Story-telling with Stationery

My initial consultations with wedding coordinators and clients often include a conversation about my love of story-telling. I usually share about how I like to get to know my clients, understand their stories, and help them express them. I love subtle details and wacky romances. I want to hear about the proposal, how my couples met, and what they are most excited about for their marriage. Some might think I’m sappy but I find connecting with people to be the most meaningful part of my work. Expressing these personal details in bold and understated ways is why I do what I do.

When I met with Gloria McCune of Grand Engagements about our upcoming photo shoot, I was delighted to get to know her story a little better. As we talked about her inspiration for the stylized tablescape and decor, I began to connect the dots. She described an urban vibe with an eye for fashion and something a little unexpected. Her vision included a striking palate of black and silver with accents of purple. It wasn’t just an arbitrary concept however. Gloria wanted to infuse part of herself in this shoot.

When I discovered that she is Hungarian, grew up in Germany and the US, speaks multiple languages, and has a rich Eastern European heritage, I knew we were getting somewhere. The crown in her logo isn’t there just so she can connect with brides who want to feel like a princess; she has a very regal sensibility about her. As she shared about her childhood and the aesthetic & cultural influences that have made her who she is today, I knew we needed to tell this part of her story.

Gloria’s love of chess, languages, romance, and fashion came together at this fabulous photo shoot at The London West Hollywood.

To top it all off, the fabulous girls over at The Wedding Chicks featured the photos on their blog.

The incredible professionals involved in this shoot included:
Event Design: Gloria McCune - Grand Engagements
Venue: The London Hotel West Hollywood
Photography: Jasmine Star
Floral Design: Carissa Jones - JL Designs
Cakes: Melody Brandon - Sweet and Saucy Shop
Chairs + Settings: Classic Party Rentals
Hair + Makeup: Janelle Contreras for Nirvana Salon
Bridal Veil: Linda Ly - Whimsical Designs
Linen: Wildflower Linen
Stationery: Allison Howell - The Innovation Companies

Truly Inspired Inspiration Boards

One of my clients once sent me a picture of a dish towel, a cartoon, a chair, some fabric she found at her favorite store, and a ring she liked from Etsy. While these things may seem disconnected, she wanted to communicate her visual inspiration as I sat down to create a logo for her photography business. We had already talked about her values. We hashed out how she wanted to be perceived in her industry. She had shared her vision and growth plan. All of that helped me create a logo that was the perfect fit for her brand and her company.

I often tell my clients that I want them to send me points of inspiration. My brides send me pictures of lighting, receptions, swatches of bridesmaid dress fabric and linens. They tell me about their favorite pair of shoes and about how they met their fiance. Each of these bits of their story help inspire me when I’m designing stationery for their celebration.

Similarly, clients developing logos send me images that represent the values and personality of their brand. I get everything from cereal advertisements, pieces of clothing, and furniture, to drawings and landscape photographs. Each of these elements helps me to understand what images mean to them and how they want to express themselves and their brand.

In the world of wedding blogs, inspiration boards are all the rage. Bloggers choose a number of images that fit into a theme and present them together to inspire their readers. Some of my favorite inspiration boards include those from Green Wedding Shoes, Gloria McCune, and Inspired by This.

Here is a pink board from Green Wedding Shoes.

photo credits: top row - martha stewart, Chris Nicholls. next row: j crew dress, martha stewart, invitation by oh my deer via once wed. bottom row: duston todd, flickr, darling dexter, gourmet

Whether you are planning a wedding, starting a new business, or recreating yourself, an inspiration board can be a great place to begin. Gather images, textures, and ideas from lots of industries and mediums. While I love it when a bride comes with any visual stimuli, I think it is important to keep things personal. The more intentional you can be about your choices, the better end product will be. A pretty pink palette is wonderful but if it also tells part of your story and connects to who you are, it will be even more meaningful.

Don’t feel like you have to interpret the inspiration board. When you hire professionals, they should be able to pick out themes and patterns. Hopefully the inspiration board will be a jumping off point for your uniquely designed masterpieces.

