Daily Drop Cap

t's a fairly basic design rule of thumb to use decorative fonts sparingly. Getting trigger happy with them can turn a great design into a circus faster than you can say "Rosewood." So why is it that I want to plaster my walls with these stunning drop caps from illustrator and typographer Jessica Hirsche? I just discovered on Swiss Miss that each day, Jessica shares a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap on her site Daily Drop Cap. This is part of her effort to beautify blog posts everywhere—a noble act indeed. I'm increasingly convinced that good typography makes the world go round. Enjoy the eye candy.

Jodie and Matthew's Preppy Chic Invitations

Check out these sweet photos of Jodie and Matthew's September wedding and the invitations we designed for it. Jodie and Matthew came to us looking to create a look for their special day that was fresh, preppy and tailored—just the look to complement their upbeat personalities and their outdoor engagement in San Fransisco—very sweet story.

Jodie had chosen to use navy and white pinstripes and kelly green as the benchmark for the wedding's design theme; she had even created her own inspiration board as she collected images that spoke to her. “I want it to feel like a South Hampton Garden Party,” she said.

And we knew just what to do. Crisp, bold stripes of green and navy printed on luxurious white letterpress paper were the perfect stage for for this clean, contemporary design. It went perfectly with their venue too: The Taft Museum of Art, an impeccably maintained plantation-style gem with sweeping green lawns and grandeur white columns. Guests told Jodie and Matthew “This design is so you!”—the ultimate compliment.

As we always do, we first gathered images that embodied the right vibe. Thank you Stephanie Williams for these perfect shots.
Then, the graphic story begins with a charming save-the-date.
For the invitation, a brilliant square invitation makes quite a first impression. Pin stripes and pops of pattern and kelly green keep the intrigue coming—tying all of the correspondence together uniquely and consistently.
RSVP and matching RSVP envelope leave no detail unturned. Color, typography and pattern unify all pieces of this striking suite.
A separate reception card directs guests from the wedding to the reception with style.

Thank you kindly for working with us, Jodie and Matthew. This beautiful shot by April at Bluebird Photography says it all. Congratulations.Invitation photos by Neysa Ruhl.

Fun with FontCapture

My girl, Rosie, just turned me on to a new site, FontCapture, that allows you to make a font from your own handwriting. I've seen this done before, but it's never been made this fun and easy. Plus, it's free and compatible with both Macs and PCs, so there are just 4 tiny steps between you and your very own font.

First, just print the font template. Then, fill it in with your own handwriting with a thin black marker. Be sure to keep your eye on the indicated baseline. You're already almost done. Now, scan the template back in and upload a jpeg or png file through 'Step 3' of the site. Give your personal creation a name, download the generated files to your computer —and voila; you're a type designer.

Here's my font creation: Tire Shop