A new office in Dubai typically needs AED 3,000–9,000 of printed material before the first employee walks in — and most of it has a longer lead time than your fit-out snag list. Acrylic reception signage starts at AED 750 and backlit reception signage at AED 2,950. A thousand matt-laminated business cards are AED 159. A thousand A4 letterheads are AED 380. Below is the full checklist in the order you must actually order it, with live prices from our store, realistic UAE lead times and the mistakes that cost new offices two weeks.
The three-bucket rule for a new office
Every office launch print list falls into three buckets, and the only thing that matters is the order you buy them in:
- Signage (10–14 working days) — fabricated, mounted, and dependent on your landlord or free-zone authority approving artwork. Order first, always.
- Corporate stationery (4–7 working days) — letterheads, business cards, folders, envelopes. Offset printing, so it waits on quantity, not fabrication.
- Launch-day extras (2–5 working days) — posters, danglers, name stickers, A-boards. These are the items you can still fix in the final week.
The single most common failure we see: a company signs the lease, spends six weeks on fit-out, then orders the reception logo wall nine days before the opening. Fabricated 3D signage cannot be rushed the way digital printing can — the acrylic or steel letters have to be cut, finished and installed.
Bucket 1: Signage — order this first
Reception and logo wall
This is the photograph that goes on LinkedIn, so it is worth the spend. Three realistic tiers from our signage collection:
- Acrylic reception signage — AED 750. Flat-cut acrylic letters on stand-offs. Clean, fast, works on painted drywall or a feature panel.
- 3D reception signage — AED 1,850. Built-up letters with depth. The standard choice for a 15–40 person office.
- Backlit reception signage — AED 2,950. Halo-lit letters. Needs a power point behind the wall — tell your fit-out contractor before the drywall closes, not after.
If your brand mark is a logotype rather than a wordmark, ask for the free artwork check before you commit: thin strokes under 8 mm do not survive fabrication in steel or aluminium.
Wayfinding, door and department signs
Budget per sign, not per office. Realistic unit prices:
- Indoor wall signage — AED 395
- Office wall signage — AED 425
- Acrylic wall signage — AED 495
- Wall-mounted signage — AED 550
A 12-room office generally lands on six to ten signs: meeting rooms, pantry, washrooms, server/store, and one directory at the lift lobby. At roughly AED 425 each that is AED 2,550–4,250 — plan for it rather than discovering it in week three.
Exterior, feature and glass branding
If you have an external facade or a landlord-approved fascia, fabricated 3D letters price out as follows: 3D acrylic AED 1,150, 3D wall signage AED 1,250, 3D aluminium AED 2,450, 3D stainless steel AED 2,650. Neon-effect signage for a lounge or breakout wall is AED 550. For glass partitions and meeting-room privacy, frosted vinyl is the cheap win — read our frosted glass sticker guide before you measure.
One UAE-specific point: external signage visible from a public road almost always needs approval from your building management and, in many jurisdictions, the municipality or free-zone authority. Internal signage does not. Start the external approval the week you sign the lease.
Bucket 2: Corporate stationery
Do not print stationery until your trade licence is issued — the licence number goes on the letterhead, and reprinting 5,000 sheets because a number changed is a painful lesson.
From the letterhead collection, wood-free 100 GSM A4 runs AED 210 for 500, AED 380 for 1,000, AED 575 for 2,000 and AED 750 for 5,000. Step up to 120 GSM and 2,000 sheets is AED 620, 5,000 is AED 880. For most offices, 100 GSM is correct: it feeds through a standard laser printer without curling. Choose 120 GSM only if letterheads leave the building as signed originals.
On business cards, the honest answer is that 1,000 matt-laminated cards at AED 159 (round corner) or AED 89 (art paper, no lamination) covers a new team for a year. Spend up only where it is seen: 1,000 matt with gold foil is AED 299, and 760-micron velvet-laminated cards with spot UV are AED 420. Our breakdown of spot UV, foiling and embossing explains which finish survives a wallet.
If you would rather not buy three line items separately, the Startup Stationery Pack at AED 799 bundles 1,000 business cards, 500 letterheads and 10 NCR books — it is the cheapest way to cover a company's first quarter.
Client-facing offices should add presentation folders. A4 folders with a pocket in 400 GSM art matt, velvet lamination and 3D gold foil are AED 1,425 for 100 from the folders collection — the item that makes a proposal feel like it came from a company with a floor, not a laptop.
Bucket 3: Launch-day extras
These are quick-turn, digitally printed items, most of which ship in 2–3 working days:
- 15 custom A4 posters, single side — AED 140. Values, floor plans, desk-booking rules.
- 100 paper stickers 7 × 7 cm, matt lamination — AED 230. Asset tags, laptop stickers, welcome-kit seals. See the full sticker and label range.
- Spring A-board, 80 × 115 cm — AED 900. For the lift lobby on opening day.
- 4 round danglers, 15 × 15 cm — AED 220.
And if a name changes at the last minute, express printing exists: next-day business cards start at AED 149, and 500 express matt-laminated spot-UV cards are AED 850. Express is a rescue, not a plan — it costs roughly five times the standard rate.
