studio-behind the scenes

I thought it would be fun to show some behind the scenes photos of a recent custom 30th birthday invitation we created.

Of course just like any other project, invitations start with a client meeting/conversation so we can get an idea on the client's preferences and the scope of the project.

For these invitations, our client was throwing a 30th birthday cocktail, masquerade party for her sister.

She gave us a color palette of purple, turquoise, and blue.

The masquerade theme reminded me of this Miss Capricho illustration I had seen on Daily Candy.

We decided to do the illustration for the invitations using water colors because we felt it offered a whimsical feel while still being sophisticated.

Next, Billy hit the drafting table with PrismaColor markers in hand. He did a detailed thumbnail illustration of martini glasses and a masquerade mask.

After that, we scanned in the marker illustration and enlarged and printed it. Then back to the drafting table! Billy used the built in light board to illuminate the illustration so he could use it as a guide for inking and watercoloring a new illustration.

After the watercolor illustration was completed and dry, we scanned that in, preserved the colors we used by tweaking the curves slightly in photoshop, and voila! We had our piece for the invitations.
*illustration before any photoshop edits

Of course, after placing the image there was still finding proper fonts for the invitation and laying out the type....getting all the information properly laid out on a grid and kerning letter spaces...

I think its helpful to get to see what goes into a process for anything. More often then not people don't realize just exactly what is involved to get a finished product on something. And that probably can go for any industry, not just design and art.

Of course we have changed information to protect our client's privacy.

We hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes glance at the making of an invitation! If you'd like to commission custom invitations or a custom water color illustration, you can contact us through wwww.differentxdesign.com