Why Use Stationery When You Can Go Digital?

Is your digital and offline lives colliding? You might read the latest blockbuster on a Kindle, shop on your iPad, use Nike Plus to boast about your fitness or Instagram your latest kitchen creation. Same goes for how you run your business. You’re hip to the world of digital marketing, and you have a website, a Facebook page, an email address and a Twitter handle. So why would you think twice about old-school business tools like business cards and stationery design you many wonder.

Building a brand cannot be done by one channel or marketing activity, every touch point needs to be considered to help you reach, motivate, convert and nurture your relationship with customers, suppliers and partners. It's a tactile and personal way to connect with your customers and prospects. It could be handing out a business card at a networking event or special gestures like posting a hand written thank you card to a new customers, old-fashioned beautiful stationery design is one vehicle that can move you a little closer to your customer's heart.

DIY versus Professional Stationery Design

You want to create a seamless professional impression to customers and partners - from business invoicing, business proposals and company contracts, you want to put your best foot forward with branded stationery, even if your rationale is to have your business address and company registration number, design doesn't have to be boring. In this digital age, hot office stationery is making a comeback.

If you're a startup or an established small business don’t DIY your stationery design. You'll sabotage all your marketing efforts by ignoring your business stationery. For one, what branded template will you use for billing your customers or clients? When a big sales opportunity walks in the room, will you have a business card ready? If the answer is "no but I'd like to be prepared", then you need to take the next step and hire a designer, or use a crowdsourced marketplace like DesignCrowd.

The great thing about crowdsourcing your stationery design is that you don’t need the big guy budget. Crowdsourcing design means you get more ideas and more creativity.

Need more stationery design inspiration, check out this recent post featuring 20 Classy Crowdsourced Stationery Designs on DesignCrowd.

3 Tips for Great Stationery Design

You don't need a corporate budget to get professional stationery design. Today I will share three secrets to help you get a great result. Stunning business cards and stationery design products are tactile expressions of your business and values, and they create a memorable impression.

If you envisage your business as bucking industry trends, doing something novel or different from the competition then crowdsourcing your stationery design is the most creative way you can generate a fresh look and feel to ensure your company makes an impact.

#1. Clarity

When you're writing a design brief you need to give the designer as much detail about the graphic design you envisage and that includes specifying existing color palettes and logos if you have them. The designer starts with a blank canvas and needs clear direction from you to create the design you will love. So share as much as you can about your business, your business goals, business culture and what the design should communicate to customers. If you have a concept than share it, if you don't then talk about the impression and emotions you want the design to create.

#2. Responsiveness

I've shared ideas for creating a great design brief. Next, you need to be on the ball and available. Once you've posted your design brief to the community, designs will start pouring in so be ready and present to respond to the designs.

Provide regular feedback to designers and be direct. Take advantage of DesignCrowd’s feedback tools which let you rate and review designs fast. If you don't like a design, then let the designer know in a timely manner. It’s up to you if you want them to submit again or stop participating in the contest. For the designs you love, work closely with these designers to progress the designs to the stage where you're happy with 2-3 design shortlist and then set up a voting poll to share with customers, your team and friends to see what designs they prefer.

#3. Be Specific

All printed collateral has requirements, known in the business as "specs", short for specifications. From printing, color (Pantone or CYMK), stock type, dimensions, resolution, font types, format, and more, you need to provide this detail to designers. Stationery design - from business cards to envelope design to letterhead, all these assets come with their own fiddly requirements that you need to provide to designers. The good news is that DesignCrowd prompts you to provide these details in the design briefing process, so you won't skip a beat!

If you need tips on how to get great results for print design, check out this article on the DesignCrowd blog: How to Optimise Designs For Print to find out more.

Conclusion

Getting a great stationery design result is easy with crowdsourcing. Just remember that clarity, responsiveness and communicating technical requirements are the key to getting classy results from your graphic designer.

Written by DesignCrowd on Tuesday, October 15, 2013

DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.