cheers to beer

My day-to-day work for Harry's Fresh Foods usually involves designing or updating print collateral for use by their sales force but a few weeks ago, they asked me to help them with a special events project. Fun!

You may remember seeing the logo I designed for their 2012 Ski Summit here so now I get to share some of the ways it was implemented.

The main use was on beer steins that were sent to prospective attendees of the event. The logo had to be converted to strictly black and white so it could be engraved onto the glass.

I then used it on the actual invitation, which took the form of a full-color, 4-panel brochure detailing the itinerary of the 2-day event (which included a pub crawl, since no visit to Portland is complete without at least one pint of local micro brew!).

I'm quite pleased with the result – hopefully, the invited guests are, too!

picnic time

Whether at home or at work, it feels great to know you're appreciated, doesn't it? It feels even better when they throw you a big party!

That's where the company picnic comes in: many organizations use the relaxed atmosphere of a casual summer get together to thank their employees for all their hard work.

Harry's Fresh Foods took it a step further by holding their picnic at Oaks Bottom, a local carnival-style amusement park that reminds you of the good old days.

So yes, when Harry's asked me to design the invitation postcard using the "got soup? got fun!" tagline, I could taken inspiration from the carnival location using color fanfare, stars & stripes and even clowns. 

Instead I chose to keep it simple and understated, only hinting at nostalgia through use of typography. Because as we all know, sometimes less is more!

gala invitation

Last year, I was asked to design the invitation and collateral materials for a gala hosted by the University of Oregon to honor local leaders (read more here and here) and everyone was thrilled with the results. So thrilled, in fact, that they asked me to incorporate elements from last year into this year's design. And I was more than happy to oblige!

 

Starting with the save-the-date postcard, I changed the format and updated the color palette and typography. While green is definitely a UO color, using a lime/chartreuse version of it instantly sets a more modern tone.

I also used a tone-on-tone damask pattern for texture and elegance and added a curved border to enclose the event logo, which they chose to reuse from last year's design.

The invitation itself was presented inside a custom die cut folder of metallic silver cover stock that had a sticker with the logo and damask pattern applied to the front.

Once opened, the folder revealed a die cut invitation that matched the shape of the logo's border. It was glued in place above the pocket, which contained an informational card with bios of both recipients as well as the reply card and envelope.

While the package as a whole was quite stately and elegant, the use of a sans serif font (Helvetica Neue Thin) and color (PMS 583) gave the invitation a distinctly modern vibe.

My favorite part? The little round sticker used to seal the folder! Such a simple little thing, but it's what gave this suite the final finishing touch.

wine tasting invitation

I love designing event invitations – it gives me a nice little break from the more corporate projects I usually am working on.

Often the event itself will help dictate the design direction, as was the case with the winery tour and wine tasting event that the University of Oregon recently organized for some of its donors.

I started by sketching out some design directions and presenting those to the client. Then I developed their chosen design on the computer and applied a couple rounds of revisions before sending files to the printer.

I used elegant typography, a two-color palette and a pinstripe pattern to set the tone for this somewhat upscale social event.

 

Electronic or phone RSVPs meant that no reply card was needed, which kept things simple in terms of design and printing costs.

The cursive font is one of my current favorites and was a perfect fit for this project, since the ligatures and embellishments nicely mimicked grape vine tendrils.

 

So the next time you're in need of a special event invitation, consider using a custom design for a little extra pizzazz – you know where to find me!

more wedding style

A couple years ago, my baby sister got married and asked me to design, among other things, her invitation suite. She specifically requested a design that had been quite popular when I first debuted it as part of Cecily Ink (you can read about it here and here.)

Well, last fall it was time for another sister's wedding, and I was thrilled when she, too, asked me to design her invitation.

And yes, Marie also opted to use a best-selling Cecily Ink design. No problem, certainly made my job easier, especially given the relatively quick turn-around time.

Because both timing and budget were tight, I recommended digital printing. I chose a digital-friendly felt-finish paper so we could still get that wonderful texture. I also specified target PMS numbers so the printer could match the orange & brown colors as closely as possible.

Because the maximum sheet size for the printer's digital press is quite a bit smaller than a traditional offset press sheet, I adjusted sizes as necessary to still fit as many pieces as possible onto the sheet. This way, the bride could use her "wedding look" on things like thank-you cards, place cards and favor tags, too.

 

The invitation suite turned out beautifully and the bride was quite pleased. Thanks, Marie, for entrusting me with such an important part of your Big Day!

party Texas-style!

