Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design

88. Evoking Mood Through Design: Using Custom Invitations to Make Your Business Entertainment Last Beyond the Event

Amasquerade ball is a special event, one filled with magic and mystery. So when Atlanta-based Sweet Life Events event planning company arranged the New Year's Eve Masquerade for the Benedicts of Atlanta, the company wanted a regal and luxurious invitation that reflected the mood of the evening. Jill Lynn Design stepped in to create a custom die-cut invitation on heavy black stock in the shape of a masquerade mask. Metallic gold ink and black ribbon added glamour and sophistication to the design.

Why It Works

Invitations are typically square, and not that original. Once you attend the event, you likely throw the invitation away, never to think about it or its sender again. But with the Masquerade Mask Invitation, it's a work of art in and of itself. The design serves as a souvenir of a special evening, and attendees of the New Year's Eve Masquerade kept their invitations as a memento of a thrilling event.

Because these aren't one-size-fits-all invitations, their complexity adds to their appeal. The layers of heavy paper and ribbon make it eye appealing from the moment one opens the envelope. The mask shape of the invitation fits in perfectly with the theme of the masquerade.

Success Metrics

• A total of 400 mask invitations were sent out to the Benedicts of Atlanta Social ...