When we think of stationery, we often think back to a simpler time when correspondence was written by hand, packaged in an envelope, and delivered by horse. But letterhead design (often referred to as headed paper) is an important factor in modern branding, even if it might not seem as immediately impactful as flashier print collateral like business cards or presentation folders. That’s because well-designed letterheads play a crucial role in building a professional and credible image, and can be found on everything from invoices and inter-company memos to legal documents and, yes, even letters. They are a subtle but consistent touchpoint that reinforces your brand’s identity, attention to detail, and the prominence of your logo.
The challenge with letterheads is that they need to be unusually versatile. Think about it this way: a letterhead design has to look equally good on an acceptance letter as it does on a rejection letter. For print designers, it can seem quite an undertaking to create a letterhead design idea adaptable to any situation, yet distinguished enough to accurately represent the brand and project the desired professionalism and credibility. Fortunately, to spark your inspiration and help you create letterheads that are both versatile and effective in representing your company while making a strong impression, we found a treasure trove of creative letterhead design samples to guide you.
Explore Letterhead Examples by Industry
Jump to a specific section to see relevant letterhead designs:
Arts and Entertainment
When your brand is literally known for its contributions to a creative industry, you need everything about your visual identity to reflect that creative spirit and passion for expression. Letterhead designs in the arts and entertainment industry often embrace a more whimsical and innovative approach than in more traditional sectors. This is because these brands have the opportunity to showcase their unique personality and confidently express their brand identity, often allowing themselves to be their own wonderfully “weird” selves, while still maintaining a professional and recognizable presence.
Dubai Film Festival Rebrand Pitch
F-8 Photography
Beauty & Fashion
Beauty and fashion brands help people look their best, so it’s no surprise that the letterhead designs for this industry tend to be visually intriguing and carefully curated to reflect their brand’s aesthetic. Each of these examples excels at being emotionally expressive, running the gamut from elegant and sophisticated to hip and trendy, and effectively communicating their unique brand personality and commitment to quality. These designs demonstrate how to create a letterhead that is both visually captivating and reinforces the brand’s professional image.
Crusty Underwear
138 Cosmetics
Church
Churches need to be able to reach out to a modern audience with their communications while still delivering age-old messages about their faith. To ensure their message resonates broadly and projects a welcoming and trustworthy image, some of the most accessible church letterhead designs forgo explicitly religious imagery in favor of more universal expressions of love and community. This design choice helps church letterheads reach a wider audience without alienating those within the faith and, importantly, ensures their brand message and core values are communicated clearly and effectively across all their outreach materials, fostering a sense of professionalism and organized communication.
Church of Incarnation
First Baptist Church of Locust Grave
Financial & Corporate
Financial and corporate letterhead designs must provide a sense of security and stability to put their audience at ease and build confidence in their brand. These example letterhead designs look professional, established, trustworthy, and safe – all essential qualities for conveying credibility and reliability in this sector. While prioritizing these crucial elements, they also manage to be stylish enough to express the brand’s personality and ensure visual consistency with their overall brand identity, ultimately creating a professional letterhead that clearly communicates their core business values.
Coastal Financial
InsureRisk Corporate Identity // Branding
Food
When designing collateral for the food and restaurant industry, it’s tempting to play to the audience’s appetite and “go for the gut.” However, while visual appeal is key, ensuring the letterhead effectively represents the brand professionally and consistently is also important. Natural colors and streamlined aesthetics are indeed popular in the food industry, promoting desired feelings of health, vitality, and freshness, which are all part of a strong and recognizable brand identity. With strategic splashes of color and just the right amount of simple food imagery to tantalize the taste buds, these designs look good enough to eat and present a clean, clear, and professional image that enhances brand credibility.
Humble Coffee
Oil Slick Imports
Healthcare
Healthcare stationery often reaches individuals during moments of heightened anxiety—such as following a medical assessment or upon receipt of a substantial invoice. However, the letterhead designs we have curated demonstrate that there is no cause for apprehension. The majority effectively utilize gentle blues and calming ochre tones, coupled with ample negative space, to soothe worried recipients and cultivate a feeling of assurance. This widely adopted approach across numerous healthcare organizations underscores the significance of design in establishing a reassuring and dependable organizational persona. Indeed, these examples highlight how a thoughtfully crafted letterhead can be a powerful instrument in communicating empathy and fostering patient confidence, thereby reinforcing the healthcare provider’s commitment to competent and considerate care.
Pharma Plus Healthcare
Louisville Acupuncture & Message
Industrial & Construction
Letterhead designs for industrial brands and construction companies are frequently precise and to the point, relying on the inherent elegance of straightforward design to deliver visual appeal. While embracing this minimalist approach, as you can see from our examples, it’s clear that simplicity doesn’t equate to being uninspired—quite the contrary. These industrial letterhead designs are a compelling demonstration of just how impactful a “simple and uncluttered” aesthetic can be in projecting an image of competence and operational efficiency. Such designs guarantee that essential contact information is readily accessible and contribute to a cohesive and dependable company image across all communications.
