How would you design an eye-catching and creative invitation?
I thought it would be cool to present you with a real-world project I’m dealing with right now. I need you help! Let’s have a creative session in the comments.
Here’s the Situation
I need ideas for a creative invitation for an upscale meeting/conference in Palm Beach, Florida. The ideas I need have more to do with presentation than actual artistic style, so I don’t need ideas like ‘do a watercolor painting’ or ‘have palm trees on the front.’ What I do need are interesting components.
A Few Ideas We Have
Wrap the invitation in a luxury beach towel with our company colors and logo on it. They can use the towel at the event and have something to remember it by.
Create a vintage travel poster with the event information that invitees can hang in their office.
A set of postcards that have humorous “Out of Office” images and the reverse is a fictitious note to coworkers about the event, but it gives the event info. “Dear Coworkers, I’ll be out of the office enjoying The Event in Palm Beach, FL from June 5-9, 2009. I’ll be attending all these fun things, while you sit here and work. See you when I get back!”
Something with oranges (you know, Florida oranges and all).
Florida is “The Sunshine State.” What can we do with that?
Some Requirements
Remember, I don’t need art ideas, just concepts.
These are going to both male and female invitees, so nothing gender-specific (like rhinestone flip-flops with the company logo on the bottom so that when they walk on the beach, the company logo is printed in the sand–yes, that was one of my failed ideas). And no “cutesy” items either.
Most likely invitees are 50+ years old.
This will be an extremely small run, only 100 or so invites, so no fancy printing like complicated diecuts, folds, varnishes or foils. These will most likely be run on a digital press.
If possible, we’d like to stay away from palm trees and alligators. Can you think of anything else that says “Florida”?
Brainstorm!
So let’s have a brainstorm session in the comments! Throw out your ideas and let’s bat them around a bit and see if we can come up with something really awesome! Don’t be afraid to say the first thing that comes to your mind. Even if it’s a little silly, it might spark an idea in someone else’s mind. This is totally my favorite part about design, and I thought, ‘Why not get the Creative Curio crowd involved?’ Perfect!
There are over 1,900 subscribers, so I’m expecting at least half that many comments! Come on guys!
Hmmm, Florida, eh? All of my associations about Florida are pretty negative, sadly. Hurricanes, “Scarface”, swamps, old people, Disney… I wonder if there’s any way to turn these into positives?…
How about a snow-globe that has a battery-powered wind generator instead of the usual water — and when the debris settles down, there’s the beautiful invitation amidst the rubble?
Or how about a Tony Montana talking doll that invites people verbally with a bad Cuban accent?
Well, I took a shot.
I love your towel idea — that’s inspired. The vintage travel poster is a really cool idea as well.
If I have any flashes of brilliance later, I’ll check back in and post again…
hurricane/blow your mind/little oil lantern?
golf/set of golf balls printed with one bit of invite info each w/logo on all of them
cape carnaveral/print on rocket or shuttle loaded with little chocolates also printed
st. augustine/little cobblestone street diorama
i’m so silly =)
Alec,
Yeah, we’re trying to stay away from Dinseyworld (that was my first response, too). Heh, well, old people are kinda our target audience, so… The snow-globe idea reminds me of the Pixar short with the snowman trying to get to miss Sunny Florida. I know I’ve seen some customizable snow globes before (like put a picture in back)… but they’re snow! I wonder if we could find some sand ones.
Heather,
Golf balls, that’s an idea! I’ll have to check with the event planners to see if there is any golf stuff happening at the event. Chocolate is always good, but I’m worried that it might melt en route. But… OH!!! What about some type of mix that wouldn’t spoil? Like bread or pancakes or cookies? See? You’re “silly” idea sparked another idea! Thank you for your suggestions!
