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10+ Invitation Designs & Templates in Illustrator
People nowadays have started to forget the value of sending invitations during parties or events, they would rather invite people by way of text messaging or a phone call. Invitations are more than just for inviting people to a gathering, they also serve as a memorabilia that guests can keep after the gathering.
Since invitations are also being treated as a souvenir, you will need to ensure that they are well-designed in order for people to want to treasure them. If you prefer working with Adobe Illustrator for creating your invitations, we might just have the appropriate templates that are compatible with the software.
Elements of a Good Invitation Card
This article is all about ensuring that you’ll be able to make the most exceptional and informative invitation cards ever, and that will only be a possibility if the contents are kept relevant. The list below enumerates the different elements that should be seen on every invitation card regardless of its type.
1. Name of the host: The event host is referred to as the person responsible in putting together the event, and this may or may not involve the financing and planning aspects. Since they play an essential role in making the event a possibility, they should be acknowledged by including their name on the invitation.
2. Invitation statement: This brief but direct statement is what informs the reader regarding the host’s request. This element can be as brief as saying “You have been invited to”, or it can also be longer and more thorough, the latter of which is very common among formal invitations.
3. Title of event: What is gathering about? Every invitee has the right to know what they are being invited to. This element is usually preceded by the host’s name and the invitation statement, but you may be allowed to switch it up as long as the elements are there. Also, this element is the most prominent one and serves to direct the reader’s attention.
4. Date and time of event: Invitations are mainly used to inform people that the host has formally requested for their presence at an upcoming event. Moreover, invitations should provide the reader with the necessary information regarding that event, and this includes the date and the time. When writing these elements for a formal invitation, you are required to spell out the words completely and not use numbers.
5. Location or address: Aside from just informing the reader when the event will take place is where it will be held. This element explains the location of the venue, and this should consist of the name of the place and its street address. Ensure that the street address is spelled correctly so as to avoid misleading the guests.
6. Theme, motif, or dress code: This is only common in themed or formal events wherein a specific dress code or color theme is encouraged to the guests, but not entirely enforced. This is simply to create uniformity among the guests and/or to keep the event formal.
7. Graphical elements: Minimal and purely typographic designs have a high chance of ending up dull-looking if not done properly. So to lessen that risk, graphical elements such as photos or illustrations are added to enhance the appearance of the invitation. However, these should be used sparingly so as not to clutter the design.
8. RSVP: The use of the RSVP is a must for formal events, but they may still be used for casual ones if you wish. The RSVP is an excellent tool for verifying the number of guests that will be attending, and you can easily make adjustments to the amount of food and the accommodation when necessary.
Now that you have an idea as to what an invitation card should have, here are the templates that you can use for designing them. You may either download any of these templates and work on it from there, or you may also simply use it as a guide for your own design. Whichever you’re going for, these templates will give you the head start you need.
10+ Invitation Templates
Retro Summer Party Invitation
Beach Party Invitation Card Format
Summer Party Invitation Card
Pineapple Picnic Party Invitation
Colorful Party Blast Invitation Example
Plaid Picnic Party Invitation Design
California Summer Party Invitation Template
Swimming Pool Party Invitation Sample
Summer Farewell Party Invitation
Beach Wedding Invitation Card Design
Steps to Designing a Great Invitation Card
Designing invitations involves a process, and this process involves various steps. While people may have their own way of designing their invitations, we also have our own which we can proudly claim as highly organized and structured. The guide written below is relatively easy to follow, but it can greatly help in simplifying the task.
1. Prepare your content: The first step in the process of designing your own invitation is to prepare the content that you will be including. This includes most, if not all, elements mentioned above. Making a draft will allow you to determine the necessary content and how to phrase them.
2. Gather images: Unless you’re going fully typographic or minimal, you will need to gather graphical elements for enhancing the appearance of your invitation. It is always better to have something prepared even when you don’t need it, than to have nothing prepared at times when you actually need it.
3. Download an invitation template: Above, you were presented with ten of the best invitation templates that we have gathered from highly reliable websites. Why bother stressing yourself out when you can always download an invitation template that already comes pre-designed and with elements.
