One of the ironies about our business is that we are a small studio of professional web designers, but most businesses our size can’t afford to hire us. That’s not because we’re overpriced, but rather, because most small businesses — especially startups — can’t afford to spend what it costs to hire experienced professionals to custom-design marketing materials for them. Now, in some cases — for example, product manufacturers — it makes sense to budget for quality design work so that your work is packaged appropriately. But for many businesses, getting business cards custom-designed is simply not a high priority.
When writing our book, we worked hard to include lots of ideas and tips for new and growing businesses on how to create a professional look for your enterprise without breaking the bank. But here’s a sweet one that just came to our attention: brilliant and über-famous graphic designer Paula Scher has designed five sets of templates that you can download and use for free. And they’re very, very nice. Each set includes several PDFs, for letterhead, a fax cover sheet, mailing and shipping labels, and business cards. They’re simple, but they’re lovely — the perfect solution for a new business, especially (but not exclusively) one of the office-y variety.
Along with the templates themselves, the website (funded by HP) offers tips on branding. Two of the five sets are available now, and they are planning to release the others over the coming weeks. (By the way, if you want a quick overview of the templates before wading into the full site, have a look at Scher’s design firm, Pentagram’s blog entry about the project.)
2 responses so far ↓
1 Brandy // Oct 22, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Awesome! Those templates were great, thank you so much for offering them for free. I know that it’s really difficult sometimes for new businesses to get off the ground, but I found this great contest that may help fellow Boss Lady readers that specifically helps female startup entrepreneurs. It’s called “Make Your Dreams Come True with Mirassou.” They are awarding one aspiring business woman $50,000 plus a team of highly professional consultants to help kick start your business. Check it out here http://www.mirassou.com/women_in_business/dreams.asp for more info and to enter. It would be a great asset for you future female leaders of tomorrow. I work with them, so I have the inside scoop.
2 Kim // Mar 12, 2008 at 7:12 pm
The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs of British Columbia is a not for profit society run by and for its members, whose mission is to mentor and educate women entrepreneurs through its four programs; e-series program, Mentor program, Roundtable events and Student Internship program.
Industry specific mentors and peers educate members through training sessions, mentor relationships, lecture series and forums on subjects such as business planning, financing, selecting a board of directors, legal issues, intellectual property protection, sales, marketing, partnering, deal structuring and licensing.
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