How to Create Stunning Letterhead Designs to Showcase Your Business [+ Templates] (2024)

You're probably fed-up with how complex it seems to create letterhead designs with Word documents, or maybe you're trying to see how you can save some money and time doing it yourself rather than asking a designer.

Whatever the case is, you can easily create a professional letterhead design in minutes if you follow this guide.

In this article, we'll show you a step-by-step process on how to create a stunning letterhead design to showcase your business. And we’ve included our all-time favorite templates to inspire or get you started immediately.

If you want to skip the how-to's and are excited to start creating your own letterhead design, take a look at these easily customizable letterhead design templates to begin.

Before we dive in, here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit letterhead design templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

• What Is a Letterhead?
• Types of Letterhead Designs
• Benefits of using Letterhead Designs
• How to Create Letterhead Designs
• 12 Letterhead Design Templates

What Is a Letterhead?

A letterhead is a pre-printed stationery design usually seen at the top or bottom of important business correspondence.

The letterhead can be used for different types of letters, like sales letters, internal memos or press releases. It’s an important tool for maintaining your company's brand identity.

A letterhead typically consists of the following elements:

• A company or business name
• A company logo
• The contact information like the address, phone number, email and website
• Company/brand colors
• Unique design elements like patterns or borders
• Company's slogan or tagline.

As a brand or business owner, sending out letters daily may not be new to you. For example, you deliver employment letters to new hires, offer recommendation letters or submit proposals for grants, contracts or more!

A letterhead makes your brand recognizable across all business correspondence and maintains consistency in your brand identity. That's why it’s important to keep your readers in mind when creating your professional letterhead and ensure they can relate to and recognize your brand.

Types of Letterhead Designs

Traditional Designs

A traditional letterhead design is formal and professional while also conveying a sense of tradition and longevity. It is often used by companies with a long history or those in traditional industries such as law, finance or education.

A formal and classic layout with a balanced use of white space and text is a hallmark of traditional letterhead design. Traditional letterhead designs tend to use a limited color palette, often sticking to black, white and shades of gray. Occasionally, a muted accent color may be used for highlights or borders.

Here's an example:

Modern Designs

A modern letterhead design should be clean, professional and visually appealing while also reflecting the company's brand and personality.

While a minimalist approach might be preferred, pops of color can be added to the letterhead design to make it stand out. This can be done using colored borders, backgrounds or logos.

Some modern letterhead designs incorporate custom illustrations or patterns to add a unique touch to the design. These elements can be used sparingly to avoid overwhelming the design.

Here's an example:

Benefits of Using Letterhead Designs

There are several advantages a professional letterhead design can add to your company. Let’s take a look:

Enhances Credibility

Having a letterhead design is one of the best ways to show your clients, partners or audience that your company is credible. It's a quick way to build trust and prove that the content of the letter and the sender are reliable and can be traced back to a valid source or organization.

Promotes Consistent Brand Identity

Your letterhead design communicates to your recipients the most essential details of your business across all business correspondence. Since it includes your brand logo, address, contact details and more, it is easy to recognize your brand no matter the information format. This helps to build stronger brand awareness and identity for your company or business.

Creates Brand Authenticity

Having a professional letterhead design is a great way to curb forgery or fake documents slipping from fraudsters. It is easier to spot a fake document when it can be compared to an original letterhead used in your company's official communications.

Using a letterhead design can save your company the stress of dealing with fraudulent activities and can establish its authenticity.

How to Create Your Own Letterhead Design

Customizing your Brand Kit

The letterhead design for your company is an extension of your brand identity, not a separate one. So the first step in creating your professional letterhead is putting together your brand guidelines or brand style guide which contains your brand logo, brand colors and brand fonts.

You can easily set up your brand kit on Visme by visiting your dashboard and clicking “My brand” on the bottom left of the page. You will then be prompted to upload a clear PNG file of your logo, your brand fonts and the HEX code of your brand colors.

The great thing about having a brand kit is that you can apply your brand style guide to all your company-branded documents, not just your professional letterhead, to create consistent branding across all your correspondence.

