signage Archives - Pam Winters Studio

Custom Garlands: Blissful Bridal Shower

Close-up view of hand-painted letters to be assembled for one of the custom garlands. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Hand-painted letters were strung together with an ombré raffia of natural tones for this particular garland. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
The garland made of hearts and letters was hand-painted on cards matching the bridal shower’s color palette. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
I hand-painted hearts on gold shimmer cards that were strung alongside the garland’s letters. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
A second handmade custom garland was created from sheets of tissue paper cut into strips and rolled into tassels. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Several sheets of tissue paper were cut into strips and then carefully rolled into tassels. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
The finished handmade tassel garland reflected the bridal shower’s festive color palette. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
All handmade pieces are gathered before assembling each custom garland. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
A digital mock-up I created before starting assembly of the hand-painted custom garland. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Custom Garlands and Signage for a Happy Bride-to-Be

A bridal shower is an occasion for friends and family to celebrate the bride-to-be with a festive party in anticipation of the upcoming wedding day. Decorations also factor in as an important part of the special occasion and that’s where my uniquely fitting design and maker skills come into play. Angie, the future sister-in-law to the bride-to-be, contacted me before the bridal shower she was helping to organize because they needed custom garlands and signage quickly, and she knew she could count on me to deliver high-quality finished products that fit the theme. She sent over the color palette, inspiration boards and invitations being used to guide the event planning for the wedding itself, and we talked over the phone so that she could describe her initial ideas. Once I knew what I needed to produce, I began gathering supplies and organizing everything—both in the way of physical products and digital assets—and went to work creating.

Because there were so many wonderfully vibrant colors being used in the wedding and Angie had expressed a desire to have one of the custom garlands (i.e., the letters garland) made using a gradient effect with several of the colors, my imagination was immediately sparked. With my digital mock-up approved, I collected paper samples and began mixing and matching in order to mirror the mock-up. I found the font being used on the invites, and hand painted each individual letter on the cards in the same style, being careful to paint each letter on the right color of card, so as to create the requested gradient effect from either end of the assembled garland. For the handmade tassel garland, I used several sheets of tissue paper in various hues, a rotary cutter, scissors and steel rulers with cork backing—not to mention quick and steady hands, which did all the folding, cutting, rolling and fluffing of tassels.

All finished pieces were decorative bliss and the tassel garland, along with an Instagram sign I made, were displayed at the shower on a beautiful antique gold organ piano. Angie and the bride-to-be were extremely happy with how well the embellishments helped mark the occasion and accent the evening’s celebration!

Graphic Design: Easter Event at the Red Door

By Pam Winters

Custom signage I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (Event photos by Stacey Winters Photography; All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Custom signage I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (Event photos by Stacey Winters Photography; All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Custom flyer I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (Event photos by Stacey Winters Photography; All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Custom signage I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (Event photos by Stacey Winters Photography; All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Custom signage I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (Event photos by Stacey Winters Photography; All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
The front of the custom save the date postcard I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
The back of the custom save the date postcard I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Custom flyer I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (Event photos by Stacey Winters Photography; All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Custom signage I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Custom signage I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)
Custom signage I designed for the Red Door’s egg dyeing party. (All images © 2016 by Pam Winters)

Ads and Signage for a Festive Easter Event

The project pictured here was done for a special seasonal event at the Red Door, located in the Mission Hills neighborhood of San Diego. The Red Door is known for its original seasonal menus based on fresh, local, organic and sustainable ingredients, as well as for offering a unique “casual fine dining” experience. This particular event was to be an all-natural Easter egg dyeing party for children, held at the restaurant and hosted by the Red Door’s chef, Karrie Hills. I met with Kelsey Doonan, the event coordinator, who gave me a rundown on event details, including the specific printed pieces needed. I was excited to start work on these promotional and event signage pieces, which were to coincide with the look and feel of the restaurant’s branding, but also bring to mind the playful fun of spring and egg dyeing, through colorful touches of pastels and watercolor effects.

Kelsey followed up with several digital inspiration boards full of spring party ideas, which helped steer me in the right direction, so that I could quickly create and find the perfect design elements to bring together. Most of the work was done on the computer, including digital brushes I used to create the watercolor effects on the signs. The final pieces were utilized in both print and digital format (e.g., for advertising the event at the restaurant, as well as online). The Red Door has a phenomenal staff, and one of the bonuses of working on this was getting to know many of the wonderful people involved in the restaurant’s day-to-day operations. I was also fortunate enough to work with my sister, Stacey, on this project, as she was brought on to be the photographer for the event; the slideshow above gives a glimpse of the beautiful job she did of capturing the day.

Read about Kelsey’s experience working with me.