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So this is unusual. I know I should be really appreciative and happy that she's willing to help me out with this one. But, I feel a little... patronized? I was all proud of myself, trying to figure out the invite, scouring the internet for vectors, reading Miss Hawk's tutorials on how to use Illustrator. I thought that FI and I came up with something we could be really proud of to send to our family and friends. We've gotten an L letterpress, the Epic Six tool, gone through the Boxcar (and other blogs) reviews of the press and how to use it with photopolymer plates, looked up all the ordering information through Boxcar, looked at embossing materials, etc. It's been kind of a process for us.
I showed our design to a friend of mine and she looked down on it pretty severely. She mentioned that we really should be using different fonts, asked us what feel we were trying to give with the invitations (which I thought was evident from the design I had come up with...) and that I should just let her come up with a mock up. Which was several days ago and now I know she's out of town to go visit her boyfriend.
Again, I know I probably shouldn't be venting because she's just trying to do something nice, but I can't help but feel a little sheepish on my DIY capabilities or lack thereof. This is something that I've kind of invested a lot of time and thought into and feel like she's kind of grabbed the rug out from under me... Anyway, thanks for reading if you made it this far. I just had to put these thoughts down as words. Have a wonderful day, everyon1
just breathe for a second. The wonderful thing about this is... you know.. its YOUR wedding. Who cares if everyone else things what you like is cheesy or whatever. If you like it, you have the ability to do it! If you love your design, continue on with it. If you want, maybe you could post your design here!
@MrsNeutrino: Thank you so much for the perspective. I would definitely post it, but I'm not the brightest bulb and am not sure how to convert a .ai file to a .jpg file... If anyone else is kind enough to tell me, I'd be happy to.
Ok, I think I got it. Initially I saved it as a bmp, which weddingbee also did not like. Changed it to jpg. *cross fingers*
I would be using navy blue as the ink color, but it all has to be 100%CYMK for the photopolymer plates.
I'd like to see your design too. I'm a designer, so at least I can tell you if your design has potential and your friend is just being a know-it-all. : )
If you can open the ai file back up in Illustrator, try going to File -> Export, instead of File -> Save, where you should have more options for file types (aka, jpeg). You could also try saving for web and devices.
I actually like it! I don't really love colored inks and would prob prefer black though. Also, I have somewhat used the L-letterpress before.. i think it would be really cool if you didn't ink the chandelier and just had it imprint on the paper.. You have already had the plated made, correct? I am going to look on my computer for a pic of a chandelier that I would prefer.
I think your friend is crazy -- these are absolutely gorgeous, elegant and professional looking and you should really be proud of them. I have design background and you really hit it with the font mix, spacing and image. I can only imagine how great these will look in letterpress! Seriously -- don't look back. Everyone else will love these and you'll feel so proud at the end of the day.
@colli459: Your friend is being a little harsh. Its not a crappy invitation, I actually like it. To me the invitation quality is all about the paper its printed on and the ink. This is not a fancy invitation for a 50k wedding but it is cute and chic and would fit the theme of a 10-12k wedding. Honestly, its cute and will look very nice with all the words in letterpress.
@MrsNeutrino: That's really awesome! Thank you so much for the picture and for your input on ink! I haven't had the plate made yet because I wanted some time to be able to tinker with it.
@hosannac: Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate it!
@Soladylike: Ok.... Um, well, our wedding is coming out to ~$20,000.00 any advice to make them seem a little more formal?
You have all been super sweet. I am definitely no designer, I'm a pharmacy student...so this is really helpful. I know you probably can't see it, but at the bottom of that screen is a word doc that I took notes on titled "OTC case" and another case from pharmacotherapy... Thank you all for having more expertise in this than I!
If you want advice:
I'd move the names and "together with their families" over above the other text, then extend the chain of the chandelier all the way to the top.
I would make "together with their families" the same size as the rest of the text.
Take out the word "humbly" so that you can have "request the honor of your presence" into one line.
I'd center-align all of the text. I wouldn't capitalize every beginning of the line-- it looks to much like an acrostic or something. (presence, two, and three, do not need to be capitalized.)
There should be a comma after Friday. "Friday, the twenty-eighth of December"
I'd also shrink the chandelier a little, it's bumping too close to the text.
Also something bugs me about the ampersand but I can't decide how to fix it.
I think that looks really good.
And I prefer the pic of the chandelier that you already have. =)
@bookworm88: Awesome. I'll definitely apply some of those and see what happens. Oh, the ampersand is a different font, actually. That might be it. I didn't like the ampersand it the font (which I almost spelled "phont" yay phonetics). The ampersand in the names text just looks like someone drew a bunch of circles on a page. Thank you for your advice!!
