Rock Creek Gala
❋ Role
Invitation Designer
Illustrator
❋ Skills
Adobe Indesign
Procreate
❋ Tools Used
Event Design
Digital Illustration
Print Design
❋ Timeline
4 months
Project Overview
On the inside and back of the invitation, there is information about the history of the gala, as well as how the event helps protect and better the Rock Creek Park. Since this was a client project where we had to pass off our design files to the Conservancy staff, we left the sponsors and ambassadors portion blank for them to fill in.
Rock Creek Conservancy is a watershed organization protecting Rock Creek National Park, which is located in northwest Washington, D.C. As part of my university’s mission to integrate civic engagement and public service into classes, my classmates and I worked with the Rock Creek Conservancy to design the branding collateral for their annual Rock Creek Gala. I designed and illustrated the invitations.
I knew that the Rock Creek Gala invitation was very important in communicating class and an earnest cause. In order to convey this, I focused the invite around blue and green, the colors of the earth, and I drew the Mayapple plant, which can be found in the Rock Creek Park.
Save the Date Invite
I also was in charge of designing and illustrating any elements for the Save the Date invite. This time, instead of using the mayapple plant illustration, I drew the white flowers that are sometimes attached to the mayapple plants.
Initial Ideas
Pinning down the look for the invitation involved many rounds of revisions. At first, I wanted to save time by using clipart of generic plants. However, my professor was aware of my illustration skills and encouraged me to draw a meaningful illustration of a plant that exists in the Rock Creek Park. So I began doing research on some plants in the park, and decided upon the mayapple plant.
The Mayapple Plant
The mayapple is a distinctive woodland plant native to the eastern United States. It has umbrella-like leaves and hidden white flowers. Indeed, it was a much better emblem to use for the invitations than generic clipart of generic plants found on the internet.
Final Designs
These were the final invitation designs accepted by the client and used at the 2023 Rock Creek Gala.
Letterhead
Rock Creek Gala Gallery
Asides from the invitations, my illustrations of the mayapple plant, the white mayapple flower, and other assorted leaves were used as visual elements throughout other branding assets, such as in the signage in these photos from the gala.
