Fall has... Fell. Felled? Fallen?

I recently printed up a small run of birthday invitations for a friend's daughter -- my first custom design for a child. Expectedly, it's quite different doing a youth design compared to doing a wedding, but what surprised me more was how different it was to do a design for a specific kid, rather than just for "kids." Normally I think of kid-oriented design to be too saccharine, too bright, or overly Swedish-inspired for my taste (I get my fill of swedishness working for the big blue-and-yellow box) but this design came out a little edgy, I think. Or maybe a little 80s. I couldn't help but fall back into memories of Paula Abdul songs and that unforgettable skate rink smell (ancient chewing gum ground into little black spots on the carpet + icee machines + preteen hormones) at the mention of a roller skating party.

In other news, I have a new silkscreen print in the Family show at Launch Pad. Like much of my work, it came about spontaneously and left me to figure out what it was about on my own. I'm still not sure I have a good answer for that, but in order to title it I interpreted it in relation to the Family show. In Latin. It's called Excisum Meus Fratres, Puer Sola Ego Sum, meaning (I think), "My Siblings Having Been Lost, I Am An Only Child," which makes reference to the fallopian pregnancies that preceded and followed my birth, rendering me, irreversibly, an only child.

And last but not least, I've had two pieces accepted into a recent graduate show at Portland State. More details to come...

Plugging along...


invitation open
I'm making measurable progress on my updated website. But since its ETA is still unknown and likely farther off than I'd like, I thought I'd share the photos of the wedding invitations I designed recently.

Krista's wedding was loosely butterfly-themed, with a palette of dark purple and ivory. From there, she let me fly free on the design. In my paper-shopping adventures, I found this gorgeous feltweave textured eggplant paper, perfect for this project. This was used for the main invitation, printed in custom-mixed lighter purple and white gold inks.

invitation closed


rsvp postcard
Then, for the RSVP postcard, map, and envelope, we chose from the vast array of iridescent cream/ivory/off-white papers available, printed with the same custom mixed purple.

Her wedding was also going to be a small, intimate gathering, and the invitations reflected this. The physical dimensions of the assembled package was kept small, and the invitation itself involved folding and a self-closure element, making it an unusual size. Part of the joy of wedding invitations is in the recipients' experience of opening them: Krista's tiny shimmering envelopes would announce themselves as little mail-borne treasures, and reveal layers of interactive discovery.

That was the idea, at least. To make something awesome and beautiful without going all-out on the budget end of things. The small size of things, in addition to being intimate, kept material and postage costs very reasonable. And judging by the positive response Krista's been receiving (even from male coworkers!) I think it's safe to say that they turned out pretty nice.