Sunday, August 30, 2009

tips for DIY invitations

today i'm writing some tips for anyone who wants to do their own invitations or stationery. it isn't always a formula, but hopefully this will help you in creating nicely designed stationery. please comment if this was helpful to you, or if you have more questions! :) enjoy.


an example of an invitation I did for someone

1. pick your type.

..typeface, that is. what will it be? script? modern sans-serif? classic serif? some good ones to start with are bickham script pro, avenir, helvetica neue, minion pro, and perpetua. those are some of my favorites :)

feel free to mix and match a few (no more than 2 or 3) typefaces for variety, but make sure it makes sense to use it there (like you probably wouldn't use a script for the detailed information your guests will be reading).

2. do a design.

..or you don't have to! simple is nice too. but for those who want some sort of background design, you can look around a lot of design/wedding blogs for ideas and create your own. make sure it's faded enough if you're putting text on top of it, and make sure it looks nicely placed with the text as well.

3. check your composition.

composition is very important. where does the main block of text sit on the page? where is it in relation to your background design, if you have one? the more classic and traditional style invitations will have centered text much of the time, while more modern style invitations can be either centered or flushed to the left/right. also check the vertical placement of the block of text, giving it enough room to breathe on the top and bottom. for example, if you have a background design on the top, you'd want your text more towards the bottom and vice versa.

4. zoom out.

look at everything you've created as a whole and make sure everything looks nice, not too cluttered, evenly spaced, etc. ask an art-savvy friend or just anyone to take a look at it and make sure everything looks good.

5. it's all about the paper (of course.)

pick a good, thick stock with a nice color and texture. usually something in the range of 80-110 lb paper is a good bet. two good places to look are paper source and paperandmore. get it cut to the size you want your invitation to be.

good luck!

* grace

No comments:

Post a Comment