Wedding Stationery Rachel Irwin Live projects
Wedding Stationery Clients
Sophie Irwin and Steven Dunn
Brief
To design and create wedding stationery for the clients up and coming wedding.
Target Audience
Sophie and Steve along with their 100 wedding guests.
Possible Themes
English Country garden, tea party, shabby chic, modern vintage.
Stationary to include
For this project the main design elements being tackled will be: Save the date cards Invitations The design style created could then be applied at a later date to the following: Thank you cards Place cards Seating Plan Order of Service Book Wedding favours As the bride and the brides family usually sort out the stationery I will be getting feedback from them as well as consulting the groom occassionally.
Bride
Groom
Sophie Irwin Age: 22 Occupation: Medical Student Hobbies: Rowing, Shopping, Baking. Likes: pretty details, reading, Stand up comedy. Favourite Colours: Pink, Green, Gold, Red. Least Favourite: Grey, Black.
Steven Dunn Age: 24 Occupation: Assistant Manager at Guy Salmon Land Rover Hobbies: Gym, Cooking, Gaming. Likes: watching films, TV series Lost, camping, motorbikes. Favourite Colours: Black, red, blue, bold colours. Least Colours: Bright Pink, pale colour.
“I want something that our guests would be proud to display in their house. I like the traditional wording in the invites but find the designs dated and boring. I would like something unique and personal. I also like vintage English country objects”
“I want our invitations to be informative and give our guests all the information they need. I don’t want the invites to be to cheesy, with photos, poems or love hearts all over it, I prefer more unisex designs, I like designs with swirls and vector drawing, and don’t want it to be too expensive.”
Wedding Stationery | Brief
Theme The overall theme and style of the design across the whole wedding is one of country gardens, British, modern vintage, tea parties. This style could be reflected in the graphic design. The venue is as Oaks Farm in Shirley, and the wedding is due to take place 16th July 2011.
Wedding Stationery | Research | Themes
Wedding stationery typically falls into three categories:
Classic
Mainly white, script writing, alongside simple heart, flower, bells, horseshoe motifs & embossing.
Fun
Often uses cartoons imagery and ‘fun’ typefaces, it is more playful and less serious than the classic stationary.
Colour Scheme These colours are the colour scheme chosen by the clients. Overall they would like the base paper colour of the stationary to be an off white or cream colour. Secondly the would like a light green which could be bold or pastel, and thirdly they would like a pink colour to be used minimally in the designs as a colour that could be used to highlight certain features.
Contemporary
Takes influence from modern graphic design, sometimes uses bold typography, bright colours and modern illustration.
Both of the clients have looked at samples of wedding stationary and both prefer the contemporary designs.
Wedding Stationery | Research | Wedding Stationary and Colour Scheme
Steve and Sophie
Traditional a lot of wedding stationery uses script typefaces, these examples show how when used correctly script typefaces can look beautiful for wedding invitations.
Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie
The clients were show a selection of type choices to have on their stationery.
Typography A lot of the choice provided by wedding stationers is quite ugly or unprofessional looking from a graphic design perspective, examples below.
These three fonts are the clients favourites, the others look too elaborate or not special enough. These ones look more modern, elegant and interesting than some of the traditional ones you see on the majority of cards.
Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie Steve and Sophie
For body copy text a sans serif font will be used and Futura has been chosen.
Sophie and Steve
Wedding Stationery | Research | Typography
Save the Date A save the date notice is an item stating the date of a wedding. It states the date when a couple plan to marry, so that recipients will know to keep that date free and plan for travel arrangements. They are generally sent out at least six months before the wedding date, and are usually followed by a formal wedding invitation with all the details of the day. Whilst finding some modern examples of Save the Date Cards more innovative examples have been found, that make use of different mediums, such as ones with magnets on, silhouettes of the couple, lego, paper cut outs and hole punching.
Wedding Stationery | Research | Save the Date
Save the Date initial Idea The first idea for the Save the Date, was to create a luggage label with the information on. Possibly with the date cut out on the ribbon, this could be attached to the fridge as a reminder.
Feedback from Client
“I really like this, I very much like the idea of having something as a fridge magnet as it’s a good way of displaying the save the date. But I think the writing is a little too faint and pale, and would like to see some other ideas.”
Feedback from students and Tutor “The writing on the ribbon is unnecessary and fiddly and could become easily damaged. Try looking at more objects relating to remembering to do something or reminders.”
These examples show how the concept of a luggage label can be adapted to look scruffy or more elegant, by changing the choice of materials and finish.
