Invitation templates / Birthday invitations
Darkroom Contact Sheet: a birthday invitation template
A milestone birthday developed in a photographer's darkroom: the safelight clicks on, a red grease pencil circles the frame on the contact sheet, and the birthday portrait comes up in the developer tray.
The design
Opens in the dark. The red safelight clicks on, a contact sheet slides across the bench and a red grease pencil circles one frame, numbered for the age: print this one. A held beat, then the enlargement lands in the developer tray and the portrait slowly comes up out of white paper, with the milestone scribbled on its margin. Guests can circle any other frame and the tray develops that one instead. Everything below is the darkroom itself, headed by strips of film edge: the invitation on the back of the print under the photographer's rubber stamp, a darkroom timer counting down to the night, the life story as negatives on a light box with a loupe that slides to whichever frame you tap and shows it as a positive, the venue as the print record, the evening as the process chart taped to the wall (tap a step to tick it off), a lit "In use" lamp over the door for adults-only, the dress code as a test strip, the photos as blank sheets in the developer that come up when tapped, gifts in the paper safe, the questions as the darkroom rules by the door, and the reply as signing the print: a small print develops, gets circled "Keeper" and is lifted out of the bath. It closes on the drying line: next frame, the age plus one.
Colours and type
Darkroom Contact Sheet comes in 3 colourways: Safelight, Selenium toned and Cyanotype, with 2 type pairings: Brygada 1918 & Alegreya and Familjen Grotesk & Petrona. The colours and type change in the editor at any time; the layout stays its own.
Who it suits
Made for adult, in the Themed style.
What is included
An invitation website with the party's details and place, your photos, a song if you want one, and the RSVP with the number of adults and children coming. You write your own words and add your photos in the live editor, send every guest a personal link by email or any messaging app, and follow the replies as they come in. Free for up to 20 guests, with the full design.
More birthday templates
- Salon Privé: A milestone birthday as a private casino night: a deck of playing cards with the birthday person as the Queen of Hearts and the age as the card's value, a roulette wheel for the evening's order of play, and chips to place your bet.
- Fight Night Poster: A milestone birthday billed as a vintage title fight: the birthday person versus the age, set in letterpress wood type, with the tale of the tape, the undercard and ringside tickets.
- The Members' Scorecard: A milestone birthday printed as a heritage golf club's scorecard: the flag is planted, the ball is putted into the cup, and the pencil writes the age in the score box.
- Grand Tour Passport: A milestone birthday issued as a passport of the guest of honour's own republic: the cover swings open to the data page, every section is a visa page with real ink stamps, and the reply earns your entry stamp.
- The Speakeasy: The invitation is a hidden 1920s bar named for the guest of honour: knock the secret knock at a door with no sign, whisper the password, and read the night from the house's leather cocktail menu.
- The Birthday Arcana: A milestone birthday as a tarot reading on a velvet cloth: the birthday person as a major arcana card, a spread that turns over to reveal the hour, the place and the dress code, and a fortune for every guest.
- World Tour Poster: A milestone birthday billed as a stadium world tour: a screen-printed poster with this city circled, the setlist taped to the stage, the merch stand and a backstage pass for the reply.
- Grand Vintage: A milestone birthday bottled as a fine wine: an engraved estate label reading "Vintage 1987, aged 40 years", a cork the guests pop, and the estate's cellar book for everything else.
All birthday invitation templates