Brand stationery is the written face of your brand. From the thank you card tucked into every order to the branded notecard included in a wholesale shipment to a retail buyer, these pieces carry your voice into moments that no other packaging format reaches. Here is what to source and how.
Types we source
Thank You Cards
Standard flat thank you cards — a single-sided or double-sided printed card in a standard size (typically A6 or 9cm × 14cm). The most common format for DTC order inserts. Front carries a brand visual or message; back carries a personal thank you, social handle, discount code, review request, or brand story.
Folded thank you cards — a scored-and-folded card that opens like a greeting card. More space for content, and the physical act of opening it adds a moment of engagement. Used by brands with more to say, or those who want the card to feel like a genuine letter rather than a printed insert.
Notecard and envelope sets — a small notecard with a matching envelope, often used by brands who want to write personalized messages to wholesale buyers, top customers, or gift recipients. Supplied as blank or lightly branded stock for handwritten personalization.
Postcard-format cards — a heavier, single-piece card in postcard size. Can carry a striking lifestyle image on one side and a brand message or product feature on the other. Doubles as a keepsake or pin-board item.
Brand Stationery
Branded notepads — a top-bound or glue-bound stack of branded notepaper. Used as a brand merchandise item, a gifting extra, a subscription box insert, or a brand stationery product sold alongside a core product range.
Custom envelopes — printed envelopes in brand colors with logo or pattern on the outer face, the inner flap, or both. Used to house thank you cards, promotional offers, or product information sheets.
Custom tissue-lined envelopes — an envelope with a decorative tissue or patterned paper lining visible when opened. Used by premium beauty and lifestyle brands for a correspondence aesthetic.
Brand booklets and care guides — a small multi-page stapled booklet, typically 8–16 pages, carrying product usage instructions, ingredient explanations, brand story, and care guidance. Used by skincare, supplement, and candle brands as an included educational piece.
Product information sheets — a single folded or flat A5 sheet carrying key product information, usage instructions, and brand contact details. The functional equivalent of a package insert for brands whose outer packaging doesn't have room for full copy.
Gift message cards — blank or lightly branded cards supplied for customers to include with a gift order, either pre-printed with a gift message prompt or left blank. Used by DTC brands with a strong gifting use case.
Loyalty cards — a small wallet-size card with a stamp grid or QR code for a loyalty or repeat-purchase program. Used by brands selling through physical retail or markets to encourage return visits.
Mini catalogs and lookbooks — a small-format (A6 or A5) folded or stapled printed catalog presenting the brand's full product range. Included in orders, left at trade shows, or distributed at market stalls. A compact wholesale sales tool.
Paper stocks
The paper stock for stationery communicates as much as the design printed on it:
350 GSM coated art board — standard for flat thank you cards; crisp, smooth, excellent color reproduction
300 GSM uncoated stock — softer feel, matte surface, writes well with a pen — essential for any stationery that will be handwritten on
400 GSM premium board — a noticeably heavier, more substantial card feel; used when the card itself should feel like a premium object
Cotton rag paper — a high-end, slightly textured paper with exceptional tactile quality; used for luxury brand correspondence and notecard sets
Recycled / FSC-certified stock — available across most weights; increasingly requested by eco-aligned brands
Finishing options
Soft-touch lamination — a velvet feel on the card surface; extremely popular for thank you cards in beauty and lifestyle categories
Foil stamping — a gold, silver, or rose gold metallic logo or brand element on the card front; significantly elevates perceived quality
Spot UV — gloss varnish on the logo or a graphic element over a matte base; clean, modern, high-contrast
Edge painting — the cut edges of the card are painted in a solid color, revealing a stripe of brand color when the card is held on its side; a distinctive premium detail popular in premium stationery
Large brands cannot send a genuine thank you. Their scale makes personalization impossible. For a small brand, the thank you card is one of the very few genuine competitive advantages available — a moment of human warmth inside a commercial transaction that large competitors structurally cannot replicate.
A well-designed thank you card with a personal message — or even just a beautifully printed note that feels personal — increases repeat purchase rates, drives reviews and social shares, and creates the kind of customer loyalty that no advertising budget can buy. It costs, per unit, less than almost anything else in your packaging suite. Its return is disproportionate to its cost.
Shape Bend Form is a sourcing service built specifically for small and micro retail brands in the US, Canada, and Mexico. We work with vetted manufacturers in India and China to produce custom retail packaging, display stands, and brand extras — then ship everything direct to you via air freight. Think of us as your dedicated packaging sourcing team: we find the right manufacturer, negotiate your price, manage production, and get your order to your door.
No. We are sourcing specialists, not a factory. This is actually an advantage for you — because we work with multiple manufacturers across India and China, we can match your specific project to the supplier best suited to your materials, format, quantities, and timeline. You get access to a wider range of capabilities than any single factory could offer.
We currently serve retail brands in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
We work with micro and small retail brands across a wide range of product categories, including skincare and beauty, jewelry and accessories, specialty food and artisan beverages, candles and home fragrance, apparel and lifestyle, and subscription box businesses. If you sell a physical product and care about how it's presented, we can likely help you.
Sourcing overseas manufacturers on your own requires significant time, supplier vetting experience, language navigation, and quality oversight that most small brand founders simply don't have the bandwidth for. We already have established relationships with reliable factories, know how to read and negotiate quotes, and manage the production process so you don't have to. You focus on your brand — we handle the sourcing.