As always with our private invitations, the names, address and other personally identifiable information have been changed for display in our portfolio to protect the privacy of our customers.

Need a custom birthday party invitation for your child’s big day?  Contact Maxwell Sydney Design Group and let us create something for you.

G. Robel Construction provides residential and commercial construction services for discerning customers in luxury communities.  In conjunction with Design Matters Studio (a company we are proud to have a longstanding relationship with), G. Robel Construction provides a single source of responsibility for all renovation and new construction projects.  Everyone at Maxwell Sydney Design Group is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such talented professional artisans and skilled craftsmen.

The so-called “gurus” were wrong.

Many media or news services will offer very large images at 72 dpi for the ease of use of the end user, because computers, e-mail clients, web browsers, etc can’t inherently view anything greater than 72 dpi.  Your monitor is likely 72 dpi.  That is why its called screen resolution.  The reason they can offer a high quality image at 72 dpi is you can increase the resolution when you decrease the size.  This is a DRASTIC oversimplification, but think of it like this, a 20 inch image at 72 dpi can be resized to a 10 inch image with twice the resolution and NO INFORMATION LOSS because the same dots/data are there just in a smaller space.

Look at the example image below.  There is the same information in each block (72 dots of equal size).  The only difference between the two is that the smaller block has the dots closer together, making it higher resolution at a smaller size.

When I send files to a certain t-shirt manufacturer one of the file types they prefer converts my images into 72 dpi, but it is 4 times larger than the final printed product (i.e. the final print size is a much higher resolution than the 72 dpi because all of the dots are in a smaller space).  The shirts print crisp and clear, while a 72dpi image from the web would not.  Why?  Because even though the file size has a resolution of 72 dpi, the outputted print size is smaller than the source and thus there are more dots in a given space.  Again, an oversimplification, but you get the idea.

Back to my friend’s problem… the image they received from the professional speaker was HIGH RESOLUTION for their purposes because its print size at 72 dpi was 20 inches tall, yet they only needed to print an image that was 1.64″.  It could EASILY be converted to 300 dpi without any noticeable quality loss.  Doing so is simple, open the ORIGINAL FILE in photoshop.  Change Image to 300 dpi AND AT THE SAME TIME ON THE SAME SCREEN reduce the PRINT SIZE to the size it needs to be in the final document (in this case about 1.64″ high and .95″ wide).  The Reduce Image Setting should be “Bicubic Sharper” because this is a reduction.  Save as a 300 dpi tiff.  Then PLACE the image in the document as its true print size.  Done.  A crisp, clear, 300 dpi image instead of a soft, pixelated 72 dpi image.  And the results will be a stunning print piece with a clear image of the speaker instead of a soft, pixelated blob.

I know you’ve all been told you can’t convert a 72 dpi image to a 300 dpi image.  This is true if you are working on an image that is not reducing in size.  Quite simply, you can’t put more information into a photograph than was originally there.  However, when you are reducing the print size of the photograph or image, you can tell your graphics program to use the available information in the smaller workspace.  Thus a 72 dpi tif file that is 20 inches can easily convert to a 300 dpi tif file that is a fourth of its size (or smaller).

This is print design 101, sadly some in-house “gurus” don’t know it.

The Identity.

Irish and I talked quite a bit about her company and the detailed drawings she does for every client before embarking on a remodel or interior design project. We also talked about her love for Irish heritage and the intricacy and deep meaning behind Celtic imagery. After a few drafts of more modern logos we decided to go in a different direction and actually licensed a Celtic Tree of Life design from Canadian artist Cari Buziak to form the basis of Design Matters Studio’s logomark. We tweaked the original artwork a little to make it her own, but the original style and complexity is clear. We believe there is no better form to showcase the renewable nature of the custom cabinetry Irish Hafke designs as well as the psychological renewal one feels after spending time in a well appointed and well designed home. The tree of life also shows both the complexity and elegance that you will find in every project Irish Hafke is involved with.

The final identity includes an optional watermark of the logomark in reverse. It is designed to be shades of black as standard with the ability to take on the color of project at hand (i.e. the logo could mimic the palette of an interior design project or be a complimentary color to the finish of some cabinetry).

The Magazine Ad.

