Sunday, March 21

Developments in the World of Art and Invitation

Some interesting things happened in the past week in the world of invitations of art. Two of particular note were: an article in the New York Times regarding the much maligned R.S.V.P., and the Pantone Spring/Summer 2011 forecast.

Latter first, the Pantone Spring/Summer 2011 forecast was called "Symmetry" and was supposedly going to demonstrate symmetries through color. The palettes were strong but the superset of color selections was very broad. I think that Pantone intended to communicate the philosophical symmetries of creating a highly balanced colorway but that fell a bit short.

Instead, we got a collection of palettes that suggested romantic and cinematic themes that centered around slightly soft primaries and lots of tinted analogs. The presentation didn't create the concept of symmetries so well, but some of the slides did. Take a look below at two of the slides from their presentation regarding the "Vibrant Friends" and "Shocking Buddies" palettes.



I think part of the breadth in Pantone's forecast is due to the economic uncertainty and a certain uncertainty on their part regarding whether the trends will stay conservative (muted, darker palettes) or exuberant (primaries). As a result, we get a selection that combines both. I'd personally suggest that you look for a lot of variation in 2011 and guess that it will be difficult for many companies to accurately find the right colors for their products. I imagine that 2011 will continue the trend of niche companies and products rising to the top, particularly those that are handmade or made by small businesses.

The second, but former, development was an interesting article in the New York Times regarding the R.S.V.P. by Op-Ed contributor Rand Richards Cooper. He wrote about the difficulty of using and ensuring the use of the R.S.V.P. when planning parties or other events. After his editorial, a great number of times readers responded to his writing with a variety of views, many espousing their support for tradition, manners, and social graces. I highly recommend reading both the original editorial, and have included two links to various letters to the editor regarding the editorial.

The original Op-Ed by Rand Richards Cooper can be found here.

Letters to the editor regarding the article can be found here and here.

2 comments:

Sprout said...

Aaaaaaakkkk!!!! This is one of my pet peeves! If I am nice enough to invite you to something, you should be nice enough to reply whether by phone, email, or traditional mail.

I have to advise my brides that I need their table count 2 weeks in advance and that they can expect they will have folks who won't reply delaying that information that I so critically need.

I had one bride who 2 weeks before her wedding, had 50, yes, 50 people who hadn't replied! I had another whose headcount went up by 30 people 5 days before the wedding. These are weddings! They couldn't make it easier for you to reply, there's a card with a box to check off and it's stamped and addressed, geez...

Never mind less formal occasions...I find maybe 50% of invitees bother to reply at all if I'm lucky.

Is it that people are lazy, or they want to see who else is attending before they make a decision, or they just don't like saying no, or they want to keep their schedules open in case something better comes along...yeah, that one makes me want to keep you on future guest lists.

Oooh! You got me going!

Michelle May said...

In Checkerboard's new wedding collection, "Unveiled" the wording on the respond card gives a personal feel to encourage recipients to feel the need to return with pleasure and excitement for the event. Hints for doing this would be to put who is expecting the response, for instance "Mr. and Mrs. George Wentworth await your response by"...or "we are so excited to hear from you, please respond by"...

For a very formal occasion you have to get creative with a prompt and tactfully ask guests to get their act together! If you have ever planned a party, you should understand the grand undertaking it is to have it all come together, and just respect your hosts. Making out a guest list is one of the most important parts of planning the wedding. Each recipient should be honored and humbled...and excited for the event to come. Of course the right invitation also gives a prelude for a spectacular celebration, so keep that in mind when selecting the right one!