Emily and Veau are dear friends of mine, who are separately as wonderful as they are together. Emily is part of the Finch clan, who are all amazing and have been almost like a surrogate family out here in sunny Califonia. When Em and Veau told me last summer about their upcoming wedding plans, they shared that they really wanted to do something a bit more 'rock and roll' than a typical ceremony. I had some ideas, so I volunteered whatever art/ design services I could provide as an early wedding present. Veau and I are both musicians, (that's actually how he and Em met, all those years ago, while he was playing in a band in his native Boston), so we all thought that it would be really cool to treat the event more like a rock concert: T-shirts, tour posters, backstage passes, etc... which is all right up my alley. I love doing that kind of stuff. So the first step was to have them over for a (very) informal photoshoot- not so much to get a specific shot, but more to just have fun and get some nice moments of them goofing off together- which they do quite a bit of. I also made a color/ palette reference sheet, based on the samples they gave me.
Right off the bat, I had some definite ideas of what I wanted to do for the 'Save The Date' poster, (which was to be sent out to everyone first), as well as the invitation, which I wanted to look more like a backstage pass. I started with finding the right type treatment. After a few rough mockups, I found a perfect typeface and that really helped pull it together. (Kind of like the rug in "The Big Lebowski"... ) I thought the 'skulls' would be kind of a cool homage to Guns N' Roses "Appetite for Destruction" cover, (which is a pretty fantastic piece of rock album art iconography), but because Em's a huge hip hop fan, I also wanted to have that in there too... so I thought a crown, like the one worn by Biggie Smalls/ Notorious B.I.G. in many of his classic photos would be just the thing.
For the poster, I was thinking more like '1970's Bonnie and Clyde': two, crazy rock n roll kids in love, on the run in badass 70's muscle car... but because I have a lame ass Honda CR-V, I thought it best to maybe frame it so that you wouldn't see that much of the car exterior. I had a pretty clear idea, so after a few rough sketches, I had it pretty close.
I've included both of the final versions in the gallery: I did one with the light from the dashboard and one without. I chose the former 'cause I thought it looked a little more cinematic.
When we got to the reception, (after a truly beautiful wedding, where Veau emerged to the sounds of Judas Priest's "The Hellion". Sweet), I was blown away at how well it all came together! There was a merch booth, where they handed out posters, t-shirts, guitar picks and even fake 'Veau' beards! There was a large photo area with a huge backdrop of the 'skulls' art, where many a drunken picture was taken... it was an absolute blast! It was a fantastic thing to be a part of and I was honored to have had the opportunity to contribute to something that was so important to these amazing people that we're all so crazy about.
Congrats to Chris and Emily: The New Veaus!
(#thenewveaus)
