What's in an Envelope?
The first known use of paper envelopes has been found in China, dating from around the 2nd century BCE. Envelopes were first mass-produced and pre-folded in the mid-19th Century; today, there is a wide variety of shapes, styles, materials, and uses for the humble envelope!
The first known use of paper envelopes has been found in China, dating from around the 2nd century BCE. Envelopes were first mass-produced and pre-folded in the mid-19th Century; today, there is a wide variety of shapes, styles, materials, and uses for the humble envelope!
Choosing your envelopes is an important task; the envelopes you choose can convey a message of what is inside and can be a strong brand statement. It’s often the first tangible thing a customer sees and handles from your company, and first impressions really do count! The style of envelope chosen can be closely associated with the contents; brown manila envelopes are synonymous with household bills, while coloured and printed envelopes can indicate an offer, promotion, or if handwritten it could suggest a greetings card or invitation!
Throughout the customer-journey envelopes are used - from advertising to invoicing and everything in between. So, you need to think carefully about the consistency of brand and quality throughout the customer experience; expensive, bespoke, and well thought out promotional flyers paired with very basic invoicing envelopes could indicate that a company focuses on obtaining new customers and not existing ones.
Envelopes come in many shapes, sizes and materials, from small and simple for single sheets of paper, to large and bubble-lined as protection for more bulky or fragile items, and everything in-between.
So how do you decide if you need a self-seal, diamond flap, or gusset envelope; if you should go for printed or plain? We have put together a few questions you should be asking - and answering before making your choice.
- Who is the end-user?
- What are the envelopes for?
- What will the contents be?
- How will it be fulfilled and sealed?
- Is a window required; will labels be applied, or will the address be printed on the envelope?
- Is printing pre-required?
- What material should your envelopes be?
- Is a bespoke envelope required?
At Antalis, we stock a full range of envelopes from cost-effective for mass mailings - including those suitable for machine filling, through to board backed and full board - for sending items that need protection from bends and tears; all the way to bespoke and pre-printed envelopes on premium papers.
We also stock a wide range of protective packaging envelopes for large and more bulky/delicate items – whatever your challenge, we can offer expert advice and the right products to help you give the right impression the first time!
Luckily, we have produced a guide - ‘Pushing the envelope’ to help you navigate around the wide variety of envelopes we offer; and all the technical terms to assist you in choosing the correct envelope.