After completing the corporate identity package, the next step was a 1/3 page magazine ad to appear in the premier issue of Gulfshore Life At Home Magazine, a publication targeted to southwest Florida’s most affluent neighborhoods. The concept for the magazine ad was straight forward – showcase the attention to detail Design Matters Studio puts into every project while retaining simple elegance. The focus needs to be on the interior and required a design that could change the photography and color scheme while retaining the same recognizable style.

After providing a couple options, Design Matters Studio chose the ad featured here, which is included in the January 2010 premier issue of the magazine.

The Website.

In conjunction with the identity and magazine ad, we worked closely with Design Matters Studio to develop their website. The website needed to have the same elegance as an Irish Hafke project and contain a wealth of information for current and prospective clients. As every project is as unique as the customers she serves, it was imperative to put a large focus on the customer relationship by featuring testimonials and photography from a variety of projects. The site also needed to be modular and easily upgradable while working on a variety of platforms.

For this website we worked on a 960 grid system and developed a custom site to work on the WordPress platform. In order to showcase the dual focus of Kitchen & Bath with Interior Design we utilized a cream fabric background (representing interiors) along with a dark wood highlight (representing kitchen and bath). The site went “live” on December 23, 2009, and we will continue working with Design Matters Studio on the addition of new content, gallery photos and website features.

Visit Design Matters Studio at http://designmattersstudio.com.

The rendering is part of our “ArchiPrints” series of historic and residential homes.  These hand-drawn vector images are scalable for use in a variety of forms from printed & framed artwork, business stationary, and electronic media.  ArchiPrints make great gifts for businesses, churches, homeowners, and family reunions.

Please contact Maxwell Sydney for purchasing details of your own ArchiPrints image.

Recently Maxwell Sydney Design Group had the privelage of designing one such custom invitation for the rehearsal dinner of a customer’s only son.  After looking at the options available online and in various specialty stores, the customer contacted Maxwell Sydney to produce something unique.  Our customer wanted formal china depicted in the invitation and a pink and brown color scheme, but nothing too “cutesy”.  A couple days after our consultation, Maxwell Sydney provided the customer with two design samples meeting their requirements.  Below is the one they selected (names and dates have been changed to protect customer privacy).

Maxwell Sydney provided the creative and full printing for this project in house.  We also sourced matching envelopes with a slight shimmer per the customer’s request.  Please contact Maxwell Sydney for your custom invitation needs.

About the Brochure:

Christiana Cabinetry presented us with some copy and photos of their cabinetry, and asked us to make a brochure for their dealers and clients. From there, we went to work, learning about the extensive measures Christiana takes to protect our environment through all phases of the cabinet manufacturing process.  Once we better understood the process, we worked closely with Christiana to develop a brochure that enhanced their company’s luxurious brand, explained their techniques, and promoted their commitment to the environment.  Once the creative was complete and approved, we worked with a fully green printer to make sure the brochure lived up to the same earth-friendly standards as Christiana’s Cabinetry.

The 12-page brochure was printed with vegetable and soy-based inks on 100% recycled paper with 50% post-consumer product that is chlorine-free.  The print house runs on wind energy and purchases carbon offsets for any pollution activity, including product shipping.  Both the paper and the print house are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

After consulting with the company and reviewing other marketing initiatives and creative products in service, Maxwell Sydney devised a new note card that fit well within the companies image and showcased the detailed nature of their cabinetry.

Christiana understands that all marketing efforts should be cohesive, and in order to reflect a consistent, luxury brand — all items from websites and business cards to product packaging and even note cards need to carry that same message.

We were pleased to work with Christiana Cabinetry on this and other projects, and look forward to working with them in the future.

Please contact Maxwell Sydney for print purchase or licensing information.

Visit the following links for more information about the Page-Walker Hotel

• History of Page-Walker Hotel (pdf)
• Page-Walker Arts & History Center
• Friends of Page-Walker Hotel

The rendering is part of our “ArchiPrints” series of historic and residential homes.  These hand-drawn vector images are scalable for use in a variety of forms from printed & framed artwork, business stationary, and electronic media.  ArchiPrints make great gifts for businesses, churches, homeowners, and family reunions.

Please contact Maxwell Sydney for purchasing details of your own ArchiPrints image.