I just picked up these samples from the printer today and just had to share right away:

My task was to create an invitation for the University of Oregon, who is hosting an event the evening before their football team plays the season opener vs. LSU at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas, Texas. The event takes place at Billy Bob's Texas, a local landmark offering the full honky tonk experience.

After taking a peek at the venue's website, I took the bull by its horns (sorry, couldn't resist the pun!) and used a Western cowboy concept as the visual theme.

Adding a ten gallon hat and state outline to the Oregon Fighting Duck and combining grungy "saloon" fonts with a gritty, rustic background texture resulted in the exact look I was after.

I love the way this invite turned out – cheery and fun yet no mistaking what this event is all about!

going formal

Last week the invitation for a UO black tie event were mailed out and I'm so pleased with how the suite turned out! I posted about the save-the-date postcard here, which set the tone for the rest of the design.

Picking up on the previously established color palette, typography and design elements, I decided to create a two-piece invitation. At first glance, it's simply a large square invite (7.25") but upon closer inspection, you'll notice that the two thumbnail slits on the left and right allow the top card to be removed, revealing additional information on the backer card.

This is a unique way to separate the actual event information (on the first card) from the award recipient bios (on the second card).

The suite also includes a reply card and envelope that is tucked inside the outer envelope. This outer mailer turned out beautiful, using the same Founding Father image from the save-the-date on the front of the envelope, screened back so it acts almost as a watermark.

This look was achieved by having the envelope converted, meaning I designed both the front and back, had it printed as one flat sheet, and then had it cut, folded, and glued to create the envelope.

I love designing converted envelopes since it allows you to really customize the design. However, it only makes sense financially if you're printing a decent quantity (several thousand) since there is a certain cost involved.

Up next is to design the program, name tags, table numbers, etc. We'll continue with this look but to switch things up and add an extra glamorous touch, I think we'll probably switch papers so stay tuned...

going digital

As a designer, I love the quality created by printing a project on an offset press. But when budget, quantity or timing eliminate that option, I'm glad to know I can get great results by going digital.

Case in point is the program book I designed for a University of Oregon event. You may remember reading about the actual invitation, which was printed offset using two Pantone colors.

Now take a look at this digital print run:

The colors are amazingly close, type is crisp and the paper feels nice. Granted, paper choices are still somewhat limited when printing on a digital press but for the time and money saved, this is a perfect solution.

palm springs glam

Design is about so much more than simply arranging elements on a page. I was reminded of this again this week when I picked up samples of an invitation I designed for the University of Oregon.

This particular event takes place in Palm Springs so it made perfect sense to use photography that mirrored the location. During my image search, I came across this image (from iStockPhoto) and thought it was perfect: a big tropical palm tree drenched in rays of sunshine. The lens glare was a nice bonus, adding a touch of realism.

To take that sense of realism even further, I suggested we print the invite on a metallic paper to really add depth and brightness to the image. And boy, was that ever the right call: the Petallics paper by Aspire really made the photo come to life – you can practically feel the sun blind your eyes!
Okay, so it's hard to show in these photos but trust me, if you want to add some glam and some depth to your next project, consider using this paper. The nice thing is that it's offered for both offset and digital applications (we printed the invite digitally while the envelope was a 2-color offset job).

save the date postcard

This morning I picked up my samples of the save-the-date card for the University of Oregon's Pioneer Award Gala (a black-tie gala honoring leaders in our community) and I thought I'd share it with you here.

Since the event takes place in late spring, the color palette needed to reflect that freshness so we chose a warm yellow and cool silver combined with stately black (a more elegant interpretation of the bright yellow and green Duck colors).

The heavy cover stock has a wonderfully textural finish (Via Felt by Mohawk Fine Papers) and did a great job reproducing the fine serifs, small print, and other details.

This save-the-date was mailed as a postcard to save the cost of envelopes; this allowed us to explore some unique details for the actual invitation (think square and layered – more to come later!)

the new big book of layouts

My goal as a designer is to make sure my clients are happy and my designs are effective.

That said, I'm always thrilled when I get some validation from my design peers, as happened last week, when I found out several of my designs were included in The New Big Book of Layouts (produced by Crescent Hill Books and published by Harper Collins).

I immediately ordered a copy and while I haven't had a chance to look through the book at my leisure, I did flip to the pages that included my work. All the greeting card designs shown below were done when I still had my paper goods company, Cecily Ink:

And this fun invitation was done for a style lounge at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival:

It was a bit awe-inspiring to realize that these invites were sent out to major stars like Dennis Quaid, John Legend, and Felicity Huffman (all of whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the event)! You can read more about it here and here.