When in Doubt, Make the Card Yourself

I went around to a few shops looking for a wedding card to celebrate a friend’s marriage, but… nothing really clicked for me. Like, the vibe was always just a little off. I wanted something cheerful and colorful, but not heavy or awkward. Something that says “I’m so happy for you!” in a fun and simple way—with zero weird subtext.

Eventually I gave up and came home, planning to dig through my stash of cards at home to find something that could maybe work. But then! My husband (who always comes through with the ideas) suggested: “Hey, you’re printing at Spudnik Press soon anyway—why not just design your own?” Genius.

And then, while I was doing the dishes last night, the idea suddenly popped into my head! So of course I immediately stopped mid-soap and grabbed my sketchbook to doodle it down.

The design shows me and my husband forming the shape of the kanji “祝” (which means “celebration”) using our bodies! It’s kind of ridiculous, but if you know kanji, you’ll totally get it. The friend getting married isn’t Japanese, but he is a Japanese translator, so I think he'll enjoy our goofy body-kanji tribute.

Right before starting the actual design today, I suddenly remembered a Japanese comedy duo called TIM who used to make kanji with their bodies—and guess what? One of their poses was “祝”! So I took a little inspiration from that too.

And voilà—here’s the design! Since I’m printing it with a risograph, I’ve already prepped the colors in Procreate with fluorescent orange, yellow, and green inks in mind. As always, my husband will give it a solid critique before print day so I can make final tweaks. Fingers crossed for a happy print and a happy marriage!