Somehow it became a tradition on my dad's side of the family to have chocolate covered cherries every Christmas. Someone would always buy a box of Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries and wrap it up to place under the tree for my dad - and sometimes for my grandma, too, and we'd have two big boxes to share amongst only six people (two of whom don't even like cherries).
I'm one of the ones who doesn't like cherries. I absolutely adore chocolate, but I prefer my chocolate plain or with peanut butter - I don't like nuts or fruits fouling my chocolate with a hint of healthiness. ;) Still, I always loved seeing the box of Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries, with its rich red appearance and pretty gold font. And so, when I designed this fun dark brown and red design with its fancy, sugary font, my mind was immediately reminded of a candy shop - complete, of course, with chocolate covered cherries.
I chose the aptly named "chocolate brown" solid colored Himalaya pocketfold envelope for this stationery set, and lined the left flap and right pocket with an eye-catching, red polka-dotted scrapbook paper. The red dots tie into the printed design, but the vast scale difference between the size of the dots on the scrapbook paper and the design still make a clear distinction between envelope and actual invitation.
I usually draw attention to the names and/or date on my invitation by making that information larger or a different color, but for this design I tried a different approach. Trying to emulate candy wrappers, I created fanciful boxes to frame the names and date of this fictional couple's wedding. The result? It adds visual interest, ties the decorative elements into the fancy font (which otherwise looked a little odd juxtaposed against the simple polka-dot patterns), and fits perfectly with the candy theme of the invitation without being obvious or cheesy.
I think that is the most successful part of any design - where a viewer can sort of get a general feeling about something without it being over the top or too alienating to those who don't see the connection. If I hadn't called this design "Chocolate Covered Cherries," or talked about how I found the font reminiscent of ye olde candy shoppes, would you have seen this design as being inspired by chocolate? You might have made a connection to something else, or just had a generally whimsical feeling about the piece, and you would have enjoyed the design just as much. Now that I mentioned my personal inspiration, you can see hints of it throughout the design, but it still worked just as well before you knew that information.
This is one of my favorite fonts. It's elegant and fancy, but still a little unique. It doesn't look like every other italic or cursive-like font. I used characters from that font to make the curly elements I attached to the decorative boxes, as well as the little design seen flanked by two small circles on either side throughout the invitation and reply card designs. And, of course, since circles are such a significant part of the design, I incorporated modified circles into the reply card to act as the boxes that guests can check off with their reply. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but it all ties together so nicely, don't you think? ;)
Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: Christmas themed!
Click here to view all Sunday Sample Spotlight posts.
"Like" Invites by Andrea on Facebook!
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Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf (coming soon!), or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.
I'm one of the ones who doesn't like cherries. I absolutely adore chocolate, but I prefer my chocolate plain or with peanut butter - I don't like nuts or fruits fouling my chocolate with a hint of healthiness. ;) Still, I always loved seeing the box of Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries, with its rich red appearance and pretty gold font. And so, when I designed this fun dark brown and red design with its fancy, sugary font, my mind was immediately reminded of a candy shop - complete, of course, with chocolate covered cherries.
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| "Chocolate Covered Cherries" - Invitation duo (invite & reply card) |
I chose the aptly named "chocolate brown" solid colored Himalaya pocketfold envelope for this stationery set, and lined the left flap and right pocket with an eye-catching, red polka-dotted scrapbook paper. The red dots tie into the printed design, but the vast scale difference between the size of the dots on the scrapbook paper and the design still make a clear distinction between envelope and actual invitation.
I usually draw attention to the names and/or date on my invitation by making that information larger or a different color, but for this design I tried a different approach. Trying to emulate candy wrappers, I created fanciful boxes to frame the names and date of this fictional couple's wedding. The result? It adds visual interest, ties the decorative elements into the fancy font (which otherwise looked a little odd juxtaposed against the simple polka-dot patterns), and fits perfectly with the candy theme of the invitation without being obvious or cheesy.
I think that is the most successful part of any design - where a viewer can sort of get a general feeling about something without it being over the top or too alienating to those who don't see the connection. If I hadn't called this design "Chocolate Covered Cherries," or talked about how I found the font reminiscent of ye olde candy shoppes, would you have seen this design as being inspired by chocolate? You might have made a connection to something else, or just had a generally whimsical feeling about the piece, and you would have enjoyed the design just as much. Now that I mentioned my personal inspiration, you can see hints of it throughout the design, but it still worked just as well before you knew that information.
This is one of my favorite fonts. It's elegant and fancy, but still a little unique. It doesn't look like every other italic or cursive-like font. I used characters from that font to make the curly elements I attached to the decorative boxes, as well as the little design seen flanked by two small circles on either side throughout the invitation and reply card designs. And, of course, since circles are such a significant part of the design, I incorporated modified circles into the reply card to act as the boxes that guests can check off with their reply. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but it all ties together so nicely, don't you think? ;)
Next week's Sunday Sample Spotlight: Christmas themed!
Click here to view all Sunday Sample Spotlight posts.
"Like" Invites by Andrea on Facebook!
-
Shameless Plug Time: Love this invitation (or others featured on this blog)? Want something similar (or something completely custom) designed for your event? Visit Invites by Andrea to view more samples, download a catalogue pdf (coming soon!), or fill out a design request form. Or shoot me an email to ask me your questions or learn more information.
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