The Mood Board
Image Sources: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Missoula-Wedding-Announcements/5928711 http://www.behance.net/gallery/Cameron-Wedding/3182282 http://www.behance.net/gallery/CMYK-Themed-Wedding-Invites-and-more/4665299 http://www.coralpheasant.com/blog/wedding-invitations/great-gatsby-inspired-editorial/ http://www.coralpheasant.com/blog/wedding-invitations/april-matts-french-garden-party-wedding-invitations/ http://www.coralpheasant.com/blog/wedding-invitations/megan-and-ben/ http://www.beastpieces.com/2012/02/brooklyn-wedding-invitations/ http://www.luulla.com/product/8638/ http://www.paperchainweddingstationery.co.uk/Collections_florence.htm http://www.dearevie.co.uk/invitations/blackboard.html http://www.dearevie.co.uk/invitations/fern.html http://www.hellolucky.com/wedding/thank-you-cards.html (2) http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/product/12445/foil_stamping_thank_you_cards_lasting_impression.html http://www.minted.com/product/thank-you-cards/MIN-43Z-TYC/beaucoup-de-fleurs http://www.minted.com/product/thank-you-cards/MIN-0A6-TYC/we-said-i-do http://www.minted.com/product/thank-you-cards/MIN-69Z-TYC/bold-botanicals http://www.minted.com/product/thank-you-cards/MIN-29Z-TYC/flower-sketch http://www.minted.com/product/thank-you-cards/MIN-52Z-TYC/strawberry-thanks http://www.shineweddinginvitations.com/wedding-thank-you-cards/fairytale-thank-you-card http://www.shineweddinginvitations.com/wedding-thank-you-cards/classic-damask-thank-you-cards http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/beautifulday/product/love-birds-design-thank-you-cards http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/eb1weddinginvitations/product/cameron_thank_you_card http://www.weddingchicks.com/2012/10/26/easy-bridal-shower-ideas/
Image Sources: http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2013/05/jamie-aarons-modern-romantic-destination-wedding-invitations/ http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2013/03/quick-pick-la-happy/ http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2013/03/courtney-pauls-brooklyn-wedding-invitations/ http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2012/12/helen-steves-country-inspired-kraft-paper-wedding-invitations/ http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2012/11/greeting-cards-a-z-thank-you-cards/ http://www.behance.net/gallery/Wedding-Invitations/655646 http://www.behance.net/gallery/Le-Wedding-Invitation/1242107 http://www.behance.net/gallery/Wedding-Set/1582883
Inspirational Designs
Unlike my RSVP cards I shall pick a few of these designs to analyse, although these might be very brief as (from what I can see already) the Thank You card designs are very minimalist so there won't be much to talk about.
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| http://www.behance.net/gallery/Missoula-Wedding-Announcements/5928711 |
This is the most colourful design I have seen when I gathered inspiration for my mood board, as there is a lot going on within this design; the illustration covers the whole “page”, the heading is at quite a large pt. size, and even the border is somewhat decorative.
That was what I liked about this design as it is decorative so works well on it’s own (as the thank you card would be sent out after the wedding to those who attended) and they have also left a little gap for the couple to write their thanks on in more detail. This gap isn’t too obvious and the couple could perhaps get away with not writing anything in it as the illustration fills that gap if it wasn’t for the little borders.
However because of the vibrant colours the couple would have to write in a thick black pen in order for their words to be readable against the detailed background, otherwise it’ll just fade away. Either that or they would have to write in large letters.
Although these colours are vibrant the letters really stand out because the designer had used a deep orange that is reflected in the border, and so the yellow and white are very light in comparison. Speaking of type, the designer has used three different styles that I find a bit “messy” because there is no similarity between them. I would’ve been fine if they had just chosen two – one for the heading and another for the smaller type – but using three just remind me of Carnival posters. This connection to carnival posters is only enhanced by the colours used and brings up the connotations of a lively wedding, with lots of dancing and music.
I like how there is a cream border around the detail border as it brings out the illustration and reminds me of what I’ve done for my invitation designs (but using white instead of cream).
Conclusion:
I would like to create a design like this decorative one by using the castle illustration in the background, and then leaving a little box where the couple could write their thanks.
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| http://www.coralpheasant.com/blog/wedding-invitations/april-matts-french-garden-party-wedding-invitations/ |
This is one of the many designs that is a minimalist one, with plenty of empty space for the couple to write their thanks. There aren’t any decorative features apart from the border that reminds me of the Art Nouveau style, and using the French words “Merci beaucoup” further supports this connotation.
The type they have used is clearly done by hand because of the fact that it’s so unusual-looking, but I might be wrong. It reflects the French style due to the high contrast between thick and thin strokes that reminds me of Didot, a French typeface family. However by then using a sans serif typeface for the second word simmers this vintage French style slightly and makes it look friendly.
