Cyber Security Awards ceremony, IOD, Pall Mall, London

I had a lovely time visiting London at the weekend. Me and my business partner only went for two days and the weather was warm and bright, which was great!

I had been practising my calligraphy technique, which I used when writing the names on the winning certificates, for the Cyber Security Awards Masterclass 2014. I had designed their awards ceremony menu, along with the certificates, lanyard and name cards and they wanted the designers to attend the awards evening 🙂

Awards Ceremony Menu

Front of menu

 

Reverse side

 

Venue

 

 

Me writing the winners names in calligraphy on the certificates

 

Sightseeing photographs

Here are some pictures that we had taken whilst in London. We visited South Kensington and Covent Garden market and as you can see, the weather was glorious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calligraphy

Spring is round the corner and it is exciting to know that the days are getting longer. If today is anything to go by, the weather is becoming warmer too!

During a recent visit to Tatton Park in Cheshire, I was moved to create another wedding stationery collection. As mentioned in my last article, stationery inspires me and of course, the possibilities for creating new designs are endless.

I am also keen to try different styles of calligraphy. Even though I have experience of this writing technique, I want to expand the types of style that I am comfortable doing. Practising calligraphy for wedding stationery seems very appropriate because of its romantic feel. It is a skill and an art form, and it can be used in place of images, to add extra personality and points of interest.

Here are a couple of examples of calligraphy that I have produced. As you can see, the script trials are sketchy and I am continuing to practising and perfect the technique,perhaps using a finer tip to create thinner lines. Watch this space for updates and improvements!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An artist that has perfected calligraphy and who inspires me is Stephanie Fishwick. She has her own contemporary style, which is beautiful and I love the quality of the line too. They are refreshing compared to some traditional styles out there. Check out her blog and see what inspires her.

 

Stephanie Fishwick’s calligraphy examples

 

 

 

 

 

As well as calligraphy, my stationery designs incorporate illustration. Patterns look equally as good on the reverse of the stationery. All these facets demonstrate my knowledge and skill in graphic, illustration and surface design.

I love the contrast of black text on a white background and vise-versa. My trip to Tatton Park prompted me to create an enchanted garden wedding stationery theme. Below is a moodboard of this theme (the photographs taken whilst there) and a board demonstrating the monochrome concept.

 

Enchanted Garden inspiration

 

 

Colour theme inspiration – taken from Snippet and Ink

 

I will often spend 1 to 2 days on a brief, (although that does depend on the complexity of the project), however for this project I intend to spend a few more days on it – researching and experimenting, keeping an open mind and seeing where my ideas take me. I am intrigued and am very much looking forward to seeing what the end results that I produce will be.