This wedding invitation for Andy and Drew is certainly a unique format. It was designed by Drew Hodgson for his wedding in Palm Springs, CA. The bold colors and contemporary shapes make the design both modern and masculine. The invite is actually a folder enclosure that opens to reveal the invitation text on the flap. The folder opens further to reveal an interior printed with a brightly colored burst and three information cards with RSVP Hotel VIP, and Dinner information.  Drew tells us this about his design:

“The wedding celebration will be held at a mid-century hotel in Palm Springs. I came across this great typeface by John Skelton called Sessions, which in turn is based on the classic Joseph Albers typeface Kombinationsschrift. The playful, organic and modular shapes are a perfect fit for the mid-century setting and atmosphere we wanted to create for the wedding.”

“The shapes and negative space of the letterforms are also used as a graphic style to illustrate the mountains, sun and wispy clouds that dominate the landscape. I love the impression that letterpress leaves so I wanted to incorporate a linear illustration style to contrast the bold letterforms. I created a twig- or feather-like variation of the A+D monogram expressly for the tactile feel it would create.”

“We also wanted this be a fun experience for out-of-town family. They will receive “golden ticket” or “vip” card which allows them to stay at the hotel for free. The act of folding away the panels of the main invite leads to a ‘ta-da’ moment in which they are presented with the card.”

The Save the Date card was printed earlier on Crane Lettra Pearl White 220lbC. Cards for the wedding invitation were letterpress printed in two colors on Crane Lettra Pearl White 110lbC. Those pieces were printed together on a large press sheet. The folder was die cut out with scores to create gussets to accommodate three card thicknesses once folded together. Everything folded up to fit in the A6 size Orange Fizz French Poptone envelope, printed on the flap with orange ink.

Priya: “The background for the design is that the couple are to be married in a botanical garden and the bride Neerja was really inspired by traditional Indian miniature paintings which often depict figures in natural settings. She wanted to incorporate a painting with her invitation so we printed one on vellum as a cover sheet for the invite.”

Priya: “We needed to design invitations for not only her wedding in Virginia, but also a reception the weekend after in Texas that is hosted by the groom Neel’s parents. We also wanted both events to be linked visually, thus the full color nature elements.”

Since the invite was sized for a large A10 envelope, that made for a very large 13 x 20 press sheet that incorporated all the wedding cards. In this wedding, there were two main invite cards – the brides invitation and the grooms invitation. Plus the other reply cards, direction cards and sangeet invitation. That’s a lot of letterpress! Producing multiple pieces on the same press sheet keeps the cost down.

We produced the design from Priya with a combination of letterpress and digital printing. Digital printing is used for the vellum sheet and the back of the reception card. All of the navy text is letterpress printed. The paper stock is 111lb (300gsm) Canaletto Grana Grossa 20% cotton from Gruppo Cordenons. We also die cut the contrasting navy paper for the folding enclosure using French Papers Nightshift Blue and mixed our printing ink to cordinate with the navy paper. The minimal typography and ornamental detail of this design were perfectly suited for letterpress printing and produced a beautiful sculptural impression.