2-D Design

Butterfly Bridal Package

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One of my best friends got married in 2018 and because she was on a super tight budget, I did what I could to help her DIY everything.

As her maid of honor, my job was to be her right hand man (woman?) in everything she wanted—dresses, expos, decorations, invites, etc. So, I did just that—we started with save the dates (pictured), then I worked on the bridal shower invites with the other bridesmaids, then came table decorations for the guest tables and signs for the prop tables.

The easiest part about all of this was the access I had to the equipment that would make my life easier: a laser cutter, wide format printers, jump shears, paper guillotines, vinyl for stickers, etc. I could use all of these for free and whenever I wanted!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of everything, but the package was color themed: black, white, purple, pink and silver. We used butterflies (her favorite), flourishes, script fonts (whomever designed Autumn in November—thank you), and other delicate elements.

The full package included: save-the-dates, invitation set (main invite, RSVP, directions), envelopes (purchased!), script table numbers cut from 1/4” scrap acrylic on the laser cutter and painted with silver glitter spray paint, informative signs for guest photos on social media made with scrap Dibond, black vinyl and silver glitter spray paint, the bridal shower invites (shh, those were a surprise!), and Cricut-cut seating cards.

The wedding was a success and with all of the tangible elements being hand-made, it all had a personal touch. It was super fun making everything and I would 100% do it again if I still had access to the right equipment.

Design Quickies - Gotta Go Fast!

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Over the summer, I needed a creative kickstart. I felt like my portfolio was lacking and I was the only one who could do anything about it…but what?

So that’s when I got this idea—what if I, before I started my work day each morning, got on the computer and just opened a program, picked a skill to refine and spend 1-2 hours working on a quick project. I dubbed these “Design Quickies”.

These Design Quickies, or DQs for short, had three jobs: keep myself in practice or learn how to do something new, build up my portfolio, and keep my creative juices flowing. My job, at the time of this conception, allowed me more creative release than the last, but was not nearly enough to keep me happy as a designer.

I kept up with this for a little while, trying to add humor to my work. I experimented with size and scale (as shown in the two examples on the left), type treatment, color, and ideas. Each session, I’d do a web search for random things that popped into my head, gather the items I’d need and go to town. The only rule was each DQ could only be worked on during that session. Once the session was over, I would never touch the piece again.

Needless to say, a few pieces remain unfinished, like the family portrait I took form my personal photo library and attempted to replace everyone’s face, including my own, with Gary Busey’s.

I’ll pick DQs back up soon, as I have a few things I want to try out. They’ll be shared in the blog in the future and will possibly earn a spot in the portfolio if they really rock my socks.

Sunflower Wedding

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One of my best friends’ sisters was getting married and naturally, I was on the top of the list for people to get invitations from.

It started with a casual mention over lunch, to me emailing a questionnaire to the bride-to-be asking about colors, themes, dates, etc.

What I got to work with: purple, white, gray and sunflowers.

Because the bride lives in Florida, all of this was done through email and text: choosing the paper, designing the concepts, the fleshing out, the final layout, the progress updates and photos of the finished product.

The layout design was done on the computer and I handed off printing to a friend of mine who has access to a large format flatbed printer. Ten sheets of 26” x 40” paper from Mohawk, dozens of sheets of purple shimmer paper and vellum from The Paper Store, several hours spent with a 15” guillotine and a basic X-Acto, going blind in low light, double-stick paper craft tape, some letratac, and it all came together.

The package consisted of save the dates (not pictured), main invites, vellum cover sheets, directions, RSVP cards, and gift notes—envelopes were the bride’s responsibility in this case.

This was probably one of my favorite hand-crafted projects and I look forward to taking on more just like this. The bride was super easy to work with and I hope her wedding planning is going just as smoothly. I’m also looking forward to attending the wedding to see how everything turns out!