Translucent envelopes, also known as vellum, are available in clear, or in a rainbow of colors. They allow the sender to show off a marketing piece or an invitation or any other sort of important mailing with flair. Translucent envelopes are uniquely suited to drawing attention to the contents of the envelope. Common uses include invitations, many sorts of announcements, direct mail campaigns, and even for personal correspondence.
Translucent envelopes can be made with patterns in the paper, and they come in a variety of sizes. They are elegant and silky smooth, and give off an air of class and sophistication. Use them any time you need or want others to be able to visually and immediately identify the contents of the envelope but you want that result to come about with a splash. Translucent envelopes have a real well-defined personality about them.
Vellum paper, the stuff of translucent envelopes, harkens back to earlier times but, of course, we no longer create it in just the same way. From ancient times up until the 19th century, vellum was made by skinning a calf, then painstakingly scraping the leather and finally smoothing the skin with a pumice stone. The material which makes up our modern translucent envelopes, still a visually delicate yet highly sturdy paper, is produced by refining 100% cellulose fibers into a gelatin-like mixture. Air and water is removed rapidly, and fibers are pressed into a smooth sheet and baked in an oven with sizing or glue added. All together, it becomes a smooth vellum paper . . . and then a translucent envelope.
The creative possibilities for translucent envelopes are great because the see-through aspects allow colors and patterns to visually interact just as would the colors in a beautiful, hazy painting. If, for example, you use translucent envelopes for invitations, you can design a handmade invitation specifically so that it peeks through its translucent envelopes. This gives all of the combined visual elements the amazing opportunity to interact with the teasing and appealing points brought together through the qualities of the translucent envelopes. Suddenly, that envelope is transformed. It is no longer just something to protect what’s inside . . . you have turned those translucent envelopes into works of art, from the invitation inside flowing right through the enclosure itself.
Let your imagination take flight with all of the possibilities for accenting your translucent envelopes—you can use rubber stamping, stickers and seals along with inserts such as dried flowers, confetti and even patterned paper. Or consider using petite, thick translucent envelopes to create wonderful wedding favor packaging. Get creative. The transparency and thickness of these mini translucent envelopes will give just the slightest reveal to the special treats inside. Keep in mind that these sorts of translucent envelopes cannot be sent through the mail.
Have you ever opened a wedding invitation, baby shower announcement or direct mail piece that you remember as being particularly memorable? The ones that stick in your mind the most were probably in translucent envelopes. Maybe they were in tidy packages with one of those dainty, translucent envelopes embracing an elegantly printed note? The popularity of translucent envelopes automatically set a project apart by offering a tantalizing, just-barely-there glimpse of what's enclosed.
Translucent vellum envelopes offer vast opportunities for creative design resulting in stunning projects which grab attention. Nothing compares to the interactive properties of translucent envelopes. Every designer can take a fresh new look on how to create innovative impressions for elegant uses of translucent envelopes. The ability to utilize various images under the envelope’s surface cleverly blends your message with the overall images produced by intertwining the message with the message’s covering. The combination offers boundless opportunities for outstanding design concepts.
Some companies are using translucent envelopes for direct mail to make a specific point. A few years ago, a software provider very intentionally used translucent envelopes to put out a marketing campaign. The message inside was about security . . . and it was a big hit mailed in translucent envelopes despite the fact that the exact same copy had been previously sent out by the same company a few years before, but in a window envelope. The first time around, it didn’t receive anywhere near the same return response. The company’s director of marketing indicated that the success was all due to the translucent envelope, the “see-through” aspect and how it was visually perceived.
Maybe you have a sales letter, or a marketing letter . . . a simple letter in its form but with an important message. If you put it in a translucent envelope, rather than the traditional envelope, you defy convention by allowing anyone and everyone to read your message. By doing this, however, you are furthering your campaign because, indeed, you want anyone and everyone to know what it is you have to promote. Brilliant tactic! Major direct mail advertising studies show that translucent envelopes create demand and attention for the products and messages ensconced within.
Response rates almost always increase and sale closure rates escalate as well.
Translucent envelopes have other uses in addition to creative mailings. They are now big in the office supply business, used as document holders or ways to carry important papers from one point to another. They are also for filing purposes—keeping paperwork visible while also keeping it organized. Use colors to specify categories. In addition, translucent envelopes made of archival, acid-free pH negative non-plasticized paper are regularly used for packaging, handling and storing negatives and photos. These translucent envelopes are to be used inside an outer protective mail envelope.
When you decide to use translucent envelopes, it is always important to first read through all the application conditions for those specific types of translucent envelopes. See to it that you purchase translucent envelopes created for your mailing—some are made to be used in the postal system, and some are not. Some are good to be printed on, some are not. Once you have your system and usage in line and begin using translucent envelopes on a regular basis, you will realize the powerful messaging power associated with translucent envelopes. They will become an ongoing element of many of your important design projects.