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Valentine’s 90th Celebration

Apparel Events Featured Identity — Branding Invitations Product — Packaging Print

Valentine’s 90th Celebration

When you reach ninety years it’s a huge milestone that’s certainly worth celebrating. So how do you mark the occasion when you’re a forty-two-foot 1920s Elco motor yacht? When Ink&Pixel is called to the task, you go full tilt and make a big splash.

That’s just what owners of Valentine wanted for their rare 1929 mahogany beauty. During the past 36 years of owning her, they have obviously had an affinity for the ship but they have also enjoyed learning about her rich history and the ups and downs that she has seen over the past nine decades.

So they decided to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the special vessel and work with Ink&Pixel to create an event and produce meaningful gifts to share with friends, family, business colleagues, and fellow pleasure cruisers that have all been a part of Valentine’s legacy through the years.

Ink&Pixel assisted with preparations for the special day and created a suite of special commemorative materials to mark Valentine’s big moment and really let her shine as the star. We wanted to produce every piece of print, merchandise, and packaging with a keen eye for the same attention to detail that has made Valentine so timeless to the antique yachting community and precious to her owners. Our driving principle was to elevate every opportunity to this gold standard and create pieces that are worthy of being treasured by each guest — all as a tribute to Valentine’s enduring spirit.

  • Custom "Valentine" typography and nameplates were hand-drawn for the suite, based on the carved wooden name board on Valentine herself. Special care was taken in selecting the perfect colors for the print materials — hues that are inspired by the ship's hull and that also honor classic American yachting.
  • Ink&Pixel created several illustrations of Valentine for the celebration's collateral, accurately replicating charming details including the ship's wheel and the antique cap that the owner has worn for years while piloting the motor yacht.
  • Guests were surprised with letterpress save the date cards, duplexed on luscious Cranes Lettra heavyweight cotton — the reverse side printed with a full color photograph of Valentine in all her glory.
  • A finishing detail like custom red edge painting adds that special something and elevates the card to just the right level.
  • The save the dates cruised in style: gold foil seals imprinted in bronze ink featured a commemorative insignia marking the ninety years and adding a formal touch to the outer envelope.
  • The invitations were printed in deep sea blue on delicate blue speckled stock (Royal Sundance, Naturally Enticing Fiber, Ice Blue 100# Cover) and banded to a commemorative coffee table book that was a true Ink&Pixel collaborative labor of love.
  • Packaging details for the invitation and commemorative gift included custom-made packing tape, grosgrain ribbon, and heart tissue paper — creating an unboxing experience so special that one guest reportedly saved unopened for days since they thought it was too special to cut open right away. Coveting beautiful design — now that's a way to OUR heart indeed!
  • The front and back covers of the 52-page perfect-bound volume featured the photography of Jody Dole, who has been photographing Valentine with her owners for decades. An abstract closeup of Connecticut River waves roll gently around the spine to continue the image flow from cover to cover, while framing fore and aft portraits of Valentine in her full glory.
  • The narrative of the book is written by one of the owners but is presented to the reader as an autobiographical text, from Valentine's point of view. The whimsy of this writing style is a fun creative twist that when combined with the rich historical details that the owners included after decades of record keeping, creates a truly unique text that readers can appreciate for its intellect and romance. To visualize the story, Ink&Pixel poured over boxes of wonderful ephemera, photographs, and historic artifacts that the owners have kept and collected over the many years of piloting and restoring this lovely ship. Quite the treasure trove indeed — and we'd like to think that the book turned out to be a special collector's keepsake in its own right.
  • Progress of the narrative is tracked page by page for the reader with this delicate timeline footer — what's not to love?
  • It's all in the details: the book's page folios represented their corresponding nautical flags throughout the book — with a key at the end to put it all together.
  • Such a unique celebration as this called for a signature cocktail, called the Feisty Lady of course. The recipe is gin, lime juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, and grenadine. Refined, timeless, and strong — just like Valentine — so be sure to stay afloat if you try it!
  • Gift bags for each guest included signature items such as a boxed set of custom Valentine note cards and white sporting caps embroidered with our illustration of Valentine on the front and nameplate on the back marking the dates of this milestone.
  • The note set and packaging was a lovely project in itself. Each card was beautifully printed and the gift boxes included coordinating envelopes in Valentine red, with a set of four custom gold foil seal closures.
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