Freelance Graphic Designer

Alongside my in house role I run a freelance practice designing print and identity work for private clients, mostly large multi day weddings, alongside illustration commissions, cocktail menus and wordmarks. I lead each project from the first consultation through to the boxes arriving from the printer.

A multi day wedding is not one piece of stationery, it is a system. Seven or eight ceremonies each need their own invitation, then menus, seating plans, welcome boards and signage, produced across different sizes, stocks and finishes.

Each event has to feel distinct so a guest can tell them apart at a glance, while the full set has to read as one identity when it lands on a doormat together.

I treat each suite as a small identity rather than a set of one off cards. A shared type palette, a consistent margin structure and a family of motifs run through every piece, then colour, illustration density and border treatment change from event to event. That gives each ceremony its own character without starting again each time.

The order in which information is read matters more than decoration. Names, date, venue and dress code sit in the same place across the set, so a guest holding six cards does not have to relearn the layout on each one.

Format drives the design. A welcome board is read from three metres away and an insert card is read at arm's length, so type size, contrast and detail are set for the viewing distance rather than scaled from one master file.

Cultural convention shapes the content. Ceremony names, running order, family naming and language all have to be right, so a large part of the process is consultation and proofing before any layout is finalised.

Artwork is prepared with bleed, crop marks, correct colour profiles and stock specific adjustments, and specifications are agreed directly with the printer. There is no reprint window when the date is fixed, so the files have to be right first time.