Bastian Storch is the Art Director of Baxter Studios an agency we have collaborated with on many jobs. Bas has always been a delight to work with, and his studio continually produces original, high-quality work that we have had the pleasure to print.
Together, we recently worked on a job of passion with him- this beautiful, copper-foiled wedding stationery suite he designed for his upcoming wedding in the Hunter Valley.
What was the inspiration for this wedding invitation?
I wanted to create something different from your ‘usual’ wedding invitation, but wanted to still design something that shows what it actually is: a wedding invitation. My usual process is that I browse Pinterest for inspiration. I roam through different boards from architecture to graphic design, kitchens and landscaped gardens, you name it. Pinterest is like a weird wonderful rabbit hole! Of course I then also had to deal with the time, budget and weight constraints, because I didn’t really want to spend hundreds of dollars for postage to Europe, either.
Who was involved in the design process?
I designed it myself. There has been many drafts and changes until I arrived at the final design. Different printing techniques and embellishments such as letterpress, foiling, flocking and embossing have been part of the process where I ended up changing my mind multiple times. I heavily relied on Ange to guide me to find the most economical way to set up the designs to minimise the set-up cost for the printing plates. I also had my business partner and friend refine the wording and work her copywriting magic.
How was the invitation suite created?
I set everything up in Illustrator. It’s my preferred program to work in because I can use it like a scrap board where I just add new ideas, duplicate, change etc and fill it with multiple art boards so I can quickly get an overview of everything I designed and make quick decisions what works and which elements can be taken further.
Are there other printed elements that tie into the invitation’s theme?
The theme (if you can call it that) is French Country Provincial meets Australian Native Flowers meets …??? The wedding venue is this beautiful country estate in the Hunter Valley, called Redleaf. For florals we are keeping it simple with lots of greenery and Australian native flowers. There will be menu cards for each plate once we have finalised the menu. Our caterer is the amazing Robert who owns and runs Bistro Molines in the Hunter Valley. The menu will be French inspired obviously encompassing the theme. There are Thank You cards as well, which have already been printed.
What materials did you want to use and why?
Selecting the right paper was very important as I have a real passion of beautiful paper stocks. It actually was quite a journey to get the paper that I wanted to work and Ange has worked hard to find a printer who would print digital on 350GSM Colorplan Pristine White. The cover is Gmund Power Blue 300GSM, which is a lovely rich blue, that perfectly matches the vibrant copper foil.
The inserts are Colorplan Pristine White 350GSM. They are digitally printed with blue typography to match the blue of the cover and a water colour floral print of orange and pink to pick up the deep copper colour of the foil.
How was/will the theme of the invitations carried into other elements of the wedding?
The colour palette of the invite will be carried into other elements such a flowers, table decoration/wear and dress code for groom and groom as well as the bridal party.
Compliments or feedback you have heard or your favourite thing about the design?
I think my favourite thing is the copper foil and Gmund Power Blue paper stock combination. It’s such an amazing look.
How did you collaborate with Watermarx on in the making of these invitations?
Ange has been on my speed-dial for the last days of finalising the invite! Watermarx have been amazing helping me find solutions to stock and printing issues that came up during the quoting and development process and I couldn’t be more happy about the final product. The quality of finish and eye for detail has really made this design come to life.
Their pool of knowledge and resources is invaluable! Watermarx really helped with finding the right combination of all elements – paper, foil colour and printing technique.