We have a variety of plantable promotional pieces such as postcards, bookmarks, invites etc that would be a great component, and give your artwork that little something special that has not been overdone. The idea is that your custom artwork would be printed onto paper that is embedded with wildflower seeds, so that when they are done with the piece they plant it and wildflowers grow. Check out the website! It is a really great, eco-friendly alternate. http://www.botanicalpaperworks.com
Kelly,
Oh that’s a cool idea! I think I’ve heard of the seed paper before. Thanks for the reminder!
This is fun to think about!!! I think an invitation included in a box of exotic citrus (like blood oranges and honey tangerines and pumelos) would catch their attention. A real fruit box would be a great touch, with the boxends having reference to the event or host. Debra
How about sunscreen? You can create your own stickers to stick on small bottles of SPF 30.
It’s along the same idea as towels and flip-flops, but promotes good sun health which is very important
Good luck!
Take the old banners from previous events and create bags of them. In this ’special’ bag you put the invition, a towel and anything else you need to participate in this event.
Using the old banners as a bag is a eco-friendly solution and the visitors will recognize the previous events which they had positive thoughts about. A factor that will create a buzz and it has a hook. Check google for examples, search for ‘banner bags’
Good luck! And let us know what was the best idea,
Sander´s last blog post: Font Series: FF Rotis is everywhere
Ok, so these are ideas on how to send out the invitations or how to decorate this party? Sorry, but I wasn’t really clear on what you’re after.
Doug C.´s last blog post: Hacking Related Posts
Initially the ‘old people’ thing springs to mind for me as well. I would be asking “Why do old people move to Florida to retire?”. Possible answers might include: lots of sunshine, a relaxing culture, community, activities and services catering to their needs….
Florida… old people, tan… really dark (or orange) tan, vintage stuff… it is the only that comes to my mind —_—U
When I think of old people in Florida I instantly think of warmth and retirement. Old folks go to Florida because it’s a warmer climate and it’s a great place to relax and spend your last leisurely days.
So with this in mind I would say to theme anything you do after beaches, sun, the water, dunes, anything that relates to the attractive aspects of the area.
Doug C.´s last blog post: Hacking Related Posts
JM & DC just sparked an idea—an older person (50+, as per your target audience) might appreciate the warmth, feel and quality of a letterpress print, and might just be old enough to remember letterpress in more common use than it is today.
Debra,
I really liked your idea, but I presented it and the coordinator is worried about allergies and what will happen if–for one reason or another–the box isn’t delivered right away… eeeeww!! I wonder if we could do an Edible Arrangement though. Maybe they would customize it for such a large order.
Katelyn,
Healthy sun habits are very important! Good point. We could also do sunglasses or visors or fun hats or something. And we could brand the bottles with our company logo!
Sander,
I’ve never heard of the banner bags before. How cool! I will definitely propose that to the group.
Doug,
Sorry, this is ideas for the invitation. And like I said, I don’t need art ideas, I need concepts for the physical invitation. Some kind of keepsake/token/momento would be ideal.
Jonathan, Jesus (and Doug again),
haha, I’m surprised so many are saying “old people”! It really wasn’t something that came to mind for me. But that’s exactly why it’s good to get input from others.
Our target audience is going to be “old people,” probably 55+. I don’t think we want to be calling them old though
I do like the sunshine and leisure ideas… what do you think I can do with that? Golf was an idea proposed earlier. What else do folks do for leisure in Florida?
Someone else (not here) mentioned an idea for something that the people would need to bring with them: a number on a card and when they get to the event, they have to find the person with the other number and pal around with them. I bet there’s something we could do with that idea.
Oh, and another idea I thought of could be a pen holder that they put on their desk that has the invitation printed on it (that way it’s always there to remind them and it’s a momento of the event).
Or a pad of customized paper with the event info on it.
Jonathan,
Missed your second comment there! I thought of that too (and I can even recommend some letterpress artists, including myself!).
I have other ideas that I’ve seen before, though I don’t think we can use them (too expensive). Still, if anyone else is looking for ideas here are more:
Colorforms with beach background and invite printed on background. These custom shapes could include our executives, logo, etc, which would be cool but ah, as always, too expensive for a small run.
