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Got my invite proof....not too thrilled :(

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karasue91

karasue91

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Aug 27, 2007
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Well, I got back my invite proof today. This company we are using is not an invitation company, they are graphic designers who do lots of designing for rock bands (tshirts, flyers, etc) and other young companies. The owner of the company is a good friend of FSIL, so she recommended that we use him because he wouldn''t charge us a ton and he would do whatever we want.

So I went to meet with him, and he had a younger girl help me. She was so cute, and so excited to be doing something "girly". I brought lots of pictures of invites that I liked and they both seemed like they were on the same page as me, telling me their ideas and they sounded great.

Some ideas I told her I would really like for my invites:
silhouettes of FI and i (i sent her our pictures to make our silhouettes from)
vintage/retro feeling
some kind of border within the card (see invite montage attachment)
if the silhouettes thing didn''t work out, i would like a floral motif similar to the pictures i brought in (again see invite montage attachment)

I''m not sure what happened, but this is what she sent me:

kr_wedding_proof 3.28 cropped.JPG
 
Here is a little montage of the pictures i brought her of invites that i really liked. I''m not sure what got lost in translation, but I don''t feel like this is anything like any of the ones I showed her. So, I''m not sure how to tell her what I don''t like about it because I don''t like anything about it!!

OK, that''s a stretch. It is a nice invite. Just not what I was looking for at all....can anyone offer any insight as to where the confusion might have happened and how I can better describe what I want?

invite montage.jpg
 
kara, to be really honest, I LOVE LOVE LOVE those invite proofs! I think they are classy, classic, elegant yet whimsical...and I've never ever seen anything like them anywhere else. Maybe you should sleep on it and look at them with fresh eyes. I think they did an amazing job, IMO...

ETA: I can look at your montage, and then at the proofs and I can totally see how they/she took all those ideas and combined them into one fresh design...
 
They are pretty.

Not at all what you wanted of course.

But pretty. Confusing. But pretty. And a little...busy? They Do have a retro feel. A bit of an acid trip from the 70's retro feel. Instead of the 50's feel your vintage stuff has. But that could just be the pain killers I'm on talking.

Really confused.

From point A to point X... wondering where B-W went?

Do we have to do custom invites? There are some amazing ones just added to weddingpaperdivas for letterpress, and I love white aisle.
 
I''m with surfgirl.

I''m totally in
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with them. And I''m so not a flowery kind of girl. But those are
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!
 
Hi karasue,

I see what you mean about the disconnect. Offhand, I think this invite is salvageable! If they made the design solid, rather than open prints, that may help get you closer to the initial silo idea.

As a designer myself, I think the main problem lies in the font chosen...it doesn''t match the feel you were going for. You''d be amazed at how much font can change the tone of an invite. Perhaps you could try printing the outside design and holding it next to different typefaces to see what you like? That way, you could go back to the designer and say you want the "feel" of a certain font...

Hope this helps!!
 
I really like the graphic design, and I don''t really see the disconnect. I can see that it''s inspired from some of the samples, and I really like it. But I agree with justwondering that you might like it a lot more with a different font. I personally like the script font okay, but the other font seems a bit blah...I''m not sure exactly what you were going for..
 
Karasue91 - Froom looking at the things you brought in to them, I could see how they could come up with that they did. However - I am not the most creative, at all, and second, although I like the flowers I don''t think they have a particularly "girly" feel to them -- it''s more like a "tatooish"/cool kind of look. I think they did a great job, and the design is very cool, but if you don''t like it, and if it''s not they style you were going for, then that''s all that counts. I would just tell her you don''t get a "girly" feel from them. Do you know if she even tried the silhouettes?
 
TATTOO-ISH!

That's it EXACTLY. That's what the design reminds me of. Acid trip TATTOO from the 70's! Psychedelic Painted VW bus Van for transport too and from Tattoo parlor!

