30TH INVITE : PARTY IN THE PARK

A good friend of mine celebrated her 30th birthday yesterday so for the event I put together the invitation for the 'Party in the Park'. I've carried out design work previously for Kheyla's company, Mother Nature's Recipes, and she's always a dream to work for. She gives me a lot of freedom to be creative and her great feedback always helps to create something we're both happy with.

I had fun creating this invite as I love illustrative graphic projects and would love to take on more. If you're after an invitation for a special occasion or even just want a nice banner/image for a Facebook event, please feel free to get in touch.

ETSY SHOP NOW OPEN!

This is something I've wanted to do for a while so I'm super excited to say that I've opened an Etsy shop online! Currently on there for sale are two illustrated greeting cards that both come with a white envelope. The cards are A6 size, blank inside and printed onto 350gsm silk card with a gloss lamination on the front. Also on sale is an A6 illustrated print that was handprinted in black ink using a gocco printer (mini screen printer) and are available in a variety of pastel colours.

If you want to know more about the details of these products, please head over to my Etsy shop to have a look!

KZA PHOTOGRAPHY : BUSINESS CARDS

After a recent brand revamp for KZA Photography, Kheyla Anderson was also in need of some new business cards (especially seeing as the brand has a complete new look). The image that we selected for the front of the business card is actually one of my favourites of hers (I love the deep blue and black tones with the splash of red). I think the image works perfectly with the new logo and seeing as the design is in strong in dark tones, we both agreed that a gloss lamination would give the card a sharp finish. The business cards are designed within the identity of her new brand and overall I think it's a design that will last.

* Get in touch if you'd like to discuss getting some business cards!

LEO HASLAM : DIGITAL ARTIST

So this is a post I'm really excited to be sharing because it means I get to share the amazing 3D work of my other half, Leo Haslam (check out his website). This year Leo is attending IFCC (Independent Festival of Creative Communication) a 7 day festival in Croatia where he'll be doing a presentation and displaying his work along with other digital artists from around the world. So while he's been busy preparing for the festival, I've been trying to help by sorting out his business cards and logo.

For the business cards, Leo wanted a card that would work almost like a prop in a sci-fi film, which is why we both thought rounded corners would be a nice finish, to give the card a modern appearance (like a futuristic key card). Leo loves the corporate identities used in some of his favourite classic sci-fi films, like the Alien trilogy, Terminator and RoboCop (to name a few) so that's what I tried to replicate by going with a heavy and angular logo.

With the printing, it was a toss up between white ink on black card or black ink on white card. In the end we went for black ink on white card as this was the fastest possible print (white ink is a specialised printing which requires more time). The card is a bright white 'rives dot' stock which has rows and columns of indented dots that gives the card texture as well as a geometric impression.

Leo sculpts his designs using software zbrush, then prints everything in parts on a 3D printer. After that he assembles the parts together, then paints the models. Last year he completed some work for 3D printers Ultimaker. You can see the work and found out more about him on this post on their website. Check... it... out!

MODERN VS TRADITIONAL : WEDDING INVITATIONS

Every couple planning a wedding will want something different to the next couple. So deciding on the style of stationery will really depend on the couples taste/personality (if a couple are having a thrash metal theme wedding then it's unlikely they'll be wanting the traditional invite), the type of wedding itself (e.g. the size or location of the wedding) and of course, the budget.

Left: Modern invitation printed digitally

Right: Traditional invitation printed in grey thermography

If you're keen to go down the route of a very traditional wedding then Debrett's is a great and very detailed resource. They have a section on their website for wedding invitations which includes tips on how to specifically word your invite as well as general etiquette on the traditional wedding Invitation. Traditional invites are normally folded in portrait format with the text on the front and will use the older print process of engraving. This is where a copperplate is made and then used to imprint the design in a single ink colour. Another and newer print process is thermography where the print is instead raised with heat, so a copperplate isn't required which makes this print process cheaper. Both processes mean the print/text is raised but the thermo print will have more of a shine while engraving has a matt finish.

A lot of the time (but not all) modern invitations will involve a number of colours, graphics or images in which instance means they'll most likely be printed digitally. Digital print is the cheapest of print processes so is also the best option if you're on a tight budget. While on the subject of budget, more and more people send their save the dates out via email and even wedding invitations can be sent out in the same way. So this is an especially greater way to budget, but being a lover of print and stationery means that I'll always be keen to go for the real deal and opt for printed invites.

