A non-traditional Christmas Card…

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Tigerlilly Designs| Leave a comment

The main thing that bothers me about Christmas these days is the waste. We spend far too much on gifts and wrapping. We spend far too much on food and drink. We buy and send Christmas Cards that sit around for a few weeks (even less if it’s in your office) looking pretty before being discarded like the latest X-factor wannabees.

It was with this in mind that I decided to do it differently this year. No! I wasn’t about to give up presents or over-indulging on food but I did want to create a card that was not only pretty and festive but also fun, interactive and most importantly re-usable.

What I came up with was a DL sized card, wirebound on the long-edge with four different front cover designs (illustrated by myself) printed digitally onto 350gsm uncoated stock with the ability to turn the card into a landscape 2012 calendar due to the ingenious use of a tent support. This I decided would give people not only the option to choose how they wanted their card to look but would allow people to make use of the card for another 12 months. Thereby extending the life of a mere Christmas Card.

All in all, I’m over-the-moon with the results. The print company I use, Purely Digital, did an amazing job at printing and finishing the card and after several hours of hand-cramping Christmas card writing the cards all went out to clients, family and friends. Feedback so far has been positive but only time will tell whether my endeavour to ‘recycle’ the humble Christmas Card has succeeded!

In the meantime, I’ve got 12 months to think of a way to top this year’s card!! :S

Photos for your enjoyment are below… x

Posted in Marketing, Photos and Illustrations, Portfolio, What's been happening?

Beautiful Books

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Tigerlilly Designs| 1 Comment

It’s well known that I love books. It is also well known that I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to book covers. I know they say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but I do. AND I’m not ashamed to admit it. If a book looks naff it’s not getting a space on my already full-to-bursting bookshelf!

Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when while out for a walk yesterday around St Pauls, that I stumbled across a small bookshop with a collection of the most beautifully designed book covers I have ever seen. They were so tasty in fact that I almost bought the books right there and then. I restrained myself – just.

While desperately trying to stop myself drooling over the books I was smart enough to check out who the designer was. It turns out that the covers were designed by a Senior Cover Designer at Penguin Books called Coralie Bickford Smith (http://www.cb-smith.com/) and they literally blew me away.

Designed for a series of books by F. Scott Fitzgerald the patterned covers are simply elegance personified. Each dust jacket is foil blocked in silver, gold or bronze onto gorgeous heavyweight textured paper. It just goes to show that sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. There’s no superfluous information or detail, just clever use of pattern, texture and colour. I love them!

Coralie Bickford Smith – you have the best job in the world and those books will most certainly be on my Christmas list this year! Thank you for making me smile.

Posted in Inspiration, What's been happening?

Take Note!

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Tigerlilly Designs| Leave a comment

Let’s start by saying that when I use the word ‘notebook’ I mean notebooks of the good old-fashioned paper variety and not the electronic variety. I find it very annoying that when I Google search ‘notebooks’ I get a million links to computers! Notebook computers seem to have taken the word for themselves.. this is not on. But I digress…

Now, where was I!? Oh yes. PAPER notebooks.

I have a slight obsession with paper and I spend substantial amounts of my money on notebooks. Whether I NEED them or not I buy them. For me, notebooks aren’t just for keeping track of my life and making notes (though they do come in handy for that) they’re also great at putting a smile on my face. There’s few things I love more than choosing a really cool looking notebook. Whether it’s a little tiny A6 wire-bound beauty or a full-on A4 perfect-bound behemoth, I love them all, and to be honest the more unusual/unique the design the better.

So the reason I bring this up, is because over the last few days I have found myself having several conversations with people about notebooks. And it turns out I’m not quite the freak I thought I was. It seems I’m not the only person that has this hankering for a new notebook every couple of weeks. We all favour different types of notebooks, whether they’re A4/A5/A6, have funky covers, somewhere to store a pen, a built in pocket for receipts, all of the above or just a plain school exercise book. The one thing we do have in common however is the constant desire to buy more. :)

My perfect notebook would be A6 or there-abouts, wire-bound for ease of use with a sturdy cover that is both durable and funky/stylish. Pages should be perforated for easy removal and lined but with plain backs so I can doodle. It should have a substantial number of pages without being too thick that I feel guilty for wasting paper when I move onto my next notebook!

So my question is… What’s your ideal notebook?

Posted in Uncategorized, What's been happening?

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Always the Wedding Stationery Designer, Never the Bride…

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Tigerlilly Designs| 1 Comment

Working for myself is great fun, not only do I get to draw, paint and design all day, every day but I also get to meet some really cool people and work on some awesome projects.

The projects I like to work on most at the moment are always deeply personal and incredibly important to the people concerned. You may have guessed what projects I’m referring to by the title of this blog but I will say it out loud anyway. I love designing bespoke wedding stationery for people about to tie the knot!

Now I’m sure there’s a line there somewhere about never working with animals, children or brides-to-be (or I may have made that up) but I have to say the people I have designed for so far have definitely been something special. They’ve been intelligent, creative and even laid-back. Not a ‘bride-zilla’ or ‘control freak’ in sight. Maybe I’ve just been lucky but it’s been great so far.

Each design that I come up with is bespoke and unique to the couple getting married and I take great pride in ensuring that everything looks the part. People only get married once (hopefully) so it’s important to make that day special so if I can help out in this one area then it makes me feel great (even if I don’t get to go to the wedding!). The fact that wedding stationery is so personal also means that the clients really want to get involved but that they also allow me to take the lead and experiment a little. Whether that experimentation is putting a lot of the information into an online format, or having a slightly ‘different’ wedding design or even how it’s printed, it’s great to have the scope to play around and create something unique.

So in homage to a few of my clients past and present (one is still on-going) thank you for allowing me to be a part of your wedding! Here’s a few shots of some of the designs…

Traditional and Classy: Litho printed 2PMS onto heavy Conqueror Brilliant White card with a custom-made die-cut.

Bright and Modern: Digitally printed 16pp brochure/invitation with spot UV to patterned area. Origami CD case and postcard sized Order of Service.

Vintage Glamour: Digitally printed onto GF Smith Candlelight Cream Pearlescent card to enhance colours and add a touch of elegance and glamour.

…and if you want to see some more work examples, check out the portfolio page on www.tigerlillydesigns.co.uk

Posted in Photos and Illustrations, Portfolio, What's been happening?

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Eurovision 2011

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Tigerlilly Designs| 4 Comments

So I wouldn’t say I’m a Eurovision fan and don’t generally go out of my way to watch it, but this year in a moment of madness I did. I saw it all and it was surprisingly fun. Funny people, funny costumes, funny songs and guessing who would vote for who (most are pretty obvious!)

What I wasn’t expecting however was that the United Kingdom would be top of the leader-board for Eurovision for the first time in God knows how long.

Ok, so it didn’t last long but we started off on a high and that’s all that matters. Just before all the political voting kicked in we were on top of the world! :) And I’ve got a photo of it to prove it!

May this photo go down in history and be cherished for the sake of prosperity…

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Posted in What's been happening?

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