125th Anniversary
An invitation to the 125 Anniversary of the Biltmore Estate.
125th Anniversary
An invitation to the 125 Anniversary of the Biltmore Estate.
THE GOAL
For this project, the instructions were to conceptualize and develop a design for an event invitation of MY choice.
Each invitation was to utilize different paper, have a unique and complex die, matching envelope, and showcase at least one special finish (other than die and adhesive).
The Solution
For my piece, I chose to create an invitation to a gala for the 125 Anniversary of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, hosted by the legendary Vanderbilt Family. The invitations mimic the elegant, flourishing designs of the Gilded Age in Late Eighteenth Century America with a modern flair and hand-drawn elements and illustrations.
The concept behind the piece was to emulate the expereince of someones first encounter with the breathtaking estate. After recieving the simple envelope, the person pulls the piece from the sleeve to reveal an elegant gilded rendition of the Estate’s front gate with elaborate handlettered invitation displayed across the front. Then, similar the to the astounding experience of pulling through the gates of the estate and driving up the long driveway to finally have the facade of the massive mansion come into view, the gates of the invitation open and unfold to reveal a beautiful multi-dimentional illustration of the massive architectural wonder. An RSVP and envelope are contained inside and can easily be detached and mailed back to the estate while the rest of the piece can be kept as a memento of the event.
To get the creative process going, I like to write down everything that comes to my mind when i think about a certain topic and then see where those ideas lead me.
Mind Map
Built during THE Gilded Age in the United States, the Biltmore Estate is the pinnacle of art and architecture in Late Eighteenth Century America.
THE STORY
One of the most legendary families of the Gilded age was the Vanderbilt family. After investing in the new locomotive business, the industry quickly exploded, raising the family quickly to one of the highest economical statuses in the country. They then spent their massive fortune building lavish mansions unheard of in America. Drawing from the ornamental architecture popular during the Victorian period, the Vanderbilts commissioned one of Americas most learned architects, Richard Morris Hunt, to built some of the most renowned American architectural wonders all along the East Coast. The largest of their homes being the Biltmore House, located in Asheville, North Carolina, “Hunt reprised the Loire theme, inflating it to gargantuan size. The scale simply staggering, a 250-room house on the estate of 8,000 acres, landscaped by Fredrick Law Olmsted (whose NYC Central Park was but a tenth its size)”. Today, the Biltmore is claimed to be the pinnacle of the Gilded Age.
With construction finishing in 1895, the Biltmore Estate is quickly approaching it’s 125 Anniversary. To celebrate the legacy of the family and one of America’s greatest architectural wonders, the Vanderbilt family is throwing a massive Gala on Christmas Eve of 2020, the same night the family threw the opening gala of the estate 125 years ago.