@colli459: No problem! Hope it helps. All that really matters is that you love what you send out.
Also let us see what you end up with-- I'm trying to design my own right now so I feel your pain.
@bookworm88: You're right. Part of it is just figuring out what I like best when there are 8,000,000 choices and ways to do things. I may still change some things up a bit, but I really do appreciate everyone's input. It helps a ton!
Is your friend a graphic artist? They are cute invites but I could see if she was a professional that she would want to tweak it a bit for a more formal look.
I'd shrink the whole thing so you're not so close to the edges. If you get any shifting during your printing process it might be really noticable. I'd put more space between the chandelier and the text too.
I'd also center all that text on the top and add more space between the lines so the ampersand isn't touching the K. I like bookworm's suggestion of lengthening the chain on the chandelier too.
My advice (as a photographer/designer student & working professionally) is to drop the opacity on the chandelier, but it on a back layer. Center all of the text on the invite. I think all black is perfect! If you have no idea what I just said, I can make a draft up for you, if you would like! :)
I think it's pretty awesome seeing as how it's a first try! I LOVE the chandelier you picked!
I like it! Maybe your friend is just jealous. :) As for the ampersand, I think it might look better if you write out "and" in the same font as the body of the invitation.
@Westwood: Yay Wisconsin! I grew up there my whole life. Came out to Baltimore for school. And no, my friend is another pharmacy student, just like me. Thanks for the advice on putting space between the chandelier and the text!
@Booknerd: The only thing I don't understand is: "drop the opacity on the chandelier, but it on a back layer." Would you mind explaining?
@BoiledPNut: That's also something to try. I do like the look of an ampersand... :( Maybe it would fit the layout better to leave it. Thank you so much!
You are all so wonderful. Thank you for your input. Again, it is sooo appreciated!
I really like it and it is a lot like mine. I think the arrangement needs a bit of adjusting as mentioned by PP but otherwise you are on a great track.
Here is a photo of mine just for reference and helpful ideas:
@bookworm88: Agreed, especially on te capitalization and use of "humbly." Either capitalize every single noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and long preposition of ditch the capitals.
Hi all!
Hopefully some of you would be willing to continue to give advice... I made some of the changes/updates and would be really thrilled to get some feedback.
Ok, here's the main invite:
and I got somewhat creative and tried to do the RSVP card:
Any thoughts?
Oh, and I also changed the CMYK on the RSVP so that it's all black, as well as evened out FI and my names on the invite so that his doesn't look so stretched and mine so narrow.
@mrsbruff2b: Thanks so much!
Wow, I loved your original, but the revised version is fantastic! I'm planning on L Letterpressing my own invites too.
My only suggestion for the RSVP card is the bottom seems a little cramped. Maybe try making the silhouettes a bit smaller?
love the changes... it looks great... screw you friend she's crazy lol
I love your RSVP but it made me feel bad for eating steak 
. I was like, "...aw this used to have feet :("
But that's me being ridiculous. I think you did a lovely job! You may want to block out important elements of the names and addresses when you post on here though, just for security.
Thank you for the input!
On my end I spaced things out more. I'm not sure I need to re-post the image, but thank you so so sooo much!
@HappierKate: I know I ought to, I'm just not sure how...
Help?
@colli459: Repost the image. We want to see it. You have done a wonderful job. You asked the question earlier what can make them more formal? You have gotten some great suggestions now its basically about picking quality paper to print them on. They really do look profssional.
@Soladylike: Is it not showing up? I had attempted to re-post it about an hour ago...
Nevermind! Looks absolutely fantastic! The dropped opacity is for making a background image, but you did awsome! The only thing about the RSVP card is the 'feet', 'fins', 'feathers' or 'flowers'. Some people might take it a little offensively but if you love then don't worry!
LOVE the revised invites.
I'd take off the "food that once had" and remove the chandelier from the RSVP card. spread things out a bit and give it some blank space and you'll be golden!
I like it! Your fonts are fine, too, I'm not sure what your friend was getting on your case about. The only issues I see with both drafts are minor alignment issues. I think the icons for meal choices are cute. I think you've done a really nice job with the design.
If I were to make a couple minor tweaks, I'd say:
-Pretend the end of the the "P" in RSVP has an imaginary vertical line going past it. In illustrator, if your rulers are on, click the left ruler and drag to the space after the "P" to create a guide. Keep all your text to the right of this line. That'll help keep it from feeling cramped. It'll look more sophisticated to have some open white space.
- I'd scoot all your righthand text on the invitation to the right a little more, once again, to have a little more white space and open things up a bit.
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