Overall the design needs to be more bold and interesting, and not so delicate and easily damaged.
Wedding Stationery | Save the Date | Testing Idea
Reminders and Travel Collecting ideas on the subject of reminders and travelling is a good way to get more inspiration for other ways of creating a Save the Date card.
Client Feedback
“We like the idea of a train ticket, as when we first met we had to travel a lot by train to meet each other. And also it relates to the idea of the guest having to travel to get to the wedding. The idea of a bookmark is ok, but I still think I prefer the Save the Date to be magnetic so it can be attached to the guests fridge.�
Wedding Stationary | Save the Date | Reminders
Save the Date Initial Ideas These were the next set of Save the Date ideas shown to the clients..
Playing Card
Working with the concept of English tea party, led to the idea of being inspired to create an Alice in Wonderland influenced piece.
Vintage Train Ticket
Using a hole punch to punch out the date of the wedding, this design would be very Typographic.
Modern Train Ticket
A modern London twist on the train ticket concept.
Creatures
Using Sylvanian Family characters or other toys that could be photographed holding the Save the Date information.
Client Feedback
The client has chosen the top two ideas to be developed further, and created into printed mock ups.
Wedding Stationary | Save the Date | Initial Ideas
Ticket and Luggage label Development Developing the vintage train ticket idea by considering if this could be merged with the previous luggage label concept. Inspiration was gained by collecting more examples of labels, tickets and invites that borrow from this style and theme. Mock ups were created of landscape train ticket versions and portrait luggage labels, with a mix of typefaces in all in either green or brown.
Feedback
“Whilst we like this idea, we worry that some guests might not understand how to interpret the punches. The concept is very nice but we are not sure if this would fit in with the overall theme for the wedding.�
Wedding Stationery | Save the Date | Development
Alice in Wonderland & Playing Cards The concept of English country garden and tea party led to Alice in Wonderland being looked into for inspiration. Examples were found where invites have taken inspiration from playing cards. The next step was to create mock ups suitable for Save the Date cards. They were made at playing card size, 150% and 200% bigger.
Feedback
“We really like this idea, it is simple and straight to the point, the only thing we would like different is having Steve’s name first. The 150% size one is the best size, as the playing card size one is too small, and the 200% one is too big.”
Wedding Stationery | Save the Date | Development
Final Design for Save the Date In order to attach the Save the Date to a fridge a strip of magnetic tape has been attached to back of the card. It was suggested that the reverse of the Save the save could be used as a postcard, to put the stamp and guest’s name and address, but the clients, would prefer to put them in an envelope as the don’t want them to get ruined in the post.
Client Feedback
“Overall we are very happy with the look of the Save the Date cards, they fit in very well with the overall style we are going for with the wedding, and swirls on it fit in with the imagery we both like.”
Rounded corners
Previously the rounded corners were cut by hand, but in order to keep them neat and consistent a corner punch was purchased that punches the edge of the corner off.
Wedding Stationery | Save the Date | Final Design
Contemporary Invitations These examples show how modern and contemporary wedding stationary can be fun, by using bold and bright colours, avoiding typical wedding imagery and having a vintage modern style.
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Research
Interesting Use of Typography Bold typography can create modern stationery. This has inspired the idea of finding out the story of how Sophie and Steve met and seeing if this can be used in the invitations.
Client Feedback
“I really like the idea of telling the story of how we met, I don’t think many people will have seen something like that before some of these designs are cool but a bit too bright and bold for us, I think I would prefer something a bit more modest.”
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Research | Typography
There was a girl called Sophie and a boy called Steve. They met on holiday in France when she was fourteen and he was sixteen, they swam and sunbathed and became friends. The Dunn and Irwin families became buddies and this long distance family friendship carried on through more summer holidays. In 2003 in Germany among the moonlit vineyards that they shared their first kiss. Then in 2004 as Sophie started sixth form and Steve had just turned nineteen, they decided to meet on home soil, so Sophie got the train to Hampton court and met Steve and his friends. Steve visited Sophie in Thornton Heath and Sophie visited Steve in Hampton an it went like this for many years, with the Dunn and Irwins enjoying many more holidays together and Sophie starting at St Georges, whilst Steve got a job with Land Rover. And so, on the 28th of February 2009 Steve brought Sophie a ring, and after months of planning they would like you to join them on a very special day...
Info needed on invites If this idea was used on the invitations it would need to be worked in to the rest of the invitation.
