Vintage Birthday Card
Are you someone who writes cards for birthdays and Christmas?
I usually try to take the time to write a card. Since I love designing and drawing I usually make the cards myself as well. I draw them on the iPad on the Procreate app and then print them with my photo printer. I glue a piece of card stock or paper to the back of the card to cover up the backside of the photo. Now all I need to do, is come up with nice loving words :-)
This vintage birthday card was for my dad’s birthday this year. I’d love to show you some of the process I go through while creating!
I always start with the words. I choose a font and decide how everything should be aligned on the card. I work on adding depth and shade to the letters, to create a 3D effect. (Picture 1)
After finishing the words I try to figure out the decorative elements. On picture 2 you can see how I experimented with some background patterns, but I didn’t like it and chose the filigrees and banner in picture 3
The next step is to add depth through shading and highlights. That step usually takes me the longest but also has one of the biggest effects as it creates a realistic look. (Picture 4)
Once done, I usually choose a background I want to use. (Picture 5)
This time I chose to add more effects to the letters by adding some sort of a border and more shading. (Picture 6)
After that the design was finished, but I was very unhappy about my original color choices. It basically looked like wet concrete. So I tried several different options until I liked the colors. I edited it with a preset in Lightroom to create a higher contrast and that was it!
1 - Choosing a font
2 - Experimenting on Backgrounds
3 - Choosing and placing the decorative objects
4 - Shading and highlights for the filigrees
5 - Adding the background
6 - Adding depth to the letters
Shading the banner & finished
Playing around with color
More Color Options
Green Version
Final Card