In terms of design, traditional invites have a classic layout that will use a script or serif font whilst a modern invite means you can pretty much have any design you want (within the restrictions of the print process).

*** Get in touch if you'd like to discuss your wedding stationery needs.

NOTEBOOKS ON MY WISH-LIST

I have a love and appreciation for stationery, especially notebooks, and my current favourite is one I picked up in Florence Italy last year with a marbled cover (ain't it lush). I'm also a bit list crazy and constantly make and update lists either in my notebooks or on my computer. I read a self help book a little while back for the first time called 'Eat That Frog' by Brian Tracy, and one of the main things it goes into is how to write and break down your to-do list in the best way. Seeing as it's coming to the end of national stationery week I thought I would share some notebooks on my wish-list that are all sold on Etsy and one from The Conran Shop.

1. myCraftyNell 2. Nikkistrange
3. NuitBlanches  4. JAZZIllustration
5. RedGateArts 6. The Conran Shop

DIRECTIONS : WEDDING STATIONERY

An information card with directions to accompany a couples wedding invitation that had already been designed. Their invite was illustrated in the style of a comic book cover so I designed the A6 size information card to match the theme. The theme was in the colours of red and blue (Superman colours!), so it seemed fitting to have the ceremony side in one colour and the reception colour in the other.

Here's another directions map I did for a different couple as part of their wedding stationery. My original design was for an illustrated style map but in the end it was decided to go for a more simple and traditional style of map.

GG PRINT : STATIONERY

Invitation - engraved with white ink for the London Symphony Orchestra

GG Print is a specialist company in bespoke print, based in London, South Kensington. Over the last two and a half years I've been typesetting and artworking stationery for them that includes wedding stationery (invitation packages and stationery for the actual day), birth announcements, Christmas cards, business cards, correspondence cards, brochures and invitations. I've also had the opportunity to learn a lot more about the process of printing and the various print options available (which is incredibly useful as a Graphic Designer).

Here are a few of my favourite pieces I've done. More work for GG Print can be viewed on my portfolio website.

* Feel free to get in touch with me to discuss your personal stationery needs.

Wedding invite - gold foiling on cream card

Invitation - printed digitally for The Kensington & Chelsea Foundation

Thank you card - pink foiled card for a new baby girl

Save the date - white engraving on thick blue card

A GATSBY 18TH BIRTHDAY

Gate-fold invitation

I recently finished the design for a Great Gatsby themed 18th Birthday celebration. A Gatsby theme meant using the classic colours of black and gold in the style of Art Deco. As everything was being printed digitally I had to use colours and gradients that gave the impression of a luxury gold effect without actually using a gold ink (so tones of yellow and brown). Stationery for the event included an A5 gate-fold invitation, seating plan, table numbers and place cards for guests.

Place cards

Table Numbers

SEEING YOUR WORK IN PRINT

One of the most satisfying parts of being a graphic designer is when you've finished a project and you finally get your hands on the final product. For me (and probably most designers), seeing your work go from on-screen to a finished hard copy is always exciting. I won't lie, not all work in the past has been great to see in print but here are some recent bits of design for various personal stationery that I think have come out really well.

Used for a party invitation, the Shou symbol is a lucky Chinese talisman symbol for long life. This was mocked up in Adobe Illustrator and then engraved (using a copperplate) with white ink on to a thick red card.

This monogram was designed for a couple's wedding stationery, combining their initials in a classic script font and then thermo printed (a process that raises the print by heat) in a metallic gold ink. Monograms are a great way to personalise wedding stationery, especially when going for something simple and traditional.

Designed this icon of croquet mallets and balls for a next day invitation that was part of a wedding stationery set. This was litho printed (flat) in a cool sky blue with the envelopes paper lining to match.

CAROLYN & ANDREW : WEDDING STATIONERY

Last year I had the pleasure of designing the wedding invitation for a couple of friends. The stationery package included day and evening invitations, information cards and the seating plan. For the main wedding invitations they wanted to go for a typographic based design that had a modern yet elegant design. This was aided with the use of a dark grey print on a cream stock by printed.com.