I’ve been loving the streamlined look of classic black + white for a while now – and I love it even more when it involves baby announcements! Designer Lauren Chism was inspired by the beautiful black and white baby photo to create these sleek announcements, which also doubled as New Year’s cards for the busy new parents! Lauren matched the glossiness of the photo with shiny black foil text. Such a great idea!

From Lauren: The photo for birth announcements is so important and really directs me when it comes to how I design for the announcement. As much as moms-to-be may want to get ahead on the design, I always suggest waiting to see how your sweet baby is photographed before you do the announcements. You might be envisioning one thing and a different photo captures your heart and changes everything.

That’s exactly what happened with Suzanne, who knew that she would have her hands full after her baby was born and came to me prior to discuss design ideas. She had some fun (and funny) ideas for them, but our whole direction changed once little Jackson arrived and she took this adorable photo. Even though she typically sends out more jovial cards, she couldn’t resist this black and white image and those baby lips, and so we changed concepts completely and ended up with these sleek birth announcements that also doubled as New Year cards.

The cards say ‘ newborn kisses + happy new year wishes’ which I think is such a perfect sentiment, yet the design is clean and modern for friends and family to leave up throughout the year.

The cards were printed in black foil, which is a nice contrast to the white card stock. Since letterpress inks sometimes leave a salty look, we decided to use black foil because we could achieve a more saturated and glossy look. It really adds that ‘wow’ factor that Suzanne was looking for and pairs perfectly with the semi-gloss photograph that was attached to each card.. I know recipients had to ‘ooh and aww’ just a little when opening these – over the cards AND that handsome baby boy.

Thanks Lauren!

Design: Lauren Chism

Printing: Czar Press

Lauren Chism Fine Papers is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can check out more of Lauren’s work right here!

Photo Credits: Lauren Chism Fine Papers