Oh So Beautiful Paper

Nicole from The Nic Studio is known for her unique illustrations, from greeting cards to art prints to custom projects.  Nicole sent over these 1940s movie poster-style invitations that she designed for a recent wedding, and I couldn’t resist showing you how she went about creating these unique invitations!

From Nicole: The bride, Kimmy, is an old friend from college, and she and Matt both work in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.  Kimmy is part of “The Apple Sisters” – a faux 1940s female singing group and comedy show that they perform live and distribute via podcasts.  Kimmy and Matt are both drawn towards 1930s and 1940s themed items, especially old movie posters.  We decided to do a 1940s movie poster invitation for their wedding.

I gathered a number of old posters to inform different aspects of the invitation illustration and design. “The Public Enemy” poster for the drama and general illustration composition; the “His Girl Friday” poster for the painterly style; the “Tea for Two” poster for the circular design; and the “Moon Over Miami” poster for the typography.  I then asked Matt and Kimmy, both in the entertainment industry, to take a number of dramatic photos of themselves and derived the poster illustration from those photos.

My background is in illustration and portraiture, so this was a dream for me.  I started by sketching out the couple in blue, then started to lay in some color, first in the background and then onto the subjects themselves.  This is ALWAYS the ugly stage, which I’ve learned to be comfortable showing to others.  I continued to work the piece from there.  All of the painting was actually done digitally on my Wacom Cintiq.   The final illustration sits on the blue background and the talented couple wrote their own copy for the poster, which was hilarious!  The invitation itself measures 11.5″ x 17.5″ and was mailed in a poster tube.

So fun!  Thanks Nicole!

The Nic Studio is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Nicole’s fabulous work right here or or visit the real wedding invitations gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: The Nic Studio

*The Nic Studio is a sponsor of Oh So Beautiful Paper

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1. Marsha
   Twitter: invitingluxury
   says:

   08/19/2012 at 12:07 PM

   These are really unique and a great idea for a casual fun couple.
2. Kate Andrews @ Themed Wedding Stationary says:

   08/17/2012 at 1:23 AM

   These 1940s movie poster-style invitations are very much inspiring. Great work of art! These wedding invitations are really unique.