I have a very special treat today: an interview with designer and creator of Odd Balls Invitations, the best little paper company in Arkansas. Kit was fabulous to interview, and I think you will enjoy all of her candid responses in regards to paper styles, inspiration, and even where Odd Balls originated. Enjoy!
R: Where do you find inspirations for your designs? Does your source of inspiration always work out or do you ever struggle for ideas?
K: When work is begun on a new release for Odd Balls, the first objective is to delineate areas of need (what images are selling well, what themes are productive and what are color-ways that customers are using). Once these parameters are clear in my mind, then I start looking – looking at the world around me (the sky, sunsets, gardens, clothing, china, antiques (you name it), looking at magazines -of every variety, looking at catalogs (which everyone gets at home and strongly influences the consumer with regard to up-and-coming colors and patterns), looking at menus, wine lists and of course beautiful coffee table books. Every morning, during this period, I sit on the terrace with my coffee and make notes and put down rough sketches.
Inevitably, some of the list comes to fruition and others fail with a wondrous grandeur. Sometime the concept is right on the mark and yet I am unable to produce, with paint, what I envision in my mind.
Do I ever struggle? Guaranteed! When we have an image that really hit the nail on the head, and it has become old and tattered and need to be refreshed and updated – Ugh! Over this, the struggle can sometimes last for a couple of years. There are many times when I know exactly what would impart the mood for a certain type of event and yet it remains elusive in terms of a visual.
R: Is it true that all of your designs are hand painted? Can you tell me a little bit about the creative process of painting an invitation?
K: Yes - everything Odd Balls produces is generated at my drawing board. Being only somewhat proficient with a brush or writing implement (pen, pencil, marker or chalk, etc.) - the rules are fairly simple, my brain gives my hand a command, it either follows or fails.
With regard to the creative process: Once a design has been roughed out in a sketch, and decisions are made with regard to a color scheme, I lightly layout the design in pencil on my watercolor paper. Next, shading and contouring are laid in with generally a sepia or cobalt wash. Then comes the color! When executing a painting – I fear it is not always in my control and I simply look at what comes from the brush and say “Whoa” and at other times something less lady-like. I am simply a tool – good things happen occasionally. (Interestingly, all the paintings are done to the size of the invitation, so that an accurate view of the printing space may be maintained.)
R: Odd Balls is such a fun name! Can you explain where it originated?
K: You may be sorry you asked. In 1989, two friends and I started a small wholesale company selling Christmas ball earrings. Due to liability issues we needed to form a corporation. We filed with the Secretary of State to incorporate as “Balls, Inc.”. Our application came back noting that that name was taken. We re-filed as “All Balls, Inc.”, went home and told our husbands – well, you can imagine their views on that name. The next day we re-filed as “Odd Balls, Inc.”.
Three years later we introduced our first release of invitations and not being willing to give the legal system any more of our funds we simply kept the name on file. We searched for an alternate DBA but the best we could come up with was a “latin”-ized version “Queerus Spheerus” which, needless to say was far worse. The rest is history.
R: I understand Odd Balls operates out of Arkansas. Are there any regional or local celebrations that have inspired an invitation?
K: It is with regret that I must respond “No” to this question. Local events include “Toad-suck Days”, “Ding Dong Daddy Days”, “The Pink Tomato Festival” and “The Watermelon Festival”, to name a few - none of which have national appeal and are seldom surrounded by multiple events.
R: What is your best piece of advice for a party planner trying to pick out the perfect invitation?
K: An invitation has two functions to invite and to inform. The best invitations reflect the personality of the host(s) and the event they are giving or that of the person being honored. Its arrival will spark the imagination and anticipation of those invited.
Pictured above: Some of Kit's personal Odd Balls favorites: Grandiflora, Bellagio, and Sea Oats. View more Odd Balls invitations here.