Pro Tip: Try sticking to only two fonts in your brand kit and choose colors that complement rather than contrast each other to make it easy for readers to read your text. If you don’t have a logo or brand colors yet, don't let that stop you. You can utilize Visme's logo maker and brand style guide to create a solid visual identity for your brand.

Choosing a Template

Once you have your brand logo, colors, and fonts put together in one place, it’s time to choose a template that closely represents your brand identity and needs.

Designing a professional letterhead from scratch can be a lot of work. Lucky Visme’s professional designers have created a ton of really great letterhead designs that you can choose from instead!

Once you decide on the template you want to use, click “Edit this template,” You will be redirected to Visme’s brand editor where you can customize the template to suit your company brand.

Don’t worry if you can’t decide on a template right away. You can start with one and if you change your mind, you can choose another template to work with. All your data will be transferred to the new template.

Pro Tip: Keep in mind one fundamental rule of design; Simplicity. Ensure that the letterhead design can resonate with your readers and represents your brand well.

Remember that you only need one letterhead design for all your business correspondence so spend time choosing a template that includes all the necessary fields of information you’d like to have in yours.

Selecting a Color Scheme

You can easily replace the colors on the template to suit your brand colors either by individually selecting the color on the template and inputting your brand color HEX code or by using Visme’s brand wizard to automatically add your brand’s asset from the brand kit you uploaded in step 1.

You can also browse through the presets to see how colors work well together and adapt that to your letterhead design.

Pro-tip: Avoid using colors that make your letterhead hard to print or make the text unreadable. Go for colors that compliment your brand identity.

Adding Text and Graphics

Now it’s time to input all the necessary content on your professional letterhead design. This content includes your contact information, company name and website and a company slogan or tagline if necessary.

You can also include vector icons and graphics or high-resolution images to further personalize your letterhead design. Try not to make your design overwhelming or allow the graphics to overshadow the whole page.

Pro Tip: You can implement a hierarchy in your text or graphics when designing your letterhead. For example, you can place your company name in the header and company details in the footer for more structure and arrangement.

When you're done designing, make sure you go through every aspect of your letterhead design to ensure there are no omissions, mistakes or errors.

You can invite your team to collaborate on your design so you get real-time feedback and corrections to implement.

12 Letterhead Design Templates

Now you know all the best practices needed to create a professional letterhead design. We've put together 12 amazing templates to get you inspired and started right away!

1. Kerry Bank - Letterhead Template

Use this letterhead design template if you would like to include a photo of your company or one that closely depicts what you do professionally.

With Visme’s extensive library of high-resolution photos, you can spice up your letterhead design with a captivating image that adds authenticity to your company letterhead.

This template utilizes the bottom right of the footer to include all relevant company details, including the company website and email address. It also gives room for the sender to include their personal company mail. This template creatively infuses the brand colors into the design and font also.

2. Cardiology - Letterhead Template

Use this template if you have to create different professional letterhead designs for specialized teams in your company.

The footer of this template holds the information of the team members, including their roles and specializations, email addresses and phone numbers.

The header of this template specifies the company name and team sending the letter. It goes a step further to include a vector image of a heart that is related to the cardiology field. So even if you do not have a logo, you can utilize graphics matching your company's function.

Right before the content of the letter begins, a slogan/tagline ‘We change lives’ is boldly written and communicates effectively what the team stands for and believes in.

3. Interior Design - Letterhead Template

Use this letterhead design if your primary mode of communication is through formal or official letters. This template creates an avenue to include the current date, as well as the receiver's full name, address and contact details.

You can utilize your brand colors in your letterhead design. But ensure the background colors make the letter's content readable as seen in this template.

A vector image is also used in this template instead of a logo and is easy to resonate with and connect to the brand. If you’re looking to create an unforgettable letterhead design, this template is best for you.

4. Jane Addams Illustrator - Letterhead Template

If you’ve been looking for a creative letterhead template, then take a look at this one! With its two-toned background, this template communicates the expressiveness of its brand and target audience, children!

This template utilizes the footer of the page to include all necessary contact information, giving more room for content in the body of the page.

Anyone seeing this letterhead design will immediately attribute its burst of colors to the role highlighted under the name of the illustrator. Clear but unique fonts are used in this template, further showcasing the artistry of the brand.