4. Edit the template using Adobe Illustrator: The best thing about vector-based templates is that they will allow you to edit as much as you need without compromising the quality. The reason behind this is because vectors consist of numeric codes and pathways as opposed to the pixels in raster graphics. With Adobe Illustrator, you’ll be able to edit any of our templates fully and easily.
5. Print out your invitation: Once you’re done editing the design and adding in the needed content, the only thing left for you to do is to print our copies of your invitation. Be reminded that you should always print out more copies than intended, it’s better to have additional copies for emergency purposes.
Simple Tips for an Excellent Invitation Layout
Knowing or being familiar with the process of designing invitations is never enough to guarantee you a visually appealing layout. Certain factors need to be considered to really make your invitations look beautiful. The tips below are actually very simple but are easily overlooked, which is why you should always take note of them if you want your invitations to really stand out.
- Follow the hierarchy of content to make it easier for readers to comprehend the information.
- Avoid cluttering the layout with too many elements.
- Apply colors to make your invitations look lively and interesting.
- Align your text centrally to emphasize their importance.
- Add white space to create a breathing room in between elements.
Types of Invitations
When designing your invitation, you will need to make sure that you are choosing the type that best reflects your event or purpose. Below is a list of the different types of invitations along with a short description. You may notice that some types share a common purpose, while others also multiple purposes.
1. Party invitation: This type of invitation is probably the most basic and easiest to make because of its informal nature. Since most parties are casual themed, the invitations used for them should follow the same theme. When designing party invitations, your only priorities are the cleanliness of its layout and the adequacy of its information.
2. Wedding invitation: From the name itself, this type of invitation has a specific purpose, and it is to invite people to a wedding ceremony and reception. Since the ceremony and reception are seen as one gathering, they only require one invitation card. Wedding invitations usually have an RSVP card which invitees will use to confirm their attendance.
3. Formal invitation: This is a collective term to refer to invitations used for formal events and gatherings. With formal invitations, an RSVP is required but you will be given an option whether to have the RSVP on a separate card or to incorporate it on the invitation card. Also, as mentioned in the elements section, formal invitations will require you to write the date and time in complete words without using abbreviations or numbers.
4. Business invitation: This is the type of invitation to use when companies hold meetings, seminars, conferences, and expos. Some of these may be given to employees while others are distributed to the public. Also, business invitations can be used as a way for companies to invite another into becoming their business partner.
5. Pocket invitation: Among the other types on this list, pocket invitations are small and will easily fit inside the pocket, hence the name. But to compensate for its small size, pocket invitations have extravagant designs and its content is kept short but relevant. Pocket invitations have been used as the alternative to traditional wedding invitations.
6. Handwritten invitation: For something that requires you to write the content by hand, this type of invitation is really tedious to create. Unless you have the abundance of time, handwritten invitations are best only for small events and those that are attended by no more than fifty people.
7. Online invitation: This type of invitation is the equivalent of the electronic greeting cards and the email simply because they are sent through the internet. All you need to do here is to write the recipient’s email address and your message. After which, you can send your invitation right away without having to print it out.
Sizes of Invitation Cards
The type of invitation card often goes together with the size, but you may still be allowed to choose each one separately. When choosing an invitation size, the most important factor to consider is the allotted space, which means that all your content should be able to fit inside that space without making the design look overly cramped.
- RSVP card: 3.5 x 5 inches
- Square invitation: 5.25 x 5.25 inches
- Small response card: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
- Big response card: 4.5 x 6.25 inches
- Standard invitation: 5 x 7 inches
- Medium-sized invitation: 5.5 x 7.5 inches
- Large invitation: 6.5 x 8.75 inches
- Thin invitation: 4 x 9.25 inches
FAQs about Invitations
The information above may or may not have provided you with everything you need to know regarding invitations. Thankfully, we have looked around the internet to gather data on what most people are concerned about and these are in the form of questions. Below are some of those questions with their corresponding answers.
What is an invitation card?
It is a piece of card that contains a message from a sender requesting the recipient to attend an upcoming event.
When should invitations be sent?
Ideally, you should send them three weeks before the event, but you may send them as early as six weeks or up to two weeks before the event.
If you want to ensure that your invitations end up having a quality that’s really worth holding on to as a keepsake, then the ones here are indeed what you need. You don’t need to look anywhere else for the necessary resources, everything you need is right here. Stop hesitating and start downloading.
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