It’s really hard to pick favorite projects when you’ve been printing almost 20 years, but I do have a few that stand out that I’d like to share.
I’ve worked with Mimi Brown of Mimi Brown Studio in NYC on several jobs over the years. One of those jobs was the menu and place cards for a surprise birthday dinner for Gwyneth Paltrow. Mimi had the location and theme worked out, so we started brainstorming design ideas. We actually produced two versions of the menu and ultimately went with the one pictured here. It was a small square z-fold with matte silver printing. The coordinating place cards were printed on a double-thick paper with the same branch motif. Jan Pruitt of Jan Pruitt Calligraphy hand-penned each attendee’s name on the cards. The end result was stunning!
Menu and place card for Gwyneth Paltrow’s birthday dinner.
Another event planner I’ve worked with for years is Eddie Tackett in Dothan, AL. He’s a joy to work with and has a great eye for design. He planned both weddings for Nick and Terry Saban’s children and I was honored to take part. Among the items I created, the wedding programs for both are my favorites. I outsourced the engraving for the gold monograms on the front, ordered custom dyed silk ribbon from CA, and Jan Pruitt’s calligraphy was incorporated into the inside pages. They are such beautiful keepsakes.
Wedding programs for Nicholas Saban (left) and Kristen Saban (right).
Another project that stands out was a rehearsal dinner invitation for Cindy Rhoden. Cindy is full of creativity, and loves the unexpected. She and her husband Ken recently ventured into event planning by restoring and opening an event space called The Theodore. Be sure to check it out here.
We decided to go with invitations that were individually hand-dipped into sea blue watercolor baths. No two are alike! Jan Pruitt penned the names and we printed on handmade deckled edge paper from Spain. It all came together perfectly.
Hand-dipped watercolor invitations on spanish deckled edge paper, featuring hand calligraphy for names.
There are many more favorites, and I’ll be featuring them in future posts. I’ll also devote a post to “challenging projects” - you know, the ones that don’t go as planned and how I navigated through them. I found out there’s always a solution! Until then, feel free to comment or ask questions below.