When a VIP invitation to the Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition launch in Milan lands on your lap, it’s difficult to forget that frisson of excitement as you lift the blind-embossed flap of the handmade envelope and feel the exquisite letterpress spelling out your invite to the design world’s premier celebration of craftsmanship. There was added excitement this year for the VIPs whose duplexed invites sported a light, bright mandarin interior, indicating access to a special preview of the exhibition before the official launch. Invites to the launch alone, were adorned in citrone.
“These invitations are the embodiment of everything the exhibition is about,” explained Lee Belcher, Art Director at Wallpaper*. “Artists and companies like Baddeley Brothers show that craft can be contemporary and perfect and they enjoy pushing boundaries.”
“Now in our fifth year, we wanted to create invitations that moved away from the stark white stock we’ve used in the past, and we discovered a beautiful range of paper from Cropper, who specialise in coloured stocks. We wanted to use bright, punchy colours which are dominating the design scene this year, while ensuring very clear legibility, so mandarin and citrone were ideal. We sat down with Baddeley Brothers at the concept stage to discuss how to make the most of these colours in this year’s invites and it was decided to add duplexing and a die-cut to the long list of techniques applied to each invite.
“As always, the craftsmen at Baddeley Brothers have worked tirelessly to create a perfect product, going the extra mile to make sure each and every invite was of the highest possible standard.”
Destined for the desks of 2000 of the UK’s biggest and more innovative designers and architects, both invitations featured black die-stamping and letterpress, as well as duplexing, using Croppers Natural 270gsm stock. The Cropper logo itself, was blind embossed and the Wallpaper* asterisk was die cut to show the contrasting duplexed stock.