I think the fushia invite is point P on the map.... that's the one that stands out from your collage as the one that led things a bit astray for me. It's much more modern and contemporary and different than the rest on there.
 
hmmm. I think you were definitely right about the font, justwondering, the font is totally blah.

gypsy expressed my thoughts exactly. when i showed FSIL she described them as "a little mystical. like there is a unicorn lurking around behind the flowers somewhere." hahaha

I think the main thing I'm disappointed with was the lack of silhouettes. I told her I really wanted them, I showed her pictures of invites with them on there, I sent her pictures of FI and I to make the silhouettes, and when I met with her she seemed really into the idea. And then I get these. With no silhouettes, and no explanation of why they weren't used....

Also, we talked about using a cool border, so that even though the invite is rectangular, it there is a framed look to it. The picture on the bottom left is what I'm talking about with the framed look thing, but I also told her that a simple oval would be great too, like the one just to the right of the bottom left picture. Again, no frame.

So then I told her worst case scenario if none of that worked out, a floral motif would be great. But I specifically told her, I like the look of a simple, large graphic like the picture on the bottom right, if we are going to do floral.

And I gave her the pink invite in the middle to demonstrate a font that I really liked.

So, I'm definitely going to call her to talk about it. I'm not upset, it is clearly just a lack of communication. But I do feel a little slighted with the lack of sillhouette and no explanation as to why. Maybe I'll just give the design a shot myself.

Gypsy, it's definitely not out of the question to just order. But I think FSIL would be a little hurt that I didn't use her friend. I'll email/call the girl who is designing and if things don't go better with the second proof, I'll pay her for her time and be on my way to weddingpaperdivas.

ETA: Claudinam, tatooish is exactly right!!! And I'm not saying it's not a nice design at all, just not what I'm looking for.

Yeah, the middle invite was just supposed to be for the font, which I did specify to her, but perhaps not well enough....
 
I think this is pretty close to what you asked for. You said if the silhouettes didn''t work out go for a floral motif. I see the floral motif and vintage/retro.

I like the invitations. They are really nicely designed and very unique. Of course if you don''t like them it doesn''t matter.

But this is only the proof. It is still a working design. You''ve been given a proof to see what you think, not as the final. An artist can only do their best interpretation and don''t expect it to be right on every time. So clarify what you really want. And if you absolutely want the silhouettes tell her to copy the silhouettes. Don''t feel obligated to accept what you don''t like. Give them the opportunity to try again. Design is very subjective.
 
if you wanted her to copy the things you had brought in as examples... the invitation is a bit dissappointing. especially if that''s what you were expecting.

BUT... i absolutely love what she did. they''re so original.. and i especially love the response card. =P

if you want it to feel more vintage-y than surf-shirt-y... maybe ask for softer flowers. not so pointy petal points. not sure how else to make it more soft... maybe a dark grey instead of black?
 
To be perfectly honest, I think the montage you gave her had several different themes in it, so I can see where there would be some confusion on the artist's part. But... it looks like you were looking for 40's-50's sweet, old fashioned-vintage, and she gave you 60's-70-s wild, mod-vintage.

I like her design but it is quite different than the your examples. Aside from just liking the design, it really has a one-of-a-kind feel to it. I was thinking though that it might be nice to give her design some of the treatments used in your montage, such as... reduce her flower frame in size a bit and add a black border. Put a pink border around that, or tie it to a pink backing like your sillouettes example. I think a little tweaking could bring that design closer to your examples.
 
Okay, here is my take on it with my designers hat one:

- the client has provided inspiration for the design that they are looking for
- I have decided to do what the hell I want to do

If she had done the designs you wanted and added this one as well - fair enough, and you may even have liked this one better.

BUT, you commissioned a design and this has no relation to that.

It doesn''t matter if it''s pretty or whatever, it doesn''t have any of the elements you wanted.

If you designed your e-ring and you jeweller produced something that had nothing to do with your ideas and wishes would you be happy because it was a pretty design - just not your design?

If she''s young and new, she needs to learn that you work to your customer''s brief even if you hate it and think they have the worst taste in the world. Trust me I have designed some things that I would be ashamed to have my name on - but the customer was delighted because they were as they imagined (and I was happy as I got paid and my name wasn''t on them!
31.gif
)

Personally I would return them, tell them they must have mixed up mine with someone else''s as mine are the ones with the silhouettes - and wait for the explaining to start.
 
I think that the ones she sent you are absolutely gorgeous, but obviously not what you asked her to do at all! I''d go through it with them again what you''re looking for.
 
