As most of you faithful readers know by now our very own Elizabeth Lapan has started a business! Liz began working for us in March of last year and immediately began taking over the design of our windows and in-store displays and did such an amazing job that Sam and I basically stepped back and let her run the show. It was obvious to us, our lovely customers and even to Liz that she had a real talent that went beyond just store merchandising. I'm honored to have been Liz's first "customer" last summer when she created an array of fabric flowers to decorate the cake table at my wedding as well as some adorable chalkboards that we hung on the back of our chairs. Since her first summer with us Liz has been creating paper flower wreaths, garlands of fabric flowers and numerous other beautiful decorations to dazzle the interior of our store and our customers have fallen in love. In fact they have been so smitten with her work that they basically forced Lizzy into starting a business so that they could buy her lovely goods! After long chats in the store and a huge brainstorming session between the 3 of us which included Sam - via text on a little vacay to NY - Paper Posy Designs was born.
I am so thankful that Lizzy chose me to design her logo and stationery suite because it has been my favorite branding project ever! Liz wanted something bright and playful but also sophisticated and beautiful. Her products are primarily used for wedding decor, but we didn't want her brand to limit her because every week she dreams up new ideas and projects. Her logo needed to be flexible enough to change with her as Paper Posy Designs establishes itself and grows. I won't go on and on about the thinking behind the final logo, but I will say that her colors, Warm Red and Purple (literally those are the PMS colors), are the most gorgeous duo I have ever seen.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the logo design process I have to say that creating her stationery suite was the most fun part. That I got to collaborate with Liz on this project only made it even sweeter. Below is a PDF showing the final pieces (from top left clockwise):
• 2 flat note card designs for sending lots and lots of snail mail
• my favorite: the swatch card so she can send color and fabric swatches to her clients
• folded note card with pattern lined envelopes for more note sending
• ridiculously beautiful business cards printed on duplex with edge painting in warm red
• die cut tags (circle and rectangle) to brand the finished products before heading to clients
Some beautiful photos of the finished products:
In case there are a few peeps out there who haven't had the pleasure of meeting Liz (you are really missing out) or didn't get the chance to stroll by our store windows over the last couple of months (also missing out), here are a few photos of the most amazing Paper Posy project to-date: Eleanor, the beautiful, paper flower wedding dress! Lizzy cut out each individual paper petal by hand (1,000+ petals) and adhered them to a dress maker's form. As with every project Liz takes on, Sam and I were worried when she told us her idea... but as with every project Liz takes on, Sam and I were blown away with the finished product. Our customers, retail neighbors and random people passing by would stop at the window, realize what they were looking at and pull out there cameras or phone to snap a picture - it was very cool to watch. We pride ourselves on our beautiful windows, but this dress and the stunning kraft paper flowers that littered the floor around it, will go down in our history books (we're working on volume 1) as the most creative and outrageously beautiful Gus & Ruby window EVER! Feast your eyes on Eleanor:
Thank you, Lizzy for all of the endless hard work you put into making our store beautiful. We are SO proud of everything you have accomplished in your few short months in business and can't wait to watch you blossom in the years to come. Don't forget about us when you're famous cuz it's gonna happen.
Love this!! Great work!
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