Invitation templates / Birthday invitations
Sonic 16-Bit Genesis: a birthday invitation template
The invitation is the boxed 1991 Sega Genesis game: the birthday kid is the cover art, the instruction manual holds the party, and the reply is the title screen's PRESS START.
The design
Opens on the SEGA boot screen, then the black-grid Genesis box: the child's name set as a winged title logo with a red ribbon reading "TURNS SEVEN", the child's photo as the cover art, and classic Sonic springing out of the art window. The box back sells the party like a 1991 game: hype copy, screenshots of the birthday kid, feature bullets on A, B and C buttons for the date and the stage, "Nico does what Nintendon't" and the fine print. Inside is the instruction manual, chapter by chapter: Starting up (the countdown, inside the power-on steps), The story (stages with a little screen for each year), Level select (the program as the secret cheat screen, with Tails flying by holding his Game Gear), Controls for grown-ups on a drawn control pad (A for allergies, B for bring, START for drop-off and pick-up), Player colours ("the Genesis could show 64 colours at once, we only need four"), Accessories (the wish list) and the Game Play Hotline for questions, with Knuckles on the line. The reply is the title screen on an old CRT, Amy standing on the TV and PRESS START BUTTON blinking; it ends on the cartridge itself, Sonic holding the console, "Coming soon: Nico 8", the hashtag as the password and "Do not blow into the cartridge."
Colours and type
Sonic 16-Bit Genesis comes in 3 colourways: Genesis black, Mega Drive night and Sega CD graphite, with 2 type pairings: Archivo & Press Start 2P and Michroma & Silkscreen. The colours and type change in the editor at any time; the layout stays its own.
Who it suits
Made for kids, 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.
- Darkroom Contact Sheet: 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.
- 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.
All birthday invitation templates