Measure Twice
OCEAN Corporate Identity
Law
Lawyers and letterheads are an inseparable pair, much like peanut butter and jelly. It’s practically ingrained in our expectations to find monograms and formal emblems atop legal documents and correspondence—or, at minimum, a clear indication “From the law offices of—” followed by a name or partnership. This established visual language serves to immediately convey authority and trustworthiness, essential for client confidence. However, even within the traditionally formal legal sector, firms and attorneys can appreciate the judicious use of color and subtle design elements to inject a degree of individual character into their printed materials, ensuring their unique firm identity is subtly present even in formal communications.
Kal Legal
Corvus Legal
Marketing & Design
We unearthed a truly stunning array of letterhead designs originating from the marketing and design sphere, and this is hardly surprising—after all, these are the very professionals who grasp the immense value of a compelling letterhead for a company’s overall brand representation. These examples provide an immediate and unmistakable impression of each brand’s distinctive organizational persona. Furthermore, they effectively demonstrate how a letterhead can be a potent tool for communicating a clear and memorable message, ensuring visual alignment with all other facets of their outward-facing materials.
Colibri Identity
Squirl Corporate Identity
Nonprofit
Nonprofit letterhead designs navigate a delicate balance: they must foster optimism while simultaneously conveying the urgency of their mission and the need for support to enact positive change. Consequently, nonprofit letterheads often adopt an encouraging and positive tone, frequently employing vibrant palettes. The most effective nonprofit letterhead designs capture initial interest, then gracefully recede, allowing the core cause and organizational values to take center stage. This approach ensures that while visually engaging, the letterhead clearly communicates its purpose and builds donor confidence in its trustworthiness and responsible stewardship.
OEN Identity
Nourish California
Personal
Personalized letterhead designs were once a far more ubiquitous element of personal correspondence, with many individuals possessing their own custom stationery for handwritten letters. Despite the descriptor “personal,” these letterhead designs are decidedly professional in function—while representing a single individual, they effectively embody that person as a distinct brand. Independent professionals, especially freelance designers, should particularly take note: a well-crafted letterhead is an essential component of establishing a strong individual brand presence and projecting an image of expertise and focused capability. Indeed, a personal letterhead becomes a valuable tool for clearly presenting contact details and reinforcing a memorable identity in all professional interactions.
For fresh ideas on creating a memorable personal mark, check out these clever techniques for designing two-letter logos.
Photography by Jessica
Nancy Glass Stone
Real Estate
Real estate letterhead designs are tasked with a seemingly paradoxical objective. Beyond simply conveying information about the agency or agent, the visual presentation must also subtly evoke the essence of the properties they represent—whether rentals or sales. These designs adeptly employ fundamental elements like typography and color palettes to generate a vicarious sense of place, allowing potential clients to almost feel present within the properties being showcased. This careful balancing act is crucial for establishing a reputable and dependable image, while also distinctly communicating the firm’s brand narrative and ensuring essential contact details are readily apparent for prospective buyers or renters.
Northwest Multiple Listing Service
Black Property Group
Technology
It might initially appear paradoxical that organizations in the computer and technology sector, at the forefront of digital innovation, still rely on something as traditional as stationery to promote their brand. However, this very fact underscores the significance of a distinctive letterhead in shaping a company’s overall brand image. Technology industry letterhead designs adeptly translate the essence of the digital realm into tangible print, often incorporating precise geometric vector graphics and a prevalent use of blues and greens—signature hues within the tech landscape. This approach effectively conveys a sense of modernity and technical sophistication, while also ensuring key contact information is presented with sharp precision and contributing to a consistent and instantly recognizable corporate aesthetic.
Dice – Stationery Design
Radity Identity
Eclectic Letterhead Designs
There isn’t a brand, in any sector, that wouldn’t gain from a thoughtfully conceived letterhead as a fundamental aspect of their overall brand strategy. And to underscore this universality, we present examples spanning an impressive spectrum of fields, from learned historical societies and vibrant nightclubs to discerning wedding photographers and sophisticated hotels. Regardless of the specific industry your clients operate within, the probability is exceptionally high that they will, at some juncture, require a letterhead. This underscores the point that a well-designed letterhead is not merely a formality, but a consistently valuable tool for projecting a polished and unified organizational image across all communications, regardless of sector.
The Field Museum
Digest
Share Your Letterhead Designs & Ideas
Now it’s your turn. We’ve shared our favorite examples and we’d love to see yours! Share your letterhead designs, insights, and creative ideas in the comments below. Let’s inspire each other!