For an event in Beverly Hills, they designed a mini shopping bag (like 5″ x 5″) that looked like the current Gucci bags and put the invitation in that with some tissue paper. Now how could we adapt a cool idea like that for Florida?
Tie in some kind of object like a back scratcher, bottle opener, etc. and have the text cleverly tie it into the location. These are frequently used as promo mailings from vendors.
Get a toy set with beach items (umbrella, chair, sandals, etc). We actually have one of these and it’s pretty cute, but we seriously doubt the 55+ gentlemen will like it much.
I think something with the life saver ring would be cute. Don’t know what…
We can also do an item related to FL and just attach the invitation like a gift tag.
A pop-up diorama card with a beach scene (like those postcards you see in the tourist places) would be totally awesome, too, but again, the diecut is expensive and would be ridiculous for a run of 100
I’ve always admired this direct mail campaign from a design firm called ISM, who specialized in travel advertising. It was featured in the 2005 Design Annual from Communication Arts. The mailer was “snow” printed on a clear acetate and the idea was to hold it up in front of you so that no matter where you are (even sunny Florida!) you can have snow. Maybe a beach scene would work for a Florida event.
What about something like candy cigars (chocolate) individually wrapped with your company logo as the ring around them and your logo or even info on the cigar box?
what about using those “sun-thingy” (I have no idea what they are called) old people always uses when the want extra sun? They are made of some folio glittery metal stuff.. you always see people in NY using those (in the movies that is).
what about a message in a bottle? you can put the logo on the bottle and fill it with sand, shells and maybe one of those little drink umbrellas. print the invite on distressed paper?
Ressa,
You know, we even use this graphic element in our materials that we call a cigar band. I think the audience would totally go for it (I’d say the larger portion of them are male) but our ultra-conservative corporation would never condone smoking or alcohol (I already suggested small bottles of wine or champagne).
Esben,
Hahaha, I know what you’re talking about! I don’t know what it’s called either. I think you win for funniest idea!
Tess,
I would totally do that though.
I think that’s an awesome idea. Unfortunately they have this thing against using ideas we’ve done before
Some great ideas here! I’ll chip in:
I am currently living in the ‘Sunshine State’ of Australia, Queensland, and while images like the sun/beach/palms/sea suit the place very well they are everywhere. The supermarkets use them in their logos, all the businesses are called ‘Sunshine’ and have palms on their businesscards.
I don’t know about Florida, but here we have other things than the beach, such as rainforest, reefs, farmlands and mountains. Maybe you could try and find something like that about Florida, avoid the clichés and spark the target audience’s interest.
“Dear, look at this invitation: they have space shuttles/mining/sculptures in Florida. Betcha you didn’t know that!”
Eivind´s last blog post: Gill Sans type specimen book (School project)
How about just using postcards from the area as the invitations – and then writing messages on them like they were from someone they knew?
Doug C.´s last blog post: Hacking Related Posts
At the hotel where I work whenever we have a wedding party coming in the main host will make up these little guest bags with snacks, small bottles of water or wine, a postcard, etc. The bags are usually colorful or printed with something on them. You could do something like that.
Doug C.´s last blog post: Hacking Related Posts
How about sending a CD invitation? You could use the CD cover for the invite, or for some text that would trigger their curiosity to pop the CD into player, and they would listen to the invitation announced by someone with a rich voice and a sophisticated lounge music in the background (or whatever other music style you’d find more appropriate for your target audience)?
inspirationbit´s last blog post: GAG: Get and Give
Letter in a bottle… you could use nice bottles that they can keep, or just regular bottles with a bottle opener that they can keep.
Or a margaritas glass — I don’t know if they drink those in Florida, but I’m just thinking ‘beach’.
(I see that Tess suggested message in a bottle, but since I wrote this comment a while ago I’ll just publish it anyway
)
kristarella´s last blog post: Boobs & Dinks – early cancer detection
You should go to a library and/or store and look for a book on self promotion and promo flyers… they have some great ides in there!
