Vintage Vogue
Stationery designer Rachael Hetzel shares some of the inspirations that go into her award-winning creations
Rachel Hetzel (right) and her award-winning Telegram RSVP card (left)
Telegrams have long been out of fashion as a communication device, but design-wise, they’re as fresh as ever.
It was a telegram-inspired wedding invitation that won Rachael Hetzel, founder of Pistachio Press in Rochester, N.Y., the Best New Product for All Things Wedding at the 2011 National Stationery Show in New York.
It makes sense. Wedding invitations are, in a sense, a glorified telegram, invoking the classic message delivery in its bold type and event promotion.
Hetzel’s own persona tastes have helped drive her brand’s vintage niche.
“I’ve always loved the processes behind different forms of printmaking, and I’ve always loved the tactile quality of paper,” she says.
The Telegram Invitation suite may be her most successful design so far, but Hetzel notes a few other vintage design trends that are gaining popularity:
Vintage Lace
A vintage lace-inspired invite
Hetzel’s vintage lace suite was developed by co-opting the lace pattern from a bride’s veil. She’s currently working on an wedding invitation design based on the bride's grandmother's old crochet patterns.
Vintage Colors
Hetzel has noticed a trend of light pinks, often paired with grays and browns, and says that her team has been printing with a range of yellow ink, from pale sunny to a more intense marigold. Copper also is a popular color this year.
Old-School Bicycles
“Vintage bicycles seem to be catching on in a lot of places as well, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot more of that started popping up,” she says.
Vintage-inspried invites tend to lean toward softer, calmer color palettes, versus modern designs that go for darker, bolder blocks of color. Interesting typography is also key to a modern design. “I’ve seen a lot of blocky fonts that dominate the invitation and some scripts that flow right off the page,” says Hetzel. Although Hetzel makes note of modern designs – she’s an avid follower of blogs and other letterpress studios – but her vintage specialization is inspired by her interest in botanicals and gardening, and patterns found on furniture and other textiles. She figures her vintage flair will never go flat.
“In thirty years, I’ll probably be using bright colors and bold typography and they’ll still be calling me vintage,” she says.
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