Must Have Info: Formal invitation Venue Map R.S.V.P. Menu choice
Story Telling The clients gave information about how they met and about their lives up to when they got engaged. Two different versions of this have been created and show it to the client.
Client feedback
“Although we really like the idea on the left with all the different typefaces, we don’t think it fits in with the look we are going for with the wedding. The version on the right is more in keeping with the style we want and is subtle and uses the colour scheme well.”
Optional Story of how they met Quote about love Additional information page about parking, hotels, transport.
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Story Telling
Folding and Layout In order to understand folding and the layout of the information the first stage was to sketch out rough ideas of how things could work.
Client Feedback
“I don’t just want an ordinary card, I think that would be boring, I would like something that is compact and unfolds or reveals the information in the correct order and looks elegant and neat.”
Wedding Stationery | Invitation | Development | Folding Ideas
Folding and Ideas The next stage was to try the paper folding to gain a better understing of where elements could be put on the page and how it could be printed.
Client Feedback
“The heart design is nice but very fiddly and small, I would like to see the Zig zag design develop and the boy meets girl one. We also like the square one that unfolds lots of times but I don’t think it would be suitable for invites as it gets too confusing the more you unfold it.”
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Development | Folding Mock Up’s
Mr and Mrs John Irwin
Mr and Mrs John Irwin
at the marriage of their daughter
at the marriage of their daughter
request the pleasure of ................................. ...................................
request the pleasure of ................................. ...................................
Sophie with Mr Steven Dunn
Sophie with Mr Steven Dunn
at St. Oswalds Church, Norbury on Saturday, 16th July, 2011 at 1pm
at St. Oswalds Church, Norbury on Saturday, 16th July, 2011 at 1pm
and afterwards at Oaks Farm, Shirley A La Nage and Futura
Map The groom is keen to give the guests as much information as possible and a map was suggested showing the route from the ceremony to the reception. This map was redrawn and simplified in Illustrator so that it would fit in with the overall design style more.
and afterwards at Oaks Farm, Shirley Zebra and Futura
Wording & Formality The clients like the traditional Bride’s Parents inviting for the wording in the invitations, and want this to be laid out in the traditional way. Looking at brochures and examples helped to see that the type is centralised and there is often the option of the guests name to be written by hand. It was decided that the typeface Zebra was preferred over A La Nage, as A La Nage is harder to read and makes n’s look like m’s in the Grooms surname.
St Oswald’s Church
St Oswald’s Church Upper Norwood
B273
A215
Upper Norwood
A215 Thornton Heath
Thornton Heath
Selhurst
Selhurst
Shirley
Shirley
A215
Croydon
Oaks Farm
Croydon
Oaks Farm
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Development | Formalities and Map
Zig Zag card This was the first mock up card, and can be printed double sided on A4. The RSVP would be detachable so it can be sent back to the bride and groom.
Clients
“I like the idea of telling the story of how we met, and like the colour scheme, but I feel like it is lacking something, it feels a bit too plain.”
Feedback from Peers
“It seems a bit impersonal apart from the story, maybe do something more bold and fun, tell their story in a visual way.” The client also mentioned they would like to have a page of additional information somewhere with or on the invite.”
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Development | Zig Zag Card
Experimenting with Other Ideas By trying out some ideas which are different from the ones previously done it might trigger ideas of new ways to approach the invitations.
Tried using the idea of pairs and things that go together as a design concept.
Thought of using lego characters of the couple to visually represent them in an invite in someway.
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Development | Other Ideas
Lego People Developed the idea of using lego versions of the couple on the card and having a card that opens out to an invite in the centre. A problem with this type of invite is it limits the amount of information you are able to put on the invitation, so you would have to send extra pages with the Additional Information and RSVP.
Client Feedback
“I think this design looks really funky and cool but always imagined my wedding invitations to be more fairy-tale like and elegant rather than child like. We do like the lego people and would love them to maybe be incorporated into some other area of the wedding stationery. The folding is quite nice maybe this is something we could consider for our Thank you cards.�
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Development | Lego People
Updated Zig Zag fold Mixing the idea with the save the date chosen idea to match each other and create a set. When trying to print on both sides of the card there were issues with getting both sides to line up so the folding was in the correct place. So to combat this issue it was printed on all one side of a page which was then folded in half and then folded into the sections. But this then made the cards quite bulky, if it was to be used it would need to printed on a lighter GSM. The RSVP was printed on a separate page which could be attached with photo corners so the guest can send it back.
Client Feedback
“I like this updated version, but find the photo corners difficult to use for getting the RSVP out. I like having the additional information page, but would like the corners rounded on this to match the Save the Date.
