In recognition of the culmination of its successful five-year "Campaign for Columbia Law"—which exceeded its goal and raised more than $325 million—the law school hosted a reception to celebrate the achievements of the campaign and to thank donors and supporters, including alumni, students, faculty, and friends of the law school. We wanted invitees to sense that the evening would be special from the moment they received their invitation in the mail. The design of the invitation conveys elegance, excitement, and an impression of the location: the iconic Rainbow Room in New York City. Among the distinguishing features of the Rainbow Room’s decor are the crystal “curtains” that hang in the windows, and the invitation focuses on that detail. Subtle, iridescent, foil-stamped shapes glimmer on substantial, black, cover-weight paper. Its four-panel accordion fold opens to an unusually long shape, creating a distinctive invitation. Since the invite would mail during the winter holiday period, we also wanted the envelope to stand out from other cards, and mailings recipients might receive at the same time, so a bright blue—one of the signature colors used in the campaign’s branding palette—was selected for the mailing envelope. The invitation yielded a strong number of RSVPs and set the tone for an elegant celebration.
From the Judges
Great foresight and execution to include the iridescence against the black to mimic the Rainbow Room decor. the elongated format works well with the "crystal curtain" design element. I would have liked to see the blue envelope since it was highlighted in the entry description.
