Wedding Invitations, Round 1

Baby Announcement – Final Decision!

I have been working on these baby announcements for my friends Phil & Lauren. I have been close friends with Phil since high school, so when he and Lauren starting talking about a really classic and feminine birth announcement I was pretty sure they were just losing their minds due to having a new baby in the house; it didn’t seem like their style AT ALL. However, since they said they wanted to go that way, I tried to give them a pretty wide range of options in the comps that I sent them, one that was more classic and ladylike, one that was more modern and one that I thought they would like once they cleared the baby sparkle dust from their eyes… They ended up going with option three, the one I thought they would like. It’s a little wacky for a birth announcement but perfect for their family. I tweaked a few things from the initial comp and added a little design to the back – here’s the final result:

Next up is getting these suckers printed – I thought I had found the perfect paper in the north plaza, but not only was it a real bitch to print on, but the paper is way too thick for the three folds required by the design. So I’m on the hunt for a bright white paper that is heavy enough to look nice but not so heavy that it doesn’t fold well. Wish me luck!

UPDATE: I deeply regret designing a 4 panel / 3 fold card. If, at sometime in the future, you think to yourself “You know what would be a great idea?” and want to do something that you fancy clever or unique, please, no. No. Just don’t.

Sketches for Wedding Invites

I have been trying to do sketches for these invites off and on since February and have not really been coming up with anything that I was happy with. I think this may have something to do with the fact that the clients want a nautical theme and that just doesn’t tap into a huge well of inspiration for me. However, tonight I was finally able to come up with some ideas that I think I can move forward and make some digital comps. I actually ended up with 6 sketches that I think have potential – over spring break I will narrow it down to three and have the comps to the client before the end of break so that I can print fairly early on in the next quarter. That’s the plan anyway…

All That Glitters Style Shoot

“All That Glitters” is the theme that I have chosen for my style shoot. What can I say? I love things that sparkle; I’m tacky like that. Check out my Pinterest board for a look at some images I have been collecting as inspiration for the shoot. I’ve also just been thinking on logistics, starting with a list of people that I would need to collaborate with…

(in no particular order)
Photographer
Florist
Rental Supply House (for linens and tableware)
Pastry Chef
Fashion Stylist (or at least someplace willing to rent/lend clothes)
Hair & Make-Up
Model(s)
Venue? Furniture?

Potentially on my shot list:
Invitation Suite
Cake/Some sort of lovely, sparkly dessert
Tablescape including centerpieces and single place setting
Model with bouquet
Escort cards & table
Menu @ single place setting
Signature cocktail

That’s where I’m at for the moment. Next steps are to get the storyboard together and to start scouting places/people to provide the various services.

Baby Announcement Comp No. 3

This is the third and final comp for the baby announcement that I have been working on for my friends Phil & Lauren. I sent them some print copies so the next step will be to pick a direction and refine. I tried to give them a pretty wide variety of styles, from something fairly classic to something a little more wacky – we’ll see what they like!

Baby Announcement Comp No. 2

Baby Announcement Comp No. 1

 

Baby Announcements

My friends Phil and Lauren just had a baby girl named Eleanor Navy, who is pretty adorable, and I’m working on a baby announcement for them. These are my sketches for the announcement, trying to cover a fairly wide variety of styles.

I’m currently working on digital comps of all three sketches.

 

Adventures in Printing

Well, I finally got the invitations and RSVP cards for my cousin’s wedding off to the printer. Mind you, the hold up was *not* on my end… This “job” has certainly taught me a bit about managing client relations and how to nudge people along without being too annoying.

For the invitations, I used Digital Lizard, a company that was recommended to me by a fellow student. They were really helpful to talk with on the phone, send me a free book of paper samples and it was easy to upload my artwork to their site. And dang, they were fast! I turned in the order over the weekend and they shipped on Monday afternoon. I was able to have the invites shipped directly to my client, which is definitely a time and money saver, but I am a little bummed that I have to wait until I get the invite in the mail to see how the printing turned out. This would make me INCREDIBLY nervous if it were for a real REAL client and in that case I would probably cough up the $$$ for a print proof.

I’ve also been working on getting the business cards and letterhead printed for Sexton Vision Group. My client wanted me to work with Minuteman Press in Puyallup. He has used them for all his previous printing needs and has always been happy. I, however, found them to be a total nightmare to work with. It is extremely hard to communicate with them, their website is useless and they never respond to email. Grrrrrrrrrr. It took almost a month of murky communications to get 500 business cards completed! My client is really happy with the cards, so that is the important thing, but I am going to try Digital Lizard for the letterhead…

New Client!

As I’m wrapping up the design of wedding invite no.1, I’m pleased to announce that I have a new client for wedding invite no. 2! I’m especially excited about this new client because they are an actual real client! i.e. not a close friend or member of my family. Plus they seem like a fun and cool couple who with be fun to design for. Huzzah!

Now if I could just get the owners of wedding invite no. 1 to get back to me with the number of invites they need me to order… I think I am way more concerned about getting this order done than they are, which is weird because I’m not the one who is getting married in less than 2 months and wants to have their rsvp cards back in LESS THAN 1 MONTH. Not printed yet. Nope.