Real prices: the new-office print list
All prices in AED, VAT inclusive, with free delivery across Dubai.
| Item | Quantity | Price (AED) | Typical lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acrylic reception signage | 1 | 750 | 7–10 working days |
| 3D reception signage | 1 | 1,850 | 10–14 working days |
| Backlit reception signage | 1 | 2,950 | 12–14 working days |
| 3D acrylic signage (facade) | 1 | 1,150 | 10–14 working days |
| 3D stainless steel signage | 1 | 2,650 | 12–16 working days |
| Office wall signage (door/room) | 1 | 425 | 5–7 working days |
| Indoor wall signage | 1 | 395 | 5–7 working days |
| Neon signage (breakout wall) | 1 | 550 | 7–10 working days |
| Letterheads A4, wood-free 100 GSM | 1,000 | 380 | 4–5 working days |
| Letterheads A4, wood-free 100 GSM | 5,000 | 750 | 5–7 working days |
| Business cards, matt laminated, round corner | 1,000 | 159 | 4–5 working days |
| Business cards, matt + gold foil | 1,000 | 299 | 5–7 working days |
| Startup Stationery Pack (cards + letterheads + NCR) | Bundle | 799 | 5–7 working days |
| A4 folders, 400 GSM, velvet lam, 3D gold foil | 100 | 1,425 | 6–8 working days |
| Custom A4 posters, single side | 15 | 140 | 2–3 working days |
| Paper stickers 7 × 7 cm, matt lamination | 100 | 230 | 2–3 working days |
| Express business cards, next day | 500 | from 149 | Next working day |
What it actually costs, by office size
| Office | What is in it | Total (AED) |
|---|---|---|
| Lean (5–10 people, one floor of a business centre) | Acrylic reception signage, 4 door signs, Startup Stationery Pack, 15 posters | ≈ 3,389 |
| Standard (15–40 people, own unit) | 3D reception signage, 8 door signs, 1,000 cards + 2,000 letterheads, 100 folders, stickers | ≈ 8,434 |
| Flagship (client-facing HQ) | Backlit reception signage, 3D steel facade sign, 10 door signs, 5,000 letterheads, 1,000 foil cards, 100 folders | ≈ 16,374 |
These are assembled from the live product prices above, so you can rebuild any of them line by line on the new office and company launch printing page.
How to order (and the order to do it in)
- Week the lease is signed: send us the floor plan and your logo files. We mark up sign positions and sizes at no charge, and you find out immediately if backlit signage needs a power point.
- Trade licence issued: release stationery artwork. Licence number, PO Box, and the correct legal entity name all go on the letterhead.
- 14 working days out: signage into production. Site measurement happens here — we need the wall finish, not just the dimensions.
- 7 working days out: stationery and folders into production.
- 3 working days out: posters, stickers, danglers, A-board.
No print-ready file? We have a free design service — send the idea, we send the artwork. If you are supplying your own files, run them past the print-ready artwork checklist first; bleed and resolution problems are the number one cause of a lost day.
FAQ
How long before opening should I order office signage in Dubai?
Fourteen working days for fabricated 3D or backlit signage, seven for flat acrylic and door signs. Fabrication cannot be compressed the way digital printing can — the letters are physically cut and finished. If you are inside ten days, switch to flat-cut acrylic (AED 750) and upgrade later.
Do I need approval for office signage?
Internal signage — reception walls, door signs, wayfinding — needs only your landlord or building management's sign-off in most Dubai buildings. Anything visible from outside, including facade lettering and window graphics, usually needs approval from the building owner plus the relevant municipality or free-zone authority. Start that process the week you sign the lease, because it runs in parallel with fabrication, not after it.
How many business cards should a new office order?
One thousand per person who meets clients, and nothing for anyone who does not. At AED 159 per 1,000 matt-laminated cards, over-ordering is cheap but re-ordering after a title change is wasteful. A practical rule: print the founders and sales team at 1,000 each in month one, and hold the rest until roles settle.
What GSM should office letterheads be?
100 GSM wood-free for everyday use — it runs through office laser printers without jamming or curling. Move to 120 GSM only for letters that leave the building as signed originals, such as contracts and offer letters. The price difference at 2,000 sheets is AED 575 versus AED 620, so it is not the cost that decides it, it is the printer.
Do your prices include VAT and delivery?
Yes. Every price shown on the store is VAT inclusive, and delivery within Dubai is free. Delivery to Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates runs on the same production schedule with one to two additional days in transit.
Can I order signage and stationery together?
Yes, and you should — one artwork approval round for both keeps your logo colour consistent across a printed letterhead and a fabricated acrylic letter, which is harder than it sounds. Tell us it is an office launch and we will sequence production so signage installs before the stationery arrives, not the other way round.
Ready to open?
Send us your floor plan and logo and we will come back with a full sign schedule and a line-by-line stationery quote — usually within the same working day. Start from the new office printing page, browse the signage collection for live prices, or just message us.
Call 0522100909 or WhatsApp +971 52 210 0909 — send the floor plan, get the checklist back priced.
