Wedding invites (terminated)

Brief for the project 

My friends Luke and Charlotte will be getting married April of 2027 and have comissioned me to produce the printed ephemera for the occasion. This will include the invitations, order of the day, menus, etc.
They have asked that I use lino to produce the illustrations so that the cuttings can be used throughout the production of the different elements and on the day.

Brief for the invites

The invitations will have text and illustration. They have given me free rein to design however I'd like based on the following criteria and a Pinterest board;

• Design and print invites 
• Using provided handmade paper stock
• Pink paper stock, dark red (tones) for print
• Illustrations of cats, people, food/drinks, disco ball
• Type choice of fun and 'scribbly' for title type
• Tidy and clean for the info type, letterpress if possible

Design mood board

(based on their Pinterest board)

Ideas for illustrations

The first idea to try is to have their cat, Asmo, as the main feature running throughout. I will illustrate him holding up rings, with a cupids bow, holding up a Prosecco bottle, his head with heart eyes and a bow, playing with a disco ball, licking a wedding cake.

I also would like to use seals somehow, as the animal has significance in their relationship. I will try illustrating two otters kissing or in typical marriage attire.

They are keen for a table of food and drink, which may be more specific to the invitations, so I may produce this as a larger print than the other cat and otter pieces.

Sketches

I sketched out the ideas I had with other bits such as different cat face illustration designs, decorative motif ideas and possible layout options. The couple loved the sketches and chose the cat face that they preferred. They also said that if I wanted to make the cat recognisable as their cat Asmo, I should include the black marking on his chin. I will transfer these designs digitally using illustrator to refine them with the feedback.

Digitalised ideas

I used the scans of the sketchbook to go over them digitally on illustrator so that they could be refined easily and then used in the future for other purposes and if something goes wrong in the physical making process.

Lino stamp mock up

To check that the lino stamp would be a success, I took the most simple design and carved it. The outcome was successful after some refinement. The size is as small as it could be as it was difficult to carve, which is something to note fro the rest of the designs.

Feedback

The couple were very pleased with the result of the lino and gave the green light for the rest of the designs to be done in the same manor. They said the seal isn't necessary, despite liking the idea. They preferred the elements to be cohesive; sticking to Asmo the cat for the featured character. We discussed further how they would like the layout of the invitations, and which illustrations they wanted for each printed element.

Termination of project

Unfortunately, circumstances meant that the project is to be terminated. This is disappointing but cannot be helped. I'd like to do a project like this in the future and it was good to see how the start of these kinds of projects might begin.