Kara, that''s a whole lotta things to choose from when a designer is designing an invite...but what i would have taken from it is: sihouettes, flowers, and color. How she/he managed to totally miss that mark is beyond me. Sorry you''re dealing with a somewhat incompetent designer here. I think I would''ve placed the silhouettes up top, on a fuschia background, and bordered the actual invite with some of the floral silhouettes you provided.
 
What do you mean by the word retro? I think those invites have a very retro feel, while your montage has more of a vintage feel. These words can be taken different ways, but your montage looks very elegant and classy, while the invites look more whimsical. I''m guessing that you may have wanted her to take your montage more literally, while she took it as a starting point and evolved it into something else. As someone in the design world, and my fiance is in graphic design, I can see how that wasn''t exactly what you were looking for. I''m having a hard time figuring out the right balance for what I want as invites myself. I would just go back to her an explain what specific elements you want in the design.
 
ETA: Claudinam, tatooish is exactly right!!! And I'm not saying it's not a nice design at all, just not what I'm looking for.
Click to expand...
And that's all that counts in the end. We could all think it's the most beautiful design in the world, but if you don't like it, or even if you do like it, but it just doesn't "fit in" with what you were envisioning, it's out.

I think that there's definitely talent there, and that this is just the beginning, it's a work in progress. As swingirl said, design is very subjective, and now it's your turn to give the feedback. I think it is at THIS round (what does she do with the feedback? how does she react to it?) that you'll start to get a feel for whether you can work with them and whether they're really listening. I think when you hire an artist, you need to let them create (at least a little bit), but not at the expense of feeling obligated that you have to end up with something that you don't like.

ETA: I would definitely tell her you want to see her do the silhouettes.

ETA 2: Karasue91, just want to clarify that I could see how you can be disappointed/annoyed that there were no silhouettes and no mention as to why. And if there were other elements you told her you definitely wanted and she just didn't do, I would call her on it. That's why I think this is the "crucial" round -- where you get to give exactly that type of feedback and she needs to correct.
 
I also do not like them. And where is the pink? To me, your montage definitely says you want black, white and some pink. Don''t accept anything you don''t like. Say that since you and the designer obviously have different opinions on what a floral motif should look like, you now prefer the designer to go with the silhouette theme.
 
Date: 3/29/2008 1:59:22 AM
Author: surfgirl
kara, to be really honest, I LOVE LOVE LOVE those invite proofs! I think they are classy, classic, elegant yet whimsical...and I''ve never ever seen anything like them anywhere else. Maybe you should sleep on it and look at them with fresh eyes. I think they did an amazing job, IMO...

ETA: I can look at your montage, and then at the proofs and I can totally see how they/she took all those ideas and combined them into one fresh design...
Click to expand...
I agree. I love the proof for all of the reasons Surfgirl stated.
 
Okay, I went back to look at the montage you had put together. It seems to me that there is a lot there. There are silouhettes (sp?) and flowers and other design elements. Maybe the girl had a hard time deciding what to focus on. I''m assuming you told her which parts of the montage you liked for what reason. Did you write it down for the girl? I love the montage, don''t get me wrong, but I can also see where someone would come up with that design you ended up with for the proof. It seems to me that she didn''t quite understand how important it is to you that the invitations have silouhettes.

One thing I thought of regarding the flowery look, is that if you think it''s too much, what about scaling it down a bit? You could have flowers on just the bottom or the top or even on opposite corners and the rest of the invitation would be blank. That could look nice. I hope that makes sense. It seems a *little* overpowering to me (the invitation). I lOVE the reponse card -- I wouldn''t change a thing there.
 
Weeellll, personally, I love it. I know that you don''t like it, but I think they are funky and original (wouldn''t mind having something like that at all!) However, I don''t know if this is too honest, but I don''t love the silhouettes. I actually like the one''s she produced for you.
 
It looks to me like this design was inspired by the response card in the bottom left hand corner of the screen response card. It has similar shapes.

The proof is certainly interesting and pretty, but it to me seems to have a more modern edge than any of the designs that caught your eye. That being said, something can be beautiful without being the style that suits what you want. I went through many very pretty would-work-splendidly-BUT-for-someone-else's wedding invitations before I ever managed to find something that I liked for our wedding.

