used for interoffice communications such
as memos or presentations.
Executive Letterhead
The executive letterhead is much like the custom
letterhead in that its intended audience and subject
matter is specific to one person or issue. This
particular letterhead is reserved for personnel at the
director level or higher and is used for purposes
ranging from termination letters to offer letters.
Design Rules for Letterheads
Appear
Professional
1
Fade All
Backgrounds
8
Keep it Simple
2
7
Include Basic
Information
Focus on the
Logo
3
6
Maintain Balance
Leave Writing
Space
4
5
Use Eligible
Fonts
Why are letterheads used in
business?
●
●
Letterheads exhibits seriousness and professionalism, it convinces
investors why to invest in a specific brand. They are used for brand
representation and are brand identity; just as important as the brand
itself.
Businesses also use them as a marketing strategy.
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