How to Design the Perfect Custom Stamp

A custom stamp is one of the cheapest pieces of branding you'll ever buy and one of the most used. It signs off invoices, seals parcels, marks attendance and stamps the back of a business card. Because it's small, every millimetre of the design has to earn its place. Here's how we approach it at the studio.

Decide what the stamp must do first

Before any artwork, write down the job. An office approval stamp needs a date line and clear "APPROVED" text. A small-business logo stamp needs your mark plus maybe a website. A return-address stamp is all text. The function decides the shape, the size and how much you can fit.

Keep the layout breathable

The most common mistake we see is cramming. A stamp impression is not a poster — fine detail clogs with ink and disappears. Follow a few rules:

• Use bold, simple typefaces. Thin scripts and hairline serifs break up at stamp scale.
• Keep text at 8pt or larger for reliable impressions.
• Leave clear space around every element so ink doesn't bridge the gaps.
• Avoid solid filled blocks larger than a thumbnail — they smear and dry unevenly.

Pick a size that matches the surface

A 38mm round suits a logo with a ring of text. A 58 x 22mm rectangle is the workhorse for address and signature stamps. If you're stamping small items like jewellery tags or thank-you cards, go smaller and simpler. When in doubt, send us the artwork and we'll recommend the size.

A stamp should read in a glance and survive a thousand impressions. If a detail won't show at arm's length, leave it out.

Send us the right file

Vector artwork (AI, EPS or PDF) gives the sharpest result because it stays crisp at any size. If you only have a logo as a photo or screenshot, a high-resolution black-and-white version still works — we'll clean it up. One-colour, high-contrast art always stamps best.

Not sure where to start? Tell us what you need the stamp to do and we'll mock up a layout for you before anything is made. A few minutes of planning is the difference between a stamp you love and one that lives in a drawer.