10 Ideas for Alumni Invitations

There can be a lot riding on an alumni postcard design. Having effective reunion invitations can make or break a milestone event.

Like in most design, to be effective you need to focus on a few core things: the audience you're trying to reach, the message you must give, and an action you'd like as a result.

We've collected a range of designs, from traditional to modern, to show how alumni groups have attacked this challenge.

Westminster College alumni postcard invitations:

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McMaster Alumni Association postcard design by Valerie Kozina:

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The Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law alumni announcement:

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Albany Law School Reunion Weekend postcard:

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UC Davis School of Medicine Alumni Day postcard:

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University of Virginia Black Alumni Weekend postcard:

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A bold, graphic approach for an alumni invitation from Artpace:

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A colorful. yesteryear graphic for the Connecticut College save the date, from designer Brandon W Mosley:

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A traditional reunion postcard for Ohio State University Moritz College of Law from designer Andrea Reinaker:

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A colorful. graphic reunion postcard à la Andy Warhol from designer Thomas Haus for Wellesley College:

ThoughtWorks Re-discovers Postcards

The ad universe is blowing apart, right?  Social media and web design is so different from old media like billboards and postcards, right?

This week, I came upon the website for ThoughtWorks, an 'atypical' software firm that shows how the same design principles that work for postcards, can work for a web page.

Take a look at the site's eight banners that scroll across the homepage.

Each banner is tasked with calling attention to an issue, and piquing your interest to find out more.  Each banner is, essentially, a postcard.

I was so impressed with the quality, and the diversity of the concepts, I added some drop shadow and present them to you here, as postcards.  (They may not be postcards, per se; but they certainly are their progeny.)

For a postcard designer, they certainly are inspirational.


Technology Radar discussion of tech trends
from ThoughtWorks:

Building Suncorp's Continuous Delivery Initiative
from ThoughtWorks:

Creating Which? Cellphone Comparison Website
from ThoughtWorks:

Developing Competitive Advantage for McClaren
from ThoughtWorks:

Joint marketing website for Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
from ThoughtWorks:

Mobile Health for Women
from ThoughtWorks:

One-day training for Amazon Web Services
from ThoughtWorks:

Working with Rackspace Hosting
from ThoughtWorks:

Farmers Market Postcard Designs

If you want to see the ultimate grassroots marketing in action, look at your local farmers market postcard campaign.

Postcards make a lot of sense for these organizations since they're affordable, they reach a targeted audience and yes, they can convey a concise message through a well-crafted design.

There are plenty of Farmers Market postcard designs out there.  The ones I'm drawn to are those that convey the excitement of the outdoor market, show the diversity of fresh produce and local foods, and remind me of the joys of participating in a community outing.

Here are some of the best Farmers Market postcards I've recently come upon:


Carrboro Farmers' Market (design by Courtney Smith):

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Postcard Magnets (that's a postcard with a magnet attached)
sampler from magnetbyMail.com:

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The classic 'wish you were here' look
Sprouts Farmers Market (Eastlake):

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Vintage look for Omaha Farmers Market (design by Nicholas Burroughs):

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The wonders of color from the Village of Richfield, Ohio:

Invites and Postcard Designs

OK, call me a sucker but show me a clean, bold, simple design and, voila, I'm in love.

Have a look at designer Michelle Bersani's work for Performance Harley-Davidson open house postcards.

It grabs your attention.  It's easy to understand.  It includes the look and feel of the classic Harley branding.

And in a world where you have less than ten seconds to make your point, it does that with time to spare.

Love it!

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Performance Harley-Davidson invites from designer Michelle Bersani:

The Job Training Program Postcard

So you need to design a postcard that will create interest in your school's job training program.

What do you do?

Well, if you're like most.  You fill it with lots of pictures of smiling students and colorful campuses.

On the other hand, you could stand out from the pack and create a design that is serious and professional.

Designer Tim Scheman uses a monochrome blue palette, lots of bullet points and thoughtful graphics for recruiting students to the Met Center at St Louis Community College.

I think the postcard design works because those who are interested in job training programs are likely to be serious themselves -- not looking for glitz and frills.  The no-nonsense design conveys a "we're here to learn" message.

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College Job Training Program postcard design by Tim Scheman:

Postcards and the Psychology of Color in Marketing

It only makes sense that color has an impact on a design.

Someone looking at the psychological impact of color in marketing just needs to look at the roots: nature has used color to attract pollinators and distract attackers for, well, a very long time.

Sure, there is a lot that effects what we think when we look at a postcard design, but of all the cues we consider, color can be one of the strongest.

As noted in KISSmetrics, retailers in North America (yes, location matters) use colors to convey messages to their customers:

• red conveys 'energy'
• blue conveys 'security'
• orange conveys 'aggressive'
• pink conveys 'romantic and feminine'
• green conveys 'wealth' (or 'earth friendly'?)
• black conveys 'powerful and sleek'

There's even an inter-industry association -- the Color Marketing Group -- that works on forecasting international color trends. Their slogan is says it all:  "Color Sells... and the 'Right' Colors Sell Better! "

Since a color choice could impact response, there's a lot riding on selecting the appropriate color for your postcard design.

Up and coming designer Alex Masica explores the 'color in advertising' issue with a set of dramatic 'sunburst' postcards designed to promote his full-service design house.

His postcards, in green, red, purple and blue, each state the same message.

Or do they?


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Postcard Design in Green:

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Postcard Design in Red:







 
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Postcard Design in Purple:




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Postcard Design in Blue:

Rule No. 1 for Good Postcard Design

Nearly every time I hear there are rules for designing postcards, I discover that these rules can be broken.

That said, there are a few rules that you probably don't want to mess with.  Here is #1:

The designer needs to make a connection with the audience he/she intends to reach.  

This basically boils down to: "you need to understand who you're speaking to, before you speak."

Take a look at a series of postcard designs created for Poler.  Poler makes outdoor gear for outdoor people -- not the outdoor type who wants to conquer the world, but for those who like enjoying the adventure.

So photographer Benji Wagner and artist Nicole Lavelle created a promotional postcard series which reflects that.

The cards were printed by Print Pinball on a thick, uncoated duplex paper that's white on one side and chipboard on the other.

There's no high gloss printing and no high impact sales pitch.  Just a reminder of what any Poler customer can appreciate: that it's good to be outdoors.

Poler Postcard 1: Climb a Tree... Go Outside

Poler Postcard 2: I Feel Best When...

Poler Postcard 3: Morning Fog...

Poler Postcard 4: Afternoon Sun...