The design of a mail piece is much more important than most businesses realize.  The recipient of a mail piece will always see the overall presentation of your mail piece before reading its content.  Quite often a recipient will make his or her decision to read or discard your mail piece purely based on its appearance.  The design also has many subliminal effects on the reader as well. For instance, a professional design will add to your creditability, while a messy disorganized design will give the impression of an unorganized company.  Keep in mind that design is one of the most important items in a mailing campaign with the smallest price tag.  The cost incurred in designing an effective piece will benefit you for many mailings; which makes the design cost even smaller.  In today's economy, postage, printing and mailing list cost respectively are the most expensive items in a mailing campaign.  It is simply unwise to spend large sums of money on printing and postage and settle for a lower response rate just to save a few hundred dollars in design services.