Lawton's Printer, The Liga District and 2u Collection Successful Collaboration!

Most of you know that I handle the marketing & branding for Liga Photography and their Commercial/Portrait Division The Liga District.  Last year, we embarked on a fun project. Developing the brand and identity for The Liga District. I did the design and art direction, of course amazing photography by The Liga District, and we called on Kim of Lawton's Printer for the printing & production!! So we created a Launch Campaign, and as you see by the images it turned out great!!  It is Soft Touch Aqueous Coating with Spot UV.  It is one of the favorite pieces I have in my bag of experience, and I've very proud of it. Join me in congratulating Lawton's.. Among Many awards they received that night, the campaign I created for The Liga District won Best in Show for a Campaign.

See the press release below!

Lawton Printers Top Honors in Statewide Print Competition

Orlando, Florida, August 8, 2010 - Lawton Printers received awards for all entries at the 2010 annual Florida Print Awards, the printing industry’s largest and most prestigious statewide graphic arts competition. The Printing Association of Florida (PAF) presented the awards to elite Florida-based printing and graphic arts companies during a banquet on August 6, 2010 at the Loews Royal Pacific at Universal Orlando.

With hundreds of entries from printing and graphic firms across the state, Lawton Printers received six Best of Category Awards, four Awards of Excellence and one Judges Awards, plus the prestigious Trophy for Best Process Color Printing and a Trophy for Best of Show Division I.

“Other companies can talk about quality – we know we produce outstanding quality. And it’s reflected in our wins,” said Kimberly Lawton Koon, President. “Our employees work very hard to give each project same attention and care, and winning the overall Best Four Color Process Printing trophy is very gratifying for all of us at Lawton Printers.”

George Ryan, president and CEO of PAF, added “year after year, the quality of the submissions for the Florida Print Awards increases, raising the standard to which they are held. It seems like we say this every year, but the judges remarked how they were, once again, impressed with the entries submitted by PAF members and also said this year’s competition was the toughest yet. Lawton Printers should be very proud of their outstanding accomplishments.”

The Florida Print Awards is the printing industry’s largest statewide graphic arts competition. It recognizes individuals, companies and organizations responsible for the creation or production of print communications. The competition promotes excellence in the industry and recognizes companies and individuals who produce the best in print media.

About Lawton Printers, Inc.

Lawton Printers, founded in 1900, is an award-winning offset and digital printer providing solutions for customer’s high quality marketing and print needs. Lawton combines state-of-the-art technology & equipment with the heritage of 5 generations of excellence.

To learn more about Lawton, please visit www.LawtonPrinters.com. To learn more about Printing Association of Florida, visit www.flprint.org.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by the industry as a company that produces top quality, award winning materials,” said  Kimberly Lawton Koon, President. “The entire team at Lawton Printers works on every project as if it were an award-winning piece.”

For more about these awards and Lawton Printers, visit www.LawtonPrinters.com

2u Presents... Guest Blogger!! Susan Southerland!

Tips for Designing Custom Wedding Invitations

By Perfect Wedding Guide National Wedding Expert Susan Southerland

all images by Liga Photography

I am so honored to be posting as a guest blogger on The 2u Collection’s blog.  Amy is such a talented designer and had delighted me on many occasions with her drawings for The Susan Southerland Secret, but recently we were able to collaborate on a much more personal level.  Amy designed my wedding invitations.

I think the design really set the tone for our Colorado wedding.  Thanks to Jeffrey Stoner we added a fun insertion, a DVD narrated by my fiancé and me with photos of us from past Colorado trips.  We enjoyed sharing those memories with our invitees and for those who have never been to Colorado, it got them excited for the trip!

As a wedding planner, I am used to working with couples in creating their look for their wedding; I don’t want to say that I am detached, like a doctor, but helping them actualize their vision is far easier than creating one for myself.  So, today’s tips come directly from lessons I recently learned as a bride,  for those of you who will be creating your own invitation, or working with a designer like Amy to come up with your signature look.

1. Decide on a color scheme for the wedding.  It is much easier to design if you already know the overall look for the wedding.

2. Create an inspiration board for your wedding.  Look for photos of flowers, fonts and other images that convey the look and feel of your wedding.  

3. Share that inspiration board with your designer (and keep it by your side if you are the one doing the design work).  It will help her get a better understanding of your vision and it will help you stay focused.

4. Don’t micromanage your designer (and don’t be too hard on yourself).  If you are working with a designer allow her to be creative and share her ideas with you.  Those ideas can be tweaked and molded until they are perfect.  If you are designing, remember, creativity can come in spurts, so give yourself plenty of time and then relax and let the ideas flow.

5. Keep pen and paper by your bedside.  You never know when an amazing idea will hit you and you don’t want to lose any gems.

6. PROOFREAD.  You don’t want any errors on your invitations.  Make sure to check and re-check your work.  Give a proof to a friend and have her check it as well.

Remember, the invitation sets the tone for the wedding… so give them the attention that they deserve.

For more wedding planning tips, be sure to visit my blog at www.perfectweddingguide.com/wedding-blog.  You can also become a fan on Facebookand follow me on Twitter.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan