Envelopes are more than just a folded piece of paper being torn open and thrown away.
They serve as packaging that protects your letter, ensuring it arrives at its correct
destination in one piece and an acceptable condition.
Envelope Definition and Meaning
A standard envelope is a flat folded rectangular paper used as a container for sending
letters to someone.
Most people use wove, kraft, recycled, specialty, and tear-resistant materials in creating
an envelope, but any paper will do as long as it's sturdy and large enough to fit its
content.
What is an Envelope?
Envelopes are bearers of information, documents, and messages. They also
communicate the sender's intention to their recipient, allowing an excellent first
impression since they’re the first thing seen before the content, catching the attention of
one’s recipient at a glance.
10 Types of Envelopes
Business Envelope
Business envelopes are lightweight materials for mailing corporate letters,
correspondence, billing statements, catalogs, and other important documents at work
and with your clients. Business envelopes often have a company logo or name written
on the front portion of the envelope. This adds to its formality and its business-like
structure.
Wedding Envelope
Weddings are often celebrated with family, relatives, and friends. So, it is common to
send out invitations formally or informally. Modern, traditional, rustic, or retro—wedding
envelopes are best known for their intricate designs and elegant paper types when
sending invitations to guests, relatives, and friends during your special event.
Restaurant Envelope
Restaurants require different avenues to market and promote their business. Not only
that, but they also need to secure business partners to help their business grow.
Advertise your restaurant in style by printing and handing out attractive restaurant
envelopes that contain your business name, address, contact information, and logo to
your customers.
IT and Software Envelope
A lot of IT and software companies create new projects for their customers. They also
need to submit business proposals to partners and vendors. Forward your software
reports, computer program proposals, announcements, and other messages to your
supervisor, colleagues, and fellow team members with ease through IT & software
envelopes and letter mates.
Startup Envelope
A startup company is a business that is based on perceived demand for its product or
service. Startups undergo planning and proposals which is why envelopes are the best
alternatives to store and forward these documents. A startup envelope adds formality
and priority to documents that need to be delivered to its recipients.
Tech Envelope
Tech companies like any other business have the need to promote their company which
includes forwarding printed proposals and reports. Documents enclosed in a tech
envelope add to its formality and privacy. Like most business envelopes, the front
portion is designed with the company's logo, business name, and address.
Therapist Envelope
Working as a therapist requires reaching out to clients to let them know about your
services. Or perhaps keeping them updated by forwarding newsletters, vouchers, or
flyers through their mailing address. A therapist envelope adds to its final touch and this
type of envelope comes in a variety of sizes that works well with different kinds of
documents.
Staffing Agency Envelope
Offices often use all sorts of office envelopes to store and send out their documents just
like this staffing agency envelope. It adds to the formality and you are able to store the
documents properly. Protect the privacy of any employee-related information, reports
and other confidential documents at work by inserting and sealing them in an envelope
before sending them to their respective recipients.
Travel Envelope
Travel agents sometimes need to send printed copies of their travel and business
proposals to their clients. And to do so, they would need a formal travel envelope to
secure the documents. Or you can tell your loved ones about your adventures in a letter
and send them in a travel envelope with your photos or trinkets as memorabilia from the
places you’ve been.
Envelope Uses, Purpose, Importance
People may think envelopes no longer play a vital role in a progressively electronic
world; however, the traditional forms of communication continue to prove their impact on
everyone’s lives, making them more memorable than a simple email or tweet.
Mailing
Envelopes are used to store and secure documents and other important papers. Thus,
this is widely also used for mailing purposes. Regardless of the type of envelope used,
they are perfect for reaching out to prospective customers, recipients, stakeholders, and
business partners since they’re reliable for securely carrying contents.
Branding
Besides being just a carrier of relevant information, they are also perfect for branding
and increasing client engagement. This is used during direct mail marketing business
and personal campaigns. Since colorful, cute, and uniquely designed envelopes are
more likely to get opened than boring ones.
Promotional Tool
Envelopes also act as a promotional tool, since the well-designed ones are likely to get
the attention of the recipient and a chance to be opened. A number of companies still
circulate printed copies of their documents to partners and clients. Hence, it's best to
design envelopes professionally to gain engagement and responses.
Storage
Printed or hard copy documents are usually stored in folders and envelopes. While the
latter offers more security since this could be sealed properly. Also it is preferable to
send documents from one entity to another using envelopes because it can hold a large
number of printed materials.
Formality
Envelopes give documents more formality rather than presenting the document as is.
You can print out your company's logo and name in the front portion and write down to
who the document is addressed to. More importantly, this would help avoid
misplacement of the document.
What’s in an Envelope? Parts?
Face
The envelope’s face or front is the smooth portion of the envelope where the recipient
address, postage, and return address are written.
Back
The back portion of the envelope is where the flaps intersect to seal its content, forming
the distinctive form of the envelope.
Flaps
The flaps are the envelope parts folded and overlapped with one another to seal their
content. Composed of the top flap (seal flap), side flap, and bottom flap, their shape
may be rectangular or triangular with rounded or pointed corners depending on the
envelope’s design.
Seams
The seams of the envelope are determined by the style of flaps used. An envelope may
have diagonal, side, center, or seam overlap.
Folds
The folds are the creases formed at the top, bottom, and sides of the envelope face and
back once all flaps are folded. There are three folds in an envelope: the top fold, the
side fold, and the bottom fold.
Opening & Closing
The envelope is also composed of an opening called the throat, a space between the
top fold and bottom flap for inserting material, and a closure to hold the material. Some
envelopes have a window for viewing the content without opening the envelope.
Envelope vs. Shims
An envelope can be a flat piece of paper, folded and sealed, where a sender inserts flat
items, like a note, document, letter, or message pad, to be sent to their desired
recipient, or it could be a separation of a building’s interior and exterior.
On the other hand, shims are thin and often wedged pieces or tapered material that fill
small spaces between objects to support or adjust a specific surface level.
What’s the Difference Between an Envelope, Door
Stickers, and a Business Card?
Envelopes are flat sealable materials made of paper or plastic to enclose a letter or a
document that can also serve as a design for scrapbooks, diaries, and calendars,
depending on the owner’s creativity.
Door stickers are decorative stickers commonly used for outdoor purposes to inform or
instruct passersby about something or advertise a specific product.
Business cards are small printed cards that represent your company image, brand, and
contact information when you first introduce yourself to your prospective clients,
business partners, and stakeholders.
Envelope Ideas & Examples
If you plan to send someone an invitation, a special message, a promotional letter, or
simple greetings during the holiday, these envelope ideas and examples might suit your
mailing needs.
• Envelope Ideas & Examples
• Hotel Envelope Ideas & Examples
• Ideas for Advertising Envelope
• Hospital Envelope Ideas & Examples
• Ideas for Business Envelope Examples
• Beautiful Design Ideas for Construction Envelopes & Examples
• Wedding Envelope Making Ideas & Examples
• Envelope Ideas & Examples for Handyman
• Christmas Envelope Ideas & Examples
FAQs
What Are the Most Common Envelope Specifications?
An envelope’s common specifications are its size/dimension, type, color, price, and
purpose.
Why Is Building Envelopes Important?
Building envelopes ensure better control of the insulation of a house or building to
improve its ability to keep the place warm or cold indoors.
How To Address an Envelope?
Indicate the return address at its top left corner and state the recipient’s address at the
center on the bottom half of the envelope’s back.
How To Mail an Envelope?
Affix the postage stamp at the upper right corner of the envelope’s back, then drop it in
the collection box or forward it to the nearest post office.
How Do I Save an Envelope Message to be Printed Every Time?
Open an existing document, highlight and copy your selected text, create a new
document, choose the “Envelope and Labels” from the Tools menu and select the
Envelopes tab, paste your message, format your envelope, and then click the "Add to
Document" button.
How to Print Envelopes?
Visit Template.net, download an envelope template, customize it via MS Word, MS
Publisher, Google Docs, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Indesign, or Apple
Pages, then click the print button.
How to Use Cricut to Address Multiple Envelopes?
Type in the addresses of the recipient and sender on the Cricut’s text feature and place
the ready-made envelope on the Cricut’s mat, then hit “make it” to complete the
process.
What Are the Key Features of an Envelope?
The key features of an envelope are its two side flaps, the bottom flap, and its top flap.
What to Include in an Envelope?
State your recipient address, return address, a postage stamp if you're sending them via
USPS, and a wax seal if you want to make your envelope a bit stylish.
What Are the Effective Ways to Use an Envelope?
Choose an envelope type suitable to your purpose, insert your content (make sure there
is sufficient space between your content and the inside of the envelope), then label and
seal your envelope before sending it.