The fact that it’s so minimalist means that the couple would thus be able to write their thanks in detail, perhaps even writing it on a personal note and jotting down all of the reasons of why they should be thankful that this particular guest could attend to witness their big day. However, this large space means that the couple would be inclined to write in detail because if they had written in just one sentence the card would look a bit “empty” (unless they wrote in big letters).
Conclusion:
Although I like this design I think that it’s too minimalist to take as an inspiration unless I replaced the border with my own, and yet at this orientation the bottom of the castle would show as just a white box at the bottom and would look unusual.
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| http://www.luulla.com/product/8638/ |
This design is a nice mixture of being both decorative and minimalist at the same time: it has a decorative border and drop caps, and yet the background is very plain and there is plenty of space for the couple to write in. The muted duo-tone colours enforce the minimalist appearance because none of the colours are very bold (although I’m not very keen on the shade of green they used).
They opened the thank you card by writing “chapter three” at the top and this brings up connotations of fairy tales, and is further supported by the typeface they’ve used in the heading and by the “… lived happily ever after” at the end. This only works, however, because of the other cards in the set opening with a “chapter…” so if I wanted to do something similar it would seem out of place.
I like how they have included a little quote, as it is a clever way to emit the love from the couple as they reach out to their guest in thanks, and there is plenty of space for the couple to write in without there being too much that it’ll look strange is they didn’t write a whole paragraph.
They had included the couple’s name at the bottom, which is an interesting feature as it allows the guest to remember whom this might be from (as the card would be sent much after the wedding) as well as the style of the card.
Conclusion:
I think I prefer the portrait orientation because there would be plenty of room for the design and also for the couple to write in, so there’s no need to create a open card nor to print on both sides. I could possibly do this in an A6 paper size.
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| http://www.minted.com/product/thank-you-cards/MIN-0A6-TYC/we-said-i-do |
Even though I have mentioned above that I wouldn’t want to do a design that looks like a card, I did find this quite inspirational because it had a portrait orientation and it was extremely cute.
What really caught my eye the most was that the type was incorporated within the illustration so that it appears as if it belongs there, and there is an overall appearance of “cuteness”. This is due to the little illustrations, as they aren’t done in much detail and this then reflects the style in children’s books.
There is a slight hint of that distressed look, and this reminds me of faded paint on the playground (hop-scotch in particular) and this strengthens the connotations of childhood and playtime. I’m not too sure if these connotations are suitable for a wedding although it could reflect the cheerful nature of the couple.
The card format means that the couple could write however little or much they want to inside because – lets take birthday cards as an example – there wouldn’t necessarily be a lot of words.
Conclusion:
I really like this design as I already have an idea in mind where I could use my castle illustration and then draw a banner around the middle of it, writing the words “thank you” upon it.
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| http://www.shineweddinginvitations.com/wedding-thank-you-cards/classic-damask-thank-you-cards |
This is another design that uses the card format but at a landscape orientation, which would mean that there would be less space for the couple to write in (but perhaps just enough). However I can see that this is a very small card with the pen next to it, meaning that it is perhaps smaller than A6 and therefore the couple would have to write in very small and cramped words if they wanted to write in detail.
This too has a mixture of being detailed and minimalist, and this is all due to the Victorian-like design used for the “border” and the white rectangle where they had placed their type alongside a little icon to border that. However I think that the design is very crowded because of the number of different elements used: the Victorian border, the lined border, the dotted border, the icons, the cursive type and then the sans-serif type. If they had taken out the lined and dotted border with the icons then the design would’ve looked a lot more appealing.
Conclusion:
If I did happen to want to do a landscape orientation, then this design would be a brilliant source of inspiration because the box they have used I could use to cover up the bottom of the castle.
Overall Conclusion:
I have noticed that, generally-speaking, these designs are very minimalist and they have left large spaces for the couple to write their thanks. If I had to find the most appealing design out of those I have analysed then I would've chosen the first or the third, not only because these have portrait orientations but because they have a nice mixture of being detailed and minimalist.
To summarise all of these designs (including the ones in my mood boards) are:
- Minimalist - normally just saying "Thank You" and then the couple's name
- Most have a landscape orientation and either have spaces on the back or the inside of the card for the couple to write in
- The heading "Thank You" is done in a decorative typestyle, usually cursive
- Decorative on one side, plain on the other
In terms of wording:
- Thank You
- For attending out wedding (optional)
- Sophie and Mark Lancroft
I shall experiment with both portrait and landscape to see which would be the most successful, however I am leaning on choosing the portrait style because I would be able to display everything on one side included a gap for the couple.
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