Archive for the ‘invitations’ Category

Presentation is Paramount

Drew & Heather’s wedding pictures were ready for viewing this past Sunday, and they invited the family and I to come check out the photos with them.  The photos turned out great.  Everyone was very impressed by the company, The Edge Photography Studio.  And not just because of the spectacular shots of the wedding.  Their presentation of the photos yesterday was so classy.  We were served champagne, cheese and crackers when we arrived.  Then we watched a projected slide show of all the spread comps for the printed album, followed by all of the photos taken at the wedding.  Next, we passed around printed samples of the spreads we just saw (scaled down to 1/4 the size of the final product) so that the couple (and family members) could have the opportunity to rearrange any photos they didn’t like.  After that, we passed around a sample of a printed album similar to what Drew and Heather have ordered.  The albums are handmade with leather bound covers and black-edged flush mounted (thick, unbending) pages.  Absolutely stunning.  Plus, they offer the albums in different sizes, including mini books!  Last, but not least, Drew & Heather were presented with a 2-disk set of DVDs containing high quality digital files of all their photos.  No proofs!  How awesome is that!?  Oh, and did I mention that the DVDs have personalized labels, and that the cover is also leather bound?  Yeah, these folks are the definition of classy.

All of that aside, I was very pleased to see that they photographed my graphic design pieces from the ceremony and reception.  Being part of the wedding party, I had nowhere to stash my camera, meaning I didn’t take a single picture that day.  I completely forgot to take pictures of my work in the environment!  Fortunately, since my brother has the digital files in his hands, he was ever so kind as to send me some of those pictures to me tonight so I could post them on my website!  And here they are:

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The quiz cards (above) got a lot of positive feedback.  Since it was mainly Heather’s idea, I can’t take much credit for it or it’s entertainment value.  So I mainly had a lot of people telling me that I did a great job of hiding the answer.  Apparently, nobody had spotted the answers until nearly the end of the night.  This surprised me; I was worried that the answers were obvious and somewhat illegible.  I deliberately put the answers on the right hand side on top of the design for two reasons.  First, because I wanted it to be hidden so nobody could cheat or accidentally see the answer before reading the question.  Second, since most people are right-handed, their hand/thumb would cover the answer when they picked up the card.  That way the answer gets hidden by the design and the hand.  Seems my cleverness paid off.

This is (hopefully) the last I will write about this job… unless I can get my brother to find a picture showing the table numbers and menus.  But I doubt it.  Up next: wedding programs for one of my brother’s coworkers to whom he mentioned I’m a graphic designer.  Aren’t siblings wonderful?

What’s a Pumpkin Fairy?

Over at Etsy.com there’s a constant stream of people posting ads for artists to help them with some art project (Alchemy section).  Already I’ve spotted lots of posts for custom invitations.  I bid on this one: “I am looking for a unique pumpkin fairy invitation for my daughter’s 4th birthday party. Something shimmery with orange and brown.” I came up with this in about 2 hours:

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Think she’ll hire me?  [UPDATE: Wellll she didn't.  Siiiiiigh.]  Hahaha it looks so corny.  I mean… I’ll be the first to say that I’m terrible at drawing people.  And fairies.  This is the best you’ll get out of me.  She looks a lot like the little girls I drew for the children’s book:

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My cousin, Leslie, helped me with these two and the “pumpkin fairy.”  She’s the best.

P.S. What is a pumpkin fairy anyway?

Invitation Design and Paper Vendor Research

Went out to Borders last night to check out all the latest wedding magazines.  Found some websites for different wedding invitation designers that caught my eye.  Should anyone be interested, I have them listed below.

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Hammerpress – old school letterpress printers in Kansas.  Along with invitations they print stationery, posters, aparrel, and art prints.  Great for anyone looking for very unique invitations  with a handmade feel and lots of texture and color.  (What of their’s caught my eye.)

Envelopments – Talk about customization!!  This place is for those who love infinite choices of shape, size, and color of paper and envelope options imaginable for the mix and match combo that works best for you.  (What of their’s caught my eye.) Side note for those want to work there: just look at the book they give you — it’s enough to make you think you died and went to heaven.  Another side note for those who can’t get enough of customizing their products, you’ll love this purse website.

My Gatsby – A more youthful look with fun, bright colors, but with still lots of hints of simple, classic elegance.  They also do other events – baby, birthday, anniversary, etc.  (What of theirs caught my eye: the blue/green set on the homepage.  Essentially this + this.)

Dauphine Press – To me it looks as if this collection we inspired by Princess Diana.  The designs are very simple, the color palatte is light and friendly, but there’s just something there that says “royalty.”  (What of theirs caught my eye.) I really like their products, but their website makes it hard for me to keep interest.

Anna Griffin – If the bride thinks of herself princess and her wedding should follow suit, this is where she should be ordering her invitations.  Not to mention matching frames, photo albums, keepsakes and scrapbook supplies.  (What of theirs caught my eye.)

Monique Lhuillier – Whoa, nelly.  If you have expensive taste, be sure to check out this designer.  And I mean going-to-Paris-for-fashion-week expensive taste.  ML not only offers fine paper invitation collection but also her own line of tableware, bridal gowns and women’s fashion.  (What of theirs caught my eye.)

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Linda & Harriet – Looking for something less traditional?  Something that shows personality and some splash of vintage and mod?  Then you’ve gotta check this site out.  (What about theirs caught my eye.) If you like this site, you might also like this clothing site and this purse site.

KenzieKate – You know how some of these sites sorta make your eyes glaze over after a while because the patterns all sorta start to look the same?  You know – seen one, seen ‘em all?  Well, this is the first one I’ve found to break that trend.  I mean, it’s nothing groundbreaking, but each design has something unique to offer.  (What of theirs caught my eye.)

Greenbean Designs – For the delicate, quiet type who probably likes gardening and landscaping.  (What of theirs caught my eye.)

B. T. Elements – Contemporty, tasteful and eye-catching.  My personal favorite.  (What of theirs caught my eye.)

Elüm – Modern.  There’s no other word for it.  Except maybe crisp.  I’m a huge fan.  (What of theirs caught my eye.)

Sweet Pea Designs – pretty standard stuff.  Can’t go wrong with any of it.

Julie Holcomb Printers – Simple, elegant letterpress.  But!  They throw in some extras that no one else has.  1. Mettallic edges and 2. these cool seasonal box invitations.  Bravo, Julie.  Plus!  They are environmentalists.

And that’s about all I could stand for one night.  Hopefully I haven’t shown you too much of the same styles… I started to notice a definite pattern of similar looks I picked after I started writing about these haha.