Sugarflower Design’s Crafty Guest Post Part II: Design Your Own Invites!
Just proof it. Proof it real good.
Today we’re handing the reigns over to Autumn from Sugarflower Design yet again for another fabulous post! Did you miss Part I? Be sure to check it out here…take it away, Autumn!
You’ve got a plan, now you’re ready to design! Keep in mind some basic design principles to help keep your invites “professional”:
Make an inspiration board!
1) How will you print your stationery? A lot of the technical aspects of the design of your stationery are driven by the printer you use. This is particularly important if you plan to send your invite to a professional printer (digital, offset, letterpress, etc) Files have to be set up in a very specific way for their equipment – often requiring specific kinds of software. If you don’t know how do prepare your files for professional printing, consult a pro OR consider printing at home.
2) We all love a good font, but don’t go craaaazaaay. If you use a heavily
stylized font, use it sparingly and pair it with something simple for the
other text. Two fonts are really enough. Check out Dafont.com for some
great FREE fonts.
Clip art inspiration!
3) Use art wisely. Make sure all photography or clip art is 300 dpi at actual size to print well. Dover Publications makes lots of great clip art books, many with CD’s included of the art already formatted and ready to go.
4) Keep your color palette simple and cohesive. For inspiration, use this awesome tool that allows you to turn a favorite photograph into a coordinated color palette.
5) Proof. Proof again. Have your mama proof it. PRINT proofs to check for color and margin issues. Proof it again. Editing tip: read your sentences backwards to check for spelling. Our brains tend to gloss over misspelled words when read in the context of a sentence.
WHOO! You’re now on the path to designing the invite of your dreams! Join us next week for the final installment of Autumn’s EPIC DIY trilogy! Now go gather some inspiration from Autumn’s own designs!
I love the tip about reading it backwards! I'm also really jazzed about the color palette generator. Thanks for the useful info, Autumn!!
Bonus:
keever085 at gmail dot com
What I recommend is purchasing an inexpensive invitation, having it professionally printed and then going to the party store and enhancing the invitation with rhinestones, wraps, bows, ribbons, etc. This doesn't usually cost more, doesn't jam in your printer, you don't have to purchase fonts, it's always centered perfectly and was advised by a professional and looks its best. The DIY invitations are not inexpensive and jam, use your ink, lots of time and really aren't worth it. I've seen a diy invitation my client got as a present. It was so terrible that she had me reprint them. My suggestion is still a diy, but has less headaches.
What I recommend is purchasing an inexpensive invitation, having it professionally printed and then going to the party store and enhancing the invitation with rhinestones, wraps, bows, ribbons, etc. This doesn't usually cost more, doesn't jam in your printer, you don't have to purchase fonts, it's always centered perfectly and was advised by a professional and looks its best. The DIY invitations are not inexpensive and jam, use your ink, lots of time and really aren't worth it. I've seen a diy invitation my client got as a present. It was so terrible that she had me reprint them. My suggestion is still a diy, but has less headaches.
I agree that color palette generator is awesome! Such a great tool!
I also love the tip about the clip art…I never would have known that if I hadn't read it just now.
Bonus:
azbabs_2000 at yahoo dot com
@Deborah – you've read my mind! Stay tuned for the third post in this series where I talk about DIY "lite" alternatives like printables and embellishing pro invites.
Great ideas. They are useful and cute.
designing your own invitation card is a fun thing to do..you see in the picture they're already good…its like when you do it you are so inspired that you want to show the world how happy you are by being able to create great cards…