From Patty to Tracy (1)

By process of elimination, I deduced that this is from Patty - who did not put a return address on the envelope. I also recognize her manuscript printing. It's a lovely composition and the USPS did an excellent job with their non-conforming cancel. Way to go USPS.

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The Certificate Story - Chapter 1 (of 10 - for those who do not like surprises - and will get tired of the story and want me to just wrap things up) It is not even worth 10 chapters - and it does not even approach the quality of my annual Xmas eve rant/story - so - keep those expectations low. Unless you were a graphic designer - in the previous century - and then it might strike a chord.

Many years ago - at least 20 - probably 25 (maybe more?)  someone called me and asked if I could hand letter an entire certificate - not just fill in a name. She had a photocopy of what the previous person had done and I deeply regret that I did not save that photocopy. It was bizarre. The person had not even ruled straight lines in pencil. It was astoundingly inept on so many levels - and that is not an overstatement. I was excited to take on the job because it was going to be sooooo easy to do an improved version. There was a scary, gold swirly-doodle design adorning the left margin.

I hand lettered it and added an actual gold leaf swirly doodle. Each year I refined the swirly doodle a little bit. I morphed it into a green and blue acanthus leaf design and added gold gouache dots, details, and drop shadows to the lettering. After a few years of doing the whole thing by hand - I decided that it was too time consuming (based on what I was charging) so I switched to a printed font and had the acanthus stems printed in black and added all the leaves and color by hand.

After I bonked my head, I decided that it was time to retire the account - so last year I told the client that it would be my last year and for the 2023 certificate - I would come up with a design that could be entirely digital. The first year would cost the same as the hand done certificate. After than it would cost significantly less - since it would be entirely digital.

The client was happy with the proposal. They understood that these old school styles of certificates are relics from the past - and were pleased that I had an alternative for them.

What could go wrong?