5. Simple Theme Letterhead Template

Simplicity is at the core of this template. If you would prefer a professional letterhead design that is straightforward and organized, then this is the best for you.

This template utilizes horizontal lines to demarcate information, with the company website link and contact information in the heading of the page, the company name and recipient in the middle and the date and content of the letter in the last half of the page.

This letterhead template adds a bit of personalization to it by including the picture of the sender right beside the name and role. Who wouldn’t love a friendly face attached to a stunning letter?

6. The Tiny Library - Letterhead Template

If you’d like a very structured and put-together letterhead design, then this template is your go-to! The bold, yet pleasant border helps to frame all the information beautifully in one place, helping the readers stay focused on the content of the page.

This letterhead design also clearly states right under the brand name what the letter is for. It includes at the bottom left of the page a clear call to action and a link for taking further steps to donate.

Use this elegant letterhead template if you're trying to promote a cause or send personalized invites for a charity event.

7. Thank You Note Template

Use this template to boost customer satisfaction and retention with your brand. This simple yet elegant letterhead adds the logo and name of the hotel at the top of the page, making the brand instantly recognizable.

With a short, sweet and simple message, this letterhead design takes things up a notch by including a high-resolution photo that will prick good memories with its customers and make them want to visit again.

Using quality vector images within its contact information, this letterhead design template maintains a consistent brand color and feel throughout the page, making it a perfect thank-you letter.

8. Skincare Letterhead Template

If your brand is all about authenticity and beauty, then this letterhead template gives a fresh peek into what your customers will love.

From the brand colors to the unique font and style, this template sets the tone for a fun, and young brand. It utilizes the top right for the brand name and industry and the bottom right to include all relevant contact details.

This letterhead template also personalizes the design by including a fairly transparent logo which makes the letter more inviting to its audience. Customize this template by switching to your brand colors and a font your audience will love.

9. Restaurant Letterhead Template

Use this enticing letterhead template to promote your brand identity across all business correspondence. The monochrome color effect of this letterhead design makes it more appealing by directing more focus on the letter's content.

By adding real-time photos of your favorite or bestselling dishes, you help create a brand many will resonate with. It’s like inviting your reader to come have a meal with you after they finish reading the letter.

This letterhead template includes the full address and contact information of the receiver as in a formal letter. You’ll find the date and space for the sender to sign, adding some character and credibility to the letter.

10. Christmas Letterhead Template

Send your clients an inviting and heartwarming letter for the holidays. Whether it's New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, Independence or Thanksgiving, you can customize this letterhead template to suit the holiday.

With this template, you can add high-resolution photos that your customers will appreciate and also utilize special fonts they will enjoy seeing! Check out Visme's library for high-resolution images that'll be ideal for any project, occasion or holiday.

This template utilizes the footer of the page to include the company name, website and contact details so that customers are sure they know who's celebrating their holidays with them!

11. Client Engagement Letter Template

Use this template as a follow-up for a successful sale or to engage a new client. The modern design will make your clients feel valued and reinforce their choice to work with your company.

This professional letterhead template uses a high-quality portrait as a backdrop with the brand color as a transparent background filler. The white box helps to draw attention to the content of the letter and thus includes the important contact details, name and signature of the senior consultant in that space.

You can download and share your letterhead design as a pdf or a shareable link to share directly with your clients.

12 Oil Painting Artist Letterhead Template

If you have a brand or business that's purely creative, then this letterhead template is the best way to showcase your skills and artwork in a professional yet innovative way.

This stunning letterhead captures the creative services this brand offers. Search Visme's large library of stock photos to find an image that best depicts your product or service to your clients.

This creative letterhead template doesn't leave out the important details but clearly aligns the artist's website and contact information at the bottom right of the page.

Browse through Visme’s futuristic and expressive fonts to properly represent your brand identity.

Easily Create Branded Designs For Your Business With Visme

Your company letterhead is a vital part of your brand identity. Now you know how to create a stunning letterhead design that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

You can take a step further to ensure that all your important business stationeries and documents have the same brand identity by using Visme’s all-in-one branding platform for all your branding needs.