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Development | Updated Zig Zag Card
Postcard set Using the previous designs but having them as postcards which are individual pages which would be tied together with ribbon. These fit in very well with the Save the Date card, allowing the stationary to work as a set.
Each card is the size of a postcard and the set would fit into a C6 envelope
Feedback from Client
“Despite thinking that I would prefer something that would stand on someone’s mantelpiece, I am actually very fond of this set of invites. They are definitely my favourite so far as they are more unusual than a card and make a statement. I would like to see how they would look held together in the corner with a split pin or ribbon. The only thing I can see that needs changing is adding the RSVP address to the RSVP page somewhere.”
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Development | Postcard Set
Final Invitations Versions of the postcard set have been created where they have been held together in the corner by either a green split pin or had a small line punched out of it and ribbon threaded through. These could be undone to detach the RSVP (which is at the back) can be send back. Two versions of the invites have been made, one for those who are attending the whole day the other for those who have been invited to the Evening Reception, as information is slightly different for each.
Client Feedback
“Our favourite is the version where is it held together with the split pin, as you are able to fan them out, whereas the ribbon is more fiddly. We can’t think of anything else that needs adjusting or changing on them.”
Peer Feedback
“I really like the cards the split pin seems to be the most practical idea as the ribbon could fall out and if they were separated they could get lost.”
Wedding Stationery | Invitations | Final Design
Stationery Details
John
Paper
The paper the Save the Date and Invitations are printed on is A4 Ivory coloured coated card 200gsm.
Charlotte A mock up how the design style could be applied to place cards, with women’s names in pink and men;s in green.
The paper and matching envelopes are being purchased from The Paper Mill Shop, who also supply matching envelopes. For the Save the Date and Invitations the design will be printed and then the paper trimmed to size and corners punched off.
Printing
To save money the bride would like the invitations to be printed from home and handmade by the bridesmaids as group activity.
An example of how the colour and deign scheme could be applied to the Order of Service book.
The bride and groom have also shown an interest in getting personalised postage stamps made, the service is offered by the Royal Mail and you can add a photo to the stamp that is put on the invitations.
As some details might change and the number of guests has not be decided yet, the actual stationary has not been printed yet and will be printed closer to the day.
Wedding Stationery | Paper, Printing and Other Applications
Rationale
Bibliography
Researching the wedding stationery market is a very different side of design to what I am used to, I needed to learn about the formality and information that is put on save the date and invitations. A lot of designs in the brochures and magazines were uninspiring, instead blogs seems to be a great source for interesting and exciting wedding designs.
Websites
I have worked very closely with the client on this project and have found this very different from a lot of my other projects because the control over what to try next was led more by the client than myself. This has taught me the importance of listening and understanding the clients’ needs. I have also learnt that what designers finding interesting and beautiful in terms of design can be different to that of the client and that by both bringing ideas to the table you can end up with designs that indvidually you probably wouldnt have got to. The invitations needed to get the balance between form and function and I think this really helped to lead to the postcard design bcause all the information the bride and groom want to give to their guests could be included in this design. This project is ongoing, so far I have designed the Save the Dates and Inivitations, closer to the day itself I shall be designing the table planner, placecards, order of service book and thank you cards. The exisiting design will influence the items that need to be designed next, as that way they will feed into each other and match to create a whole set. The client and myself are both pleased with the invites and save the date cards and think they fulfill the brief to create something beautiful, in theme with the wedding and containing all the information the guests need without being expensive to produce.
www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/List_of_famous_pairs beautifulpaper.typepad.com ffffffive.com/articles/wedding-invitation-showcase-45-excellentexamples/ www.memorymakersmagazine.com/masters/default,date,200812-28.aspx www.mcintoshemboss.com/samplesDieCut.html http://destinationcreede.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html www.papermilldirect.co.uk gourmetinvitations.blogspot.com destinationcreede.blogspot.com
Wedding Events attended
National Wedding Fair, Earls Court National Wedding Show, Olympia, London
Brochures And Magazines
Special Day Debehhams Personalised Wedding Stationery Sarah O’Neill Designs Wedding Stationary Brides Magazine You and Your Wedding Magazine Wedding Ideas Magazine
Shops
Paperchase, London The Paper Shop, Ashford, Kent The Wedding Stationery Store, South Croydon
Final Designs
Printed Versions of the Final Designs can be found in the A3 folder submitted with the PDF.
Wedding Stationery | Rationale and Bibliography