As to the style of typographic treatment, the printer must in all cases consider the tastes of his customers, and especially the business or profession for which the stationery is to be used. As an instance, the style of typographic treatment of doctors’ and lawyers’ stationery seldom changes.
It should be kept in mind that simple, neat, refined typography is appropriate for almost every order of stationery, while elaborate typography in many cases is inappropriate.
Color is seldom well used on stationery. Most letterheads that the writer has seen which have been treated in three or four colors would have been more pleasing if given but one printing. A test of typographic skill is to design a letterhead that in one printing will look attractive and distinctive. The heading should usually be printed in black or some darkened color, and if another impression is desired a very small part of the design printed in orange or vermilion will add a touch of bright color.
All the reproductions shown are reduced in size, those on the inserts being only slightly smaller.
EXAMPLE 283
There is a great deal of character in this simple letterhead design. The lantern is really a monogram. By Charles R. Capon
Example [275] (Insert).—Lithographers and steel-die printers really furnish the styles for the conventional arrangement of letterheads. They work along standardized lines and usually produce well-balanced, appropriate headings. Typographical printers should study stationery produced by these processes and observe how the parts of headings are grouped and the advertising points emphasized; for a letterhead is one form of advertising. There are limitations, however, in the copying of such letterhead arrangements. Only plain designs should be studied for this purpose. Imitations of shaded and ornamental lettering are seldom successful. Example [275] demonstrates how a good letterhead can be designed along lithographic lines. The effectiveness of this heading depends a great deal upon the use of both light- and dark-faced type. Where there is a great deal of matter, as in this instance, the heading would likely appear flat and uninteresting and would lose some of the advertising qualities it possesses if the light-faced type were used thruout. This is no argument for bold-faced type on stationery headings as a usual thing, but refers to the kind of heading here shown. The parts in the dark-faced type include the firm name, the nature of its business and the city in which the firm is located. The names of the officers are arranged in the upper part of the heading, and this position of the names seems to be satisfactory in most instances. The telephone number and cable address are in the center near the date line. The type used in this heading is Card Litho and Card Light Litho.
Example [276] (Insert).—Professional stationery must be treated with dignity and refinement, and the type should be small. Treatment such as this would undoubtedly meet with approval from the professional customer. It would be a mistake to apply to professional stationery the variety of attractive and interesting arrangements that are applicable to stationery used for many business and advertising purposes. The printer would save resetting of the work and more surely please his customers if, in filling orders for doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers and other professional men, he attempted nothing but the conventional dignified treatment illustrated by this example. The type is an imitation engravers’ gothic slightly letterspaced to give the effect usually found on steel-die work.
Example [277] (Insert).—Ministers, included as they are in the professional class, like to have their stationery dignified and neat. At the same time they do not object to the use of text type, as it has a churchly suggestion. This type, too, must be small, that used here being eight-point in size.