If you don't love it my suggestion would be to say: Oh, it's really gorgeous, but it's just not what I had in mind. Can we try something else?

ETA: I wounder what would happen if you just told her you wanted to see a proof using just the silhouettes.
 
I also think the proofs are too busy and don''t reflect what you were going for. I would have definitely used the silhouettes and the pink colour to create the design. She seemed to ignore those two elements entirely, when it seems that''s what you really wanted - from your montage, at least.
 
OK created a new invite montage, got rid of the floral motif for the most part and focused on ones that had specifically what I was thinking. I''m going to send it back to her and ask if perhaps we can meet again to talk about it.

I do want black and white with a touch of pink, so ignore the other colors in there because I couldn''t figure out an easy way to turn the blue or the yellow into pink! They even had me pick out a couple of pinks SPECIFICALLY from the color samples. I''m thinking maybe this was just a black and white preview? But that doesn''t make much sense.

K&L - hahaha I had no idea there was even a difference between the words vintage and retro!!! To me they are synonyms, but I am now realizing how very specific I need to be. Which is fine, this is actually making me realize how specific the design is that I want, so that is helpful!

Monarch - Yes! That is basically exactly what I was expecting. During our meeting, they were talking about a sort of vintage scrolled mirror type look for the border. I wonder if she just forgot what we had talked about at our meeting, and whether Jeff (the friend of FSIL and her boss) had seen this proof before she sent it, because I have a feeling that he would have known it wouldn''t be what I wanted. She was writing things down during our meeting, but it has been almost 3 weeks since then, so maybe she just forgot. Wish she would have called me, but oh well, we''ll just give it another shot.

Pandora - the e-ring example is exactly right! I think since we were really kind of bonding during our meeting and we seemed to be on the same page, I may not have been as specific as I should have been.

Thanks for all the advise and opinions!!! Hopefully I''ll have another proof to post about soon, and one that I love!!

invite montage 2 small.JPG
 
I see why you''re disappointed. While I really like the proof, if you don''t love it, don''t use it.

I would tell the designer how you feel, and see what she can come up with. AND, at the same time I''d go out and look for a backup plan, just in case.

Good luck!
 
Date: 3/29/2008 2:04:00 AM
Author: justwondering
Hi karasue,

I see what you mean about the disconnect. Offhand, I think this invite is salvageable! If they made the design solid, rather than open prints, that may help get you closer to the initial silo idea.

As a designer myself, I think the main problem lies in the font chosen...it doesn't match the feel you were going for. You'd be amazed at how much font can change the tone of an invite. Perhaps you could try printing the outside design and holding it next to different typefaces to see what you like? That way, you could go back to the designer and say you want the 'feel' of a certain font...

Hope this helps!!
Click to expand...
Pretty idea and I too think it's salvageable (also agree with Gypsy that it looks more 70s than 50s)... but...

the other problem (imho) with the font is that it doesn't stand out from the floral design, so it gets lost. It's like it's the same width with the same curves and swoops as the floral- too much of it and it all becomes like a background and it's like one-dimensional/flat rather than having some things recede and some things pop.
 
Well I made a little mock-up....very rough and the text needs to be moved down some, and the background I would rather be pink than yellow...but here is pretty much what I was thinking of....I really like the textured background, and I told her I like it but it could also be a pink damask too if that might work better.

kara invite mockup.jpg
 
Hmm. It''s beautiful, but if it''s not you then it''s not you! I like the mock-up too, though. It feels very classy to me and clean if that makes sense. Clean lines.
 
Have you thought of moving the silhouettes to the bottom left and bottom right hand corners?

That way you would have a clean look for the invitation in the border and the silhouettes would look more delicate, and draw the eye out to take in the whole design not just what is within the border.

I have silhouettes on my Order of Service (I posted them in your other thread a few weeks ago) and I spent ages moving them around. When I had them close to each other - the ''kissing'' look - it looked overly heavy. In the end I changed them from black to grey and moved them apart.

Don''t know if this makes sense at all - feel free to ignore...
 
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