Regal Rose's Birthday Card

Regal Rose is a brand here in the uk who sell the most gorgeous, carefully designed, often gothic and ornate, alternative jewellery and accessories. I have been a huge fan of theirs for a number of years now and have quite an extensive collection of their pieces. This is why, when I heard they were having a design competition to create a card for their 15th birthday, I immediately got to work! This competition has my name written all over it; not only am I a fan of their jewellery, I am also a passionate artist who has always loved making greetings cards, little gift tags and trinkets of that nature. There’s something about creating a little interactive experience that is just so much fun to me. I allowed myself to have some fun with this and here is the result! 

I had a think about what I could create that would scream ‘Regal Rose’, while embracing my own style and strengths. My final design includes a model embellished with stacks of gold jewellery, as well as a crown of 15 candles surrounded by roses. The crown, I felt, related to 3 vital things: jewellery, regalness and birthdays! The additional roses, of course, relating to their name while adding an extra layer of beauty and detail that I feel this brand is so well known for. Some of the included jewellery pieces were inspired by RR’s rose themed designs. 

When I think of Regal Rose, I think about their campaigns, always including the most pristine photography, so beautifully showcasing their latest collections. I was inspired by these images; the moody yet ethereal feeling, as well as their compositions. 

I also added some cherubs; another Regal Rose classic! I even have two cherub earring pairs from them in my collection. These little guys helped to showcase the text. 

One final element of the front cover is the frame; a smaller version of this frame comes alongside each order, encouraging you to share your new purchases with the world. It felt like the perfect way to frame my illustration! 

They famously use a lot of dark and witchy colours: lots of black and white, as well as some gorgeously rich tones. I used black ink to embrace these mono-tones, as well as a pop of bright red and gold. These colours are continued on the inside; never a detail that goes unnoticed!

I created my initial sketch digitally, which led me to redraw the outline on illustrator and then cut it out using my cricut. I used the cricut pen to add some of the initial sketch lines just to guide the drawing process (it helped a lot!). Using this machine allowed the outline to be cut neatly and accurately- and saved me from having to cut those candles out by hand!

I raised all of the collage elements with foam tabs; using collage techniques helped to add some extra dimension, and also felt appropriate alongside some of their marketing graphics. It also embraced my painterly, sketchy style.