If you’re having trouble, try scouring visually stimulating sites like flickr, Etsy, istockphoto, clipart.com, and Google image search. Be sure to look outside of your own industry or genre to expose yourself to a variety of ideas. Take your own pictures. Include sketches. Add images from art, fashion, interior design, and anything else that inspires you or tells part of your story.

Please keep in mind that I am not encouraging you to rip off the ideas of others. It is one thing to say that you like the imagery or emotion that a logo evokes. It is another to copy it.

What inspires your celebration or brand?

Thinking Ahead

Over the weekend, I came across a book at our family cabin. It was a dusty volume that I’m sure my mom picked up in an antique store on one of her treasure hunts. While it is entirely likely that she bought it for the aesthetic value it could add to the mantle (she often sees books as decorative objects rather than sources of information), I found the words inside as interesting as the charming gold-foiled spine.

The opening passage of the beautiful old volume of Audels Carpenters and Builders Guide: A Practical Illustrated Trade Assistant on Modern Construction struck a chord with me. Quoting John Ruskin, the first page proclaimed,

“When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our father did for us.’”

In an age where craftsmanship is so often discarded with disregard, I cherish the idea of designing and creating with the future in mind.

The Right Tool for the Job

Some women are obsessed with shoes. They get excited about Jimmy Choos and Manolos. My appreciation for good kicks is high but not obsessive. I do, however, feel electricity through my body when I get new pairs of something else: scissors. This will sound strange to some but my love for cutting instruments borders on fanaticism. I think I own at least thirty pairs.

My passion is not merely frivolous. While I admit that sometimes I just like the feel of my best scissors in my hand, I love them for some practical reasons too. Each of my scissors has a specific purpose. I have some scissors for cutting fabric, others for use in the kitchen, scissors for snipping little threads, pinking shears for fancy patterns, and scissors for trimming paper as I wrap a package. I do not cross-cut. My fabric scissors never touch paper. I would never insult a fine ribbon by using kitchen shears on it. Each pair is designed to be used in a specific way and does its job better than any other pair could.

This week, my cutting mania has sparked contemplation about using the right tool for the job. We frequently use tools and equipment to make our lives more efficient. Design and production can become a tedious burden if the tool we choose isn’t a good fit for the task at hand. Using the right device for the job can make a complicated project simple but the wrong tool will frustrate all involved.

When we are designing an invitation or packaging for our clients, we always strive to choose the best materials for the project. We consider the message, availability of materials, budget, deadline, and the impact the pieces will have on experience of the recipient. Making sure that the parts are congruous with the whole is a high priority. We want to use the right resource for the job.

In a similar way, we endeavor to find the right design team for each of our clients. We have a wide range of capabilities here at The Innovation Companies. Our creative team is top notch and we have a wide breadth of experience. We match our clients with the team member who can accomplish our clients’ goals best. If we don’t have the abilities necessary, however, we help our clients find resources that do. Acknowledging that we are not always the right fit helps us focus on our strengths and produce better work for the clients we have committed ourselves to.

Have you ever used the wrong tool for the job? How do you ensure you’re using the best fit for your projects?

Marriage: What is it Good for?

I have noticed a lot of discussion of marriage in the media lately. Last year, there was a focus on Prop 8 in California. This year, the center of the discussion seems to be fidelity or lack thereof. Sandra Tsing Loh recently wrote an article in The Atlantic Monthly about her infidelity and the subsequent dissolution of her marriage. In it, she argues that marriage works for some people, that two-parent families are valuable for children, and that certain kinds of people have better odds than others for success. The main thrust, however, is that marriage is an antiquated and unnecessary institution in modern society. She goes so far as to say “avoid marriage–or you too may suffer the emotional pain, the humiliation, and the logistical difficulty, not to mention the expense, of breaking up a long-term union at midlife for something as demonstrably fleeting as love.”

