Women are not just A – but the – force to be reckoned with today, something that will come as little surprise to the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (MCA Denver). Taking as its rallying cry “Broads only, no dudes,” its annual Broad’s Banquet fund-raiser invites women to celebrate art with their fellow double-Xers, with Ellen Bruss Design’s (EBD) invitations for this event always being a treat.
Like 2015’s invitation suite, 2016’s arrived in a tasteful mailing box sealed by an address label that wraps around the two halves of the package. And like that earlier iteration, the 2016 label includes a hint of the design scheme to be found within. Upon lifting the lid, we’re presented with the face of the invitation itself, and what an attention-grabbing face it is.
Boasting a vertical rather than horizontal orientation, the folding card is fronted by a panel with multiple die cuts hand glued to the face to create a three-dimensional flower, the logo resting at its center. What makes this so extraordinary is the fact that the different colors printed on the paper underneath the front show through the individual die cuts – the “petals” of which were pulled up by hand – lending the flower a colorful, otherworldly glow around the edges. This cover then lifts up to reveal a simple presentation of event details peeking out through a floral theme. The piece was inspired by the work of Kim Dickey, the featured artist for the event.
Removing the invitation you find an RSVP card and envelope, as well as an additional (non-die-cut) invitation to send to another broad who might like to join you at the banquet. Both feature the same type of floral themes glimpsed inside the main invitation and along the borders of the mailing label on the front of the box. To say that this design is pleasingly “consistent” throughout may seem to be a case of damning with faint praise, but in a world where multiple typefaces and design elements are often found in a single invitation or identity suite, “consistent” is a beautiful thing – as beautiful as a 3D paper flower.
PaperBroad out.
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