Jacob Cass´s last blog post: How To Get 100% Free Advertising On Google
Creating something the attendees can keep is my favourite from your ideas (the towel). Too many invites are binned almost immediately, so I’d focus on items to keep.
Now how can you have the ‘kept item’ contain the details of the event? You mentioned wrapping the invite inside a towel, but if the two were combined in some form, rather than separate, even better.
The first thing that pops into my head is a vintage car. Like a 1960 baby blue Thunderbird with white soft top, parked on the beach. You could loop a key chain to the invite, like a rabbits foot keychain (or something funky/retro).
Or you could make the invite look like an old style plane ticket.
Older people seem to like wearing visors, so you could attach an invite to the underside of the hat’s bill.
Hi everybody!
CONCEPT
If were 50 years old having a hard day in the office, i would like to see a “beach kit” in front of my desk.
I mind, what if i have just in front of me a towel wrapping a very special bottle of“suncare and skincare product MADE OF ORANGES -or something-, the LAST DISCOVER IN SKIN PROTECTION AND … SLOGAN HERE”, and two plane tickets to florida!
I would like to try it out!
It could sounds silly, but it´s the first idea that came into my mind. Today it is monday morning, tons of things to do, and now you make me imagine my self in Florida!
Thanks for that!
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Eivind,
I like your thinking… something other than the beach! I wonder if they have a famous museum or something around Palm Beach. Have to investigate!
Doug,
I do like the postcard idea, but this is a bit of a ritzy event and I know the planning committee will think that’s too informal (I’ll certainly file it away for later!). Your second suggestion sounds like a gift basket. I’ll put that to the committee and see if we can think of some neat things to go in it.
Vivien
You know, we are starting to do the CD giveaways for more and more of our marketing materials; never thought to use it as an invitation, though!
Kris,
And alcohol has already been banned as a promo item, even though that’s what everyone likes to do when they go to the events! Go figure
I did ask for first impressions, so thanks for leaving the message in a bottle there. Like I mentioned to Tess, I think it’s a fantastic idea, but we’ve used it before
Jacob,
Yup, been scouring those books! Too bad my budget is so tiny and the run so limited; there’s some really great stuff out there. A small run does have it’s benefits, though: we can do more handmade stuff!
David,
Thanks for stopping by! You hit exactly what we want to accomplish, a keepsake invite, which is why I was thinking a towel. I really like the idea of a vintage travel poster with the location as the theme. Invite/event info could easily be incorporated into it that way.
Steph,
Oooh, cool idea with the vintage plane ticket! Maybe it can be a little montage of items all packed into an old suitcase with stickers paying homage to previous event location.
Ray,
You know, often the silliest ideas evolve into the best ones! I’ll mull yours over a bit. Thanks!
Well, I hope you made it through your Monday ok
Well old people if they are poor or normal they stay most of the time at home, if they are rich they want to travel to see the world before they die.
So if that meeting is for the low class than give them something for home, so they can remember it.
If they are a rich one give them some kind of bag so they can use it.
But all old people want to feel young, so give them some exotic nonalcoholic cocktails and maybe some hat with your logo…
Regards and good luck
I may be past due on this thread, but thought you might use the idea in the future. I was once sent a cigar in a tube. The band on the cigar was customized with a company logo and a 1-800 number, where details for the event were recited by none other than Eartha Kitt. It was insane. If not for Florida, maybe another swanky event!
Gahse,
Oops! Missed your comment (sorry!!). This meeting is for the top producers in our international network. The conference is being hosted at The Breakers hotel. It’s anything but low class! I like the bag idea, though. Everyone’s into “green” stuff these days.
Dawn,
No worries! Thanks for the idea (and Eartha Kitt! Cool!). This project seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. The ideas were supposed to be presented 10/28, but I haven’t heard anything…