Personalised Correspondence & Note Cards

CORRESPONDENCE CARDS & CUSTOM NOTE CARDS

What are correspondence cards?

Probably the most useful piece of personalised stationery in this day and age, the personalised correspondence card or note cards are perfect when only a few lines are needed and a letter would be both too lengthy and too time consuming. It has the luxury of being used as a gift card, a thank you card, to share gossip or simply to show someone they are not forgotten, but, however you choose to use it this card strikes that balance between the formality of a letter and the generic nature of a greeting card.

When should I use personalised correspondence cards and when should I use letter headed paper?

In today’s world, with everyone leading busy lives and, despite advances in technology, often time-poor, committing thoughts or a message to paper in your own handwriting shows a significant commitment the size of which will not be lost on the recipient, as it demonstrates that they are sufficiently important to you to be worthy of the time that you have spent on crafting your message. This is particularly so if you write them a letter but is still no less true of a notecard. For those occasions when a short message will suffice, a personalised correspondence card is the perfect means of conveying this. This might simply be to show that they are not forgotten and very much in your thoughts, it might be to thank them for act of kindness on their part or a pleasant day spent together, an enjoyable dinner party or any number of other events that warrant a short note or a reply or acknowledgement of some sort.

What do you mean by bespoke correspondence cards and how does they differ from postcards and notecards?

A personalised correspondence card is any card of suitable weight and size that has been printed with either your name only, in which case, in the United States in particular, they are often referred to as ‘name cards’, or has been printed with your name, postal address and other contact details, and provides sufficient space for a note or message to be written upon it by hand. Cards which share the same characteristics that have been supplied plain for the same purpose are sometimes referred to a correspondence cards but can also be called note cards.

personalised Correspondence cards are designed to be written on both sides of the card as it is intended that they be sent to the recipient in an envelope. Other than perhaps a personal cipher or crest in addition to your personal details they are traditionally fairly plain, though they may be decorated with a border or frame.

A postcard, on the other hand, is a card that is intended to be sent through the mail without an envelope. The recipient’s address and a postage stamp will take up at least some portion of one side of the card, often sharing the same space with your message, and whilst the other side of the card may once have been plain or might once have had pre-paid postage printed upon it, the majority of postcards are in fact the ‘picture postcards’ with which everyone is so familiar, that are sold in newsagents and souvenir shops in holiday destinations the world over.

What weight and size should my custom note cards be?

Though it is not intended to travel through the postal system without an envelope to protect it, the convention, at least in the United Kingdom, is for a card to be at the very minimum 260gsm, but more usually anything from 300gsm to 400gsm according to the bulkiness of the card. Cards which are rolled smooth are often heavier but may not be as bulky as those with a loose surface texture. For example, those of our Pemberly Fox cards which are made from Colorplan have a lovely loose surface and are a relatively substantial 350gsm single card, by which we mean that they are not folded but a single piece of flat card.

Traditionally, a card would have measured exactly half the size of your personal writing paper, since the two most popular sizes of paper, 9” x 7” (Post Quarto) and 8” x 6.25” (King’s) produce cards sized 4.5” x 7” and 4.25” x 6” respectively, and this enabled a single size of envelope to be used to send either the card or the writing paper folded once. Whilst these two sizes remain valid options, with the arrival of metrication the switch from Imperial sizes to ISO 216 A series paper sizes has meant that A6 is now the most popular size as this fits neatly into a C6 envelope.

In that case what are notecards and do they differ from notelets?

We make the distinction between traditional correspondence cards and note cards since the latter tend to be more decorative. Both types of card are single flat cards that are often made from the same type of card and in the same sizes. The most popular by far is certainly A6 which, as we mentioned before, fits a standard C6 envelope that is now to be found in common usage in many countries.

Whilst personalised correspondence cards tend to be printed with the sender’s personal details, a note card is often devoid of personalisation and in its place there might be a monogram or a small motif or a device that is either significant for, or appeals to, the sender. These cards also tend to have more decorative elements included on them and can sometimes have pattern on the front face or filling the rear of the card. Some of our own Pemberly Fox designs have exactly this combination and include a small motif on the front of the card and all-over pattern on the reverse of the card. A notelet on the other hand, whilst it may include the sender’s name on the front or some form of pattern or decoration, takes the form of a folded card with the interior most often left blank to provide space for you to write your personal message. In the event that you are not looking for any printed cards then we do also have a large collection of blank cards and envelopes as well as a refined selection of bordered stationery with envelopes to match the printed border colours as well as a broad choice of colourful plain stationery.

Are personalised note cards suitable for all occasions?

Notecards are extremely versatile but they will not necessarily be suitable for all uses or all occasions. On the one hand space is limited, so, if you need to correspond at length, then writing sheets may suit your needs better. Equally, they tend to suit informal social communication and there will be times when personalised writing paper or a personalised correspondence card with your details printed upon it would better suit correspondence with those people outside your immediate social circle, such as perhaps tradespeople or those providing legal or financial services.

For many other occasions though, they can be used interchangeably with the correspondence card and gives you the opportunity, by your choice of design, to reflect your mood at the time of sending, to introduce variety and colour and, by keeping a selection of different designs to hand, allow you to pick a card that you believe will appeal to the recipient.

I would like some personalised correspondence cards printed by Pemberly Fox. How do I place my order?

We have created a number of example designs to help you identify what style and layout appeals to you and we have also created matching designs within our visiting card and writing paper collections which can be found on our personalised stationery sets page. Once you have selected the design that it closest to the type of card that you would like us to print, please follow our simple order process to provide us with the information that you wish to feature on the card and any font and ink colour choices that you might be prompted to make. Once we have received your order we will prepare a preliminary setting proof for you, which we will email to you for your review. Once you are happy with your proof and have approved it for printing, expect the production cycle to take approximately 7 to 10 working days after which we will contact you to arrange for either collection or despatch.