May 11th, 2015
Two years ago today I got married. Four short months earlier I sat down to design the stationery for that day – invites, R.S.V.Ps, table plan, table numbers, menus… the importance of design had never been so important. ;)
Design is not only what I do for a living but it’s in my blood – it means a lot to me as I have a true love for it. There was no way someone else was going to get their hands on this brief. Even if I did have two tough clients (my wife and now mother-in-law) on the project.
The reason this was so important to me was that this wasn’t only design to represent a day or celebration but to represent the union of two people, two families, to mark the start of our journey and as an expression of how I feel about my wife. As you can imagine I was picky, sensitive, I’m sure a pain to deal with and (a rarity) late on delivering. But, it had to be right, not only how it looked but the paper stocks, the tone of voice the meaning behind it all… Sounds over the top perhaps to most but to me, in design everything matters and nothing mattered more than that this was for our marriage.
I wanted to create something that we could live with and love after our wedding, something that represented us and to mark our journey and the memory of the best day ever; something that was designed forever, not just ‘for now’.
Fortunately, I managed to design a suite that, not only was approved by the client (very important) but that we loved. That was the main thing, this design was not for anyone else, it’s for us, we were and still are the audience.
My favourite thing about it is that I often catch my wife looking at the table plan on our wall, the invites, the pictures or the inscription on the inside of her ring – remembering, wondering, planning; making that emotional connection time and time again that we at Hatched try to make in everything we do.
It’s beautiful to watch and feel it working.
Looking to our future as a family, and with a tiny person joining us shortly, I’ve been wondering about where this design will go, how it will transform and how we will look at it down the road…
