A cohesive stationery system includes letterhead, envelopes and business cards. In many cases, these materials are the first impression, so they must present a unified look. They are a key component to the brand and offer an easy way to maintain consistency across the university. For letterhead and envelopes you must use a vendor under the convenience contract put in place by purchasing. You can view this convenience contract by going to the Purchasing site.
Letterhead
The letterhead design is standardized to promote consistency, yet it also offers a way for units, colleges, departments and organizations to include their contact information within the design. There should be no unit-specific logos on university letterhead.
The left margin should be 1-¾”and align with the word UNIVERSITY. The right margin should be 1″ and the top margin will vary according to the amount of text printed in the address section of the letterhead.
Information appearing in the top margin above the horizontal red line may occupy as many as four lines of text. It is recommended that the name and address of the unit be placed in this space. Below the horizontal red line, units may include division, department or individual names, as well as phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses.
Unit-specific information appears in black and is added as orders are placed. All orders must be placed and produced using a vendor under the convenience contract put in place by purchasing. You can view this convenience contract by going to the Purchasing site.
Word document templates are available for digital use only.
Envelopes
In compliance with postal regulations, the return address and graphic does not exceed more than 50 percent of the horizontal envelope length. Recipient addresses should in most cases not be handwritten, but typed (10-12 point Univers or Arial), in no more than 4 lines. Address blocks should not intrude into the bottom 1/2″ of the envelope.
Address Service Requested statements and Bulk Postage can be added to the envelope upon request from University Communications. “Attention” or “information” lines directing delivery to a specific person or indicating how a business should handle mail should appear above the name of the business or individual to which the mail is addressed. These standards also apply to the design of window envelopes.
For more information about postal requirements for mailing, call the Mailpiece Design Analyst in Raleigh at 919.420.5157. To produce these materials, you must use a vendor under the convenience contract put in place by purchasing. You can view this convenience contract by going to the Purchasing site.
Business Cards
Business cards can include up to ten lines of information (two lines of personal information above the red line and eight lines of contact information below). Both the campus box number and building/room location of offices should be included on the cards. This will help on-campus visitors and delivery people locate your office. The copy is set at 8 point with 11 point leading in Univers Condensed light. The individual’s name appears in bold and all the copy aligns with the word UNIVERSITY. The back of the card should be left blank. If exceptions are needed, contact University Communications at 919.513.1243.
All university business cards must conform to this format and may not carry unit-specific logos.
To place an order, contact the Copy Center at 919.515.2131.
Mailing Labels
Mailing labels are 3″x 4″and follow the same design standards as the other elements of the stationery system. Labels can have 4-5 lines of copy. Just like the envelope standards, “attention” or “information” lines directing delivery to a specific person or indicating how a business should handle mail should appear above the name of the business or individual to which the mail is addressed.
I would like to see a template for business cards, specifically in Microsoft Word, Powerpoint or Adobe Photoshop. This would allow a user to create his/her own business cards using tools such as the Avery business card paper.
Thank you for your comment. Perforated or self-printed business cards would not maintain the integrity of the NC State visual brand. A business card is one of the quickest, least expensive — and most commonly used — vehicles we have to convey our brand identity. As representatives of NC State, the business cards we distribute must be of high quality and consistent. In order to provide quality control and ensure brand integrity, we do not offer business card templates and provide letterhead templates for electronic use only. As there is no mechanism in place to ensure consistent paper quality and color output across all devices, stationery items should not be created on desktop devices.