Project brief: Our client presented us with the challenge of designing for a widespread audience for a very specific event. For the hospital’s grand opening, we needed to develop a conceptual invitation that would create a buzz among the entire Martha’s Vineyard community.

Approach: From the beginning, we thought that a pop-up design that incorporated the architecture of the new building would be a great solution. This posed a challenge for us because the hospital was still in the early stages of construction. Our client loved the concept of a pop-up invite, so we needed to persevere while still staying within the budget. Working from construction photographs and architectural renderings, we designed the pop-up card to fold from one sheet of paper to save on printing and paper costs. There were many rounds of trial and error to get the structure perfect. We then needed to turn to our printer to make sure the structure could be economically assembled in a large quantity. More changes were then made to fit their specifications. During the approval stages for the final card, however, the hospital’s architecture needed to be altered in order to fit within zoning regulations and, as a result, our invitation needed to be changed as well. Working to get an exact replica scale of the building at a minuscule size was a feat in itself. From the signage for the emergency and ambulance entrances on the building to custom postage stamps on the envelopes, no minute details went unrecognized.

Effectiveness: We considered our project a success because we created a fun and interactive invitation that captured the approachable essence of the hospital. Our invitations had an almost 100-percent response rate and helped foster community and excitement among the Martha’s Vineyard residents. We continue to proudly present this invitation as a sample of our company’s ingenuity, and people at the hospital still talk about our unique invite.

Does a great job at getting people excited about a building that doesn’t yet exist. Unexpected.