Holiday Card time? 5 Great Tips for Family Photos

Dreading taking the family picture for all those cards you’re about to send out? Follow some simple tips to look good on camera and feel great about your family.

1. Plan your wardrobe: No, not everyone needs to wear the exact same navy blue polo shirt, but it does help if you coordinate. Aim for neutral colors so your family is what stands out, not Dad’s Hawaiian shirt from last year’s vacation.
2. Pay attention to your hands: What may feel awkward in person often looks great in photos. Be intentional about where hands are placed.
3. Don’t stress about it: Fake smiles can’t cover up red, formerly teary eyes. Take it easy on your kids and yourself. Minor imperfections aren’t worth fighting and making everyone miserable. Besides, one day you might want to remember your teenage son’s shaggy hair!
4. Forget the cheese: With small kids especially, saying cheese can make for awkward looking faces. Your best bet is to pick an object near the camera for everyone to look at while they smile. Set a favorite, brightly-colored toy right next to the camera to capture wandering eyes.
5. Get close: Zoom the camera in so there isn’t empty space all around your family. Your family should be the only thing in the photo, not great-aunt Millie’s flowery couch.

Graduation Announcements-Going out in style!

Ross Cline-Berea High School

What they wanted: The Clines wanted a fun invite that captured the sentiment of the occasion.

What they ordered:

• 4x6 digital image
  

Our challenge: Navigate Ross's awesome curly hair in Photoshop and place all necessary information on the limited space available.

How we handled it: After some quality time in Photoshop, the curly mane was tamed. All important info was included by rotating text. The dividing lines help maintain readability.

Ashley Carstensen-Lake Central High School

What they wanted: The Carstensens gave Betty full creative license for Ashley's graduation invitation. (The perk of being her aunt!) All they asked is that it be cute and classy.

What they ordered:

• 75-4x6 photo invites with envelopes
  

Our challenge: Use colors that complimented the picture and create a unique background for the invite.

How we handled it: The final colors were based off of shades of the print in Ashley's top. Some creativity in Photo Shop yielded a custom faded background.

Lewis Notecards

What she wanted: A good friend of Betty's asked if we could do personalized notecareds. We hadn't thought about it, but said, "Sure!"

What she ordered:

• 3.5x5" notecards with envelopes
  

Our challenge: Creating a paisley pattern from scratch.

How we handled it: After browsing through other paisley prints, we were able to create a custom design that was fun and sophisticated but not overbearing. When all was said and done, we offered Pam four different designs from which to choose.

Sandoval Tea Party

What she wanted: We have a great friend who does Tea Party birthdays for little girls. She donated a party to an auction and needed invites for the big event coming up in a couple of weeks.

What she ordered:

• 5 x 7 photo invitations mounted on cardstock
• custom labels

Our challenge: Making something very girly and Tea Party-ish without plopping a kettle on it. Also, we needed a way to tell the girls to dress up.

How we handled it: Floral is very tea party, no? And can you even handle that photo with the white gloves? As for the wording, a cute rhyme says it all without sounding condescending.

Cashen Anniversary

What they wanted: Luau invitations for a 25th Anniversary party.

What they ordered:

• 3.5 x 8 in cardstock invites

Our challege: Making something fun to match the family's personality while dealing with a wedding photo from 1985.

How we handled it: We cut out the couple from their church back ground and put a lei around their necks. Aloha 1985. Aloha 2010.

What we think: We laughed the whole time we made these. It was so much fun.

What she said: Thank you SO much for the anniversary invites! I absolutely love them - and the turnaround time was awesome :) I know they will be a huge hit. I'll definitely be in touch when the wedding rolls around!

Meet the Designers

Meet Sarah

Bio: I'm a Photo and Journalism teacher by day and a wife and a Momma to 3-year-old by night.

Favorite Color: Black -- It goes with everything.

Design Style: Eclectic, which really means I can't decide what I like best.

Favorite Design Program: Photoshop

Quote I live by: "Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be til I die."

Why should I buy anything from you, anyway? Three reasons:

1. Because I'm a dreamer. I look at things differently than most people do. I'm always turning a piece of paper sideways or upside down and saying "What if we..."
2. Because I take my time until it's right. If I can get teenage kids to win design awards, certainly I can get your product right myself.
3. Because I can carry a concept start to finish. I might be working on your event's table numbers and dream up with the perfect way to handle your bar just because it fits the concept. That's the way I think.

How I work: I look at what I have to work with and come up with a plan. I'm very systematic and artsy at the same time. I believe good design is art that serves a purpose.

Best part of Design is: Creating. There is something about creating that is a blessing to me. Designing a cool wedding invite isn't going to save the world but it is still important to one girl on one day, and it is important to keep creating things. It is hard for me to put into words, but here is a decent explanation of how I feel about it. http://donmilleris.com/2010/05/11/art-as-a-spiritual-discipline/

Meet Betty

Bio: I teach reluctant high school seniors how to write for college and appreciate literature during the day. When I get home, I'm the wife to a fantastic, hilarious man and "mom" to two energetic dogs. I'm a daughter, sister, and friend.

Favorite Color: Black and...(because I can't have just one) PINK!

Design Style: Classic with a twist. I love the enduring design elements, but I believe that all of them can be tweaked to reflect individual personalities.

Favorite Design Program: Photoshop-even though I'm still learning.

Quote I live by: "What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others remains and is immortal." -Albert Pines

Why should I buy anything from you, anyway? Three reasons:

1. Because I believe everyone is a VIP. Signature, Ink. is a dream partially conceived out of my unwillingness to believe that "personalized," "designer" products were a luxury of the wealthy
2. Because I am a perfectionist. I want it right. Every. Time. If it's not right, I work with it/on it until it is.
3. Because I help people express themselves. As an English teacher, I spend countless hours working with high school seniors helping them find their voices. Design is similar. All of us have designs that match who we are. They allow us to be us. Signature, Ink. is another outlet for me to help people show themselves to the world.

How I work: I look for inspiration in the art and world that I love. I'll tear out ads and spreads that have color combos and elements I love from magazines. Once I have an idea, I run with it until it's perfect.

Best part of Design is: The realization of an idea. The first time this happened for me was when phone calls poured in about how gorgeous my wedding invitations were. Something I had a part in, something that expressed me was realized and praised. Since my wedding, Sarah and I have experienced that moment over and over. Every time a friend "loves" what we came up with or a client gushes over a new design and "can't wait to send it out," that idea is realized. Someone else shows themself to the world.

The Beginning

"Here, I want to show you this. What do you think?"

That's how Signature Ink began.

Betty was getting married. She was a type-A Bridezilla who thought she could save some money and do her own invitations. The only problem? She was in way over her designing little head.

She had a great eye, but wasn't sure where to go next. So she enlisted me, Sarah, a slightly bossy, free-spirited photo and design teacher to help get through her design doldrums.

We were unstoppable.
And we loved it.

After putting together a perfectly polished, pink wedding, we were ready to try our hands at something less personal. It was one thing to put together our own concept and carry it through start to finish, but could we acutally pull off someone else's vision?

But after Betty's wedding requests of friends have poured in. That's when we made the big leap.

We made it Facebook official. :)

And in this digital age, that meant something, something big. It meant we had ventured out. It meant we were really doing this -- not just for fun, not just for family, but for real.

So, now we are starting this blog as a go to place for our clients to see what we are working on and what's going on in our heads.

It's only fitting that, "Here, I want to show you this. What do you think?" is how we started. It's how we have done everything since. It's also what we'll ask of you, our clients, our readers. Let us know what you think. We are always up for change, for requests, and for thoughts.

Happy designing!