In her Time Magazine essay “Why Marriage Matters,” Caitlin Flanagan suggests that “no other single force is causing as much measurable hardship and human misery in this country as the collapse of marriage.” She looks to political figures, the Gosselins, and the increasing lower class avoidance of marriage as she analyzes the current dismal state of our nation’s “most sacred” institution. According to Flanagan, marriage is not just an institution that influences the two parties involved in it. Instead, it is a classroom for future generations. “What we teach about the true meaning of marriage will determine a great deal about our fate.”

A similar idea is concluded in First Things’ “What Marriage is–and What it Isn’t” by Robert P. George. He states “marriage is the kind of good that can be chosen and meaningfully participated in only by people who have a sound basic understanding of it and choose it with that understanding in mind–yet people’s ability to understand it, at least implicitly, and thus to choose it, depends crucially on institutions and cultural understandings that both transcend individual choice and are constituted by a vast number of individual choices.” Marriage, in George’s and Flanagan’s views, is an institution that is defined by something outside of itself and defines culture beyond itself. Loh, on the other hand, indicates that our culture has outgrown its need for marriage and therefore can disregard its traditional or conventional value.

I have a high view of marriage. In fact, it is a subject that I have spent a lot of time thinking about. I believe that vows should be kept at great cost and that people should intentionally protect their marriage. I believe it can be the single most-powerful catalyst in one’s life for personal growth and challenge. I believe that marriage and family is also a tremendous source of joy.

I don’t say this to indicate that marriage is easy. In fact, I think that marriage is very hard. I don’t necessarily mean that it takes hard work like building a business, or that it requires long hours like many crafts do (although my husband used to tease that getting married cost him all of his time and all of his money). Instead, I mean that taking two people and joining them together into a family is a complicated, emotionally exhausting, and often confusing process. Beyond the beginning, the task of keeping those two very different people together isn’t easy either. I believe that it is worth the work and hard days however.

When I design a wedding invitation, I am influenced by all of my views about marriage. I am not just cutting and pasting words on a page. I am not just thinking about how nicely my illustration and the centerpieces will work together. I remember that I am participating in a celebration of something big. Really big. A commitment between two people that is a meaningful life-long pact. With an invitation, I get to help a couple announce their intent to say vows to one another. Vows that are wrought with meaning, intention, and determination. I take that responsibility seriously.

Photo from Jasmine Star

Social Networking + Strong Brands

Today as I was digesting some of my favorite blog, I read a post by David Merrell of AOO Events about a recent speaking engagement he had at an ISES event on creative profitability. His post led me to Lara McCulloch-Carter’s Ready2Spark blog. Already a fan, I checked out her profile to find that she formerly worked for pigeon* branding + design.

Their pigeonpulse* newsletter article on branding in a recession really caught my attention. They cover building and maintaining a strong brand as well as not lowering prices or skimping on quality. Listen to this quote about the role of packaging in brand building: “Branding experts have been saying for years that investing in package design makes better business sense than investing in advertising since much of advertising is lost on consumers.” This struck me as incredibly true.

Especially since we think packaging is important here at The Innovation Companies, it was good to see this confirmation. Thinking through the impact of packaging is what we love to do. Whether we’re working with green labels with rustic earthy design for a new organic skincare line or a fresh photographer wanting to set himself apart with fantastic collateral, we think about the importance of the first moment a consumer will experience. Envelopes, boxes, texture, scents, color, form… packaging is an experience.

I don’t say all this to be “salesy”. I just get excited about the opportunity to make an impact. I love working with clients to develop and execute an experience of their brand in a tangible form. Even our wedding and social clients get to create this type of experience–not with a brand per se, but with the first impression of their event. We think it is an opportunity to build excitement & anticipation, and send a message. Whether labels, custom-made silk boxes, or a postcard, infusing packaging with all the meaning, sentiment, and power it can have is what we are passionate about.

Today, the blog trail led me to this great insight about the strength of packaging in brand building. I can’t wait to see what else I learn from the community of incredible professionals around me. By the way, I have officially entered the world of social networking. Be sure to check out my profile on Linked In. While I can’t say that I am as connected as I could be, I am definitely dipping my toes in the water.