Pushing the envelope with trendsetting ideas

Pushing the envelope with trendsetting ideas
Elsje Designs creates fun & functional gifts, stationery and table decor with a true South African touch

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Papel Picado Paper Inspiration


I recently discovered the art of Papel Picado - traditional folk art and design from Mexico. This piece is one of my favorites from Rob Ryan.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Cool containers for your catering canapee's

We stock these amazing containers that can be used for your canapees, table gifts or confetti. I love the small perspex boxes as well as the miniature fish bowls - either in clear or a transparent gun metal finish. Another favourite is the wooden containers - for all our eco friendly brides. Contact the studio for more information.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Save the Date inspiration from designers around the world








We collected some fresh ideas from other designers, our favourite being Postal Press! For more info please contact info@elsje.co.za

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Happy Valentines Day!

Two print quality valentines cards for you to print out at home, with love from the team at Elsje Designs.




Friday, February 5, 2010

The latest in our font family!







We are very excited to be the proud owners of this beautiful calligraphy font. We love it, because it's so delicate and meticulously drawn, tapping into a variety of calligraphic styles. The result is a curious but attractive hybrid, combining elements from uncial, copperplate and cancelleresca scripts — and more. Any word written in this font, would look like a calligrapher's masterpiece!

Monday, February 1, 2010

A few of our favourite fonts



Font 1:
This beautiful calligraphy style font portrays a smooth, flawless elegance. The font’s shapes are based on ornamental penmanship or calligraphy dating back to the turn of the 20th century.

Font 2:
Inspired by the monumental capitals of ancient Rome, this font recreates the alphabet of Roman antiquity in a way that no other printing typeface ever has. Designer Patrick Griffin provided the font with an unprecedented number of variations and ligatures.



Font 3:
This calligraphy style font is hard to resist. It is not limited to the proportions of a conventional font. Most importantly this calligraphy font legible. A mix of elegance, sensuality, legibility. A beautiful font especially for those who love flowing script, based on calligraphy. This ornate is commonly used on signature flourish to invitations, packaging, restaurant menus, display, because of its decorative qualities.

Font 4:
This outrageous, incongruous, schizophrenic yet adorable all-caps display font, was recently released. The font designer got his inspiration from every ornamented alphabet he’s come across, and possibly invented some of his own as well, combining single letters into fonts that immediately define a style. The atmosphere is somewhere in-between dilapidated-mansion melancholic and thrift-store whimsical. Love it or hate it, there’s no in-between, you can’t ignore it.



Font 5:
This is a gracious and more formal font, but it is never stiff or stuffy. It connects beautifully into a confident cursive flow. With its supple curves and vigorous rhythm, it’s bound to add class and energy to invitations or classy packaging.

Font 6:
From the early 1930s through World War II, there were about 200 professional hand letterers working in New York City alone. This occupation saw its demise with the advent of photo lettering, and after digital typography, became virtually extinct. This font is an exact replica of a hand letterer's writing. Extreme care has been taken to render the original scripts authentically - making the font even more special.