Shopping Around
When buying stationery, ask for help as soon as you walk into a store. At top-notch shops, new staff must study Crane's Blue Book of Stationery, a trove of product-related tips. (Example: Upon meeting a business contact at a social event, don't exchange business cards; instead, hand over a 3 1/2-by-2-inch "social business card," printed with name and number only.) If you're job hunting, bring letterhead samples from companies where you'd like to work. This will help a salesperson suggest styles in keeping with the companies' vibe.
Finer Qualities
Brightly colored paper is bush league. Stick with plain white or ecru (also called natural or ivory), says Melanie Nerenberg, director of marketing for Kate's Paperie in Manhattan and Connecticut. When it comes to finish, a good choice is wove, which is smooth (there's also laid, which has a rich, textured pattern).
A paper's weight classification is determined by weighing 2,000 regular 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheets of it. Increments start at nine pounds and go through the thirties. The higher the better-more heft reduces flimsiness and increases opaqueness, so the type won't bleed through the back. The recommended weight for business stationery is 24, but a few high-end brands offer a 32-pounder. Anything below 20? Toilet paper.
What's Inside
A paper's weight isn't as important as its cotton-fiber content, or rag. A 20-pound sheet of 100 percent rag is of finer quality than a 24-pounder that's only 25 percent rag. As Sean Bradley, manager of Soolip Paperie & Press in West Hollywood, says, "Some paper can be really thick and heavy, but it's still floppy." Cotton gives paper a crisp feeling not unlike new cash. Among the top manufacturers of 100 percent rag paper are Southworth, William Arthur, and Crane's, the company that makes the paper used for U.S. currency.
Pure and Simple
When printing your name on stationery, steer clear of fancy fonts. Opt for the clarity of Times New Roman or Copperplate. Simplicity also applies to ink color. Black is fine, but midnight blue or charcoal lends a subtle, something's-different-here quality to set the stationery apart. Text should appear on the side where the watermark, or manufacturer's logo, reads correctly.
There are four options for printing: flat, for a matte finish; thermography, for a slightly raised, glossy look; engraving, for a three-dimensional print with sharp lines; and letterpress, for an indented matte finish. Which style you choose is a matter of taste, but for business correspondence, Oriana Vanderlind, an assistant buyer at the Fairfield, California-based stationer Papyrus, rates thermography first, flat second, engraving third, and letterpress last (flat printing and thermography are the least expensive). At Kate's Paperie, a set of 50 engraved social sheets or cards with 50 engraved envelopes runs about $300.
Return to Sender
Never use return-address labels-stickers will undermine your effort to create a sophisticated look. Print your return address on the top left of business envelopes and on the back flap of social-sheet envelopes. A classy finishing touch: Line the envelopes with the same color ink as the engraving. But that's it for frills. Though you've invested hours of time and care in the stationery, it should appear effortlessly professional-just like everything else about your presentation.
