THE BUSINESS LETTERHEAD•
A letterhead is one of the most important tasks for the jobbing printer and
deserves the most careful attention.
Even today most letterheads are produced in the most varied styles and
sizes. A collection of contemporary business letterheads would show most
of them in the old quarto format. some in miscellaneous "private" sizes. and
a small minority in 01 N formats. The variation in sizes of the old letterheads
was because no recognized standard sizes existed.
The letter is not only the most important instrument of business communi
cation. More than this. it often contains price offers. contracts. and agree
ments which can make critical its retrieval from the file in which it is placed
after arrival. Thus the letter becomes part of a multiplicity. i.e. of a corre
spondence. Without order. such a multiplicity becomes unmanageable. The
old quarto and the various other unique formats. among which the old folio
format was an attempt at standardization. were -because of all their dif
ferent dimensions -difficult if not imposs1ble to file and therefore find
So the first requirement for the expedient design of business letterheads
was the laying down of a single format. This was achieved by the Standards
Committee in the 476 Standard. For business letterheads the most suitable
format is A4 (21 0 x 297 mm). a practical and pleasant size. The authorities
have used it for many years for government documents. instead of the old
folio sizes. and businesses are now using it more and more. Even private
individuals are now going over to it. A4 is a bit deeper than the old quarto
size and is the same width as folio. It fits comfortably into the old filing
systems.
A letterhead designed in the New Typography (in old quarto format) by
Thea van Doesburg is shown here as an example of a standard but other
wise contemporary heading. At the time it was made. the standard DIN
sizes were not yet recognized. and France. where this letterhead was orig
inated. has not yet joined with the other European countries that have
introduced it.
The old formats will presumably remain in use for some time to come. so
our example can be justified.
- In the follow,ng sect1ons of th1s chapter we are grateful to the German Standards Comm1ttee
(DIN) for permiSSIOn to reproduce the •llustrat•ons_ The latest eC1t1on of the DIN forms should be
consulted and ts obtatnable from Beuthverlag. Berl1n S 14. Dresdener Strasse 97.
The booklet Formate und Vordrucke ts also available from th1s publ1sher. prov•dmg a useful exten
SIOn of the present work (pnce 1 .20). It IS frankly of aston1shmgly low typographiC qual1ty and
the examples shown should not be used as models But the usefulness of both publ•cat•ons IS not
m questton