The whole thing looks cheap, and the calligraphy average and without character. Applying an existing template is not "designing."
However, whether the cost is reasonable depends on the quantity of invitations involved and the content of the service. If the service provider was also responsible for mailing out the invitations and therefore had to be given the personal information of the guests, it's possible that she was chosen because she had a reputation of being discreet.
Just guessing.
As for the price for fancy calligraphy, just check out any issue of Martha Stewart Weddings or ask the people there.
I'm not saying the price isn't high, but as a designer myself, I have to say, people truly undervalue the services an artist or designer provides and the amount of work that goes into creating a successful project. This one seems to have encompassed finding the right calligraphy, creating a digital version of the font to ensure consistency, laying out all the materials, personalizing everything, proofreading, printing, and assembling all the components, and then fine finish work that did require actual hand calligraphy which is an art form in and of itself. It is also incredibly time consuming. Plus you need to deliver materials to locations and probably coordinate a mailing as well for something this large in scope.
That's just what I see on the surface when I look at the web site and see her comments and notes on the project. There are sure to be many other components that need to be considered as well. So there is a lot there that could ultimately justify the pricing in all honesty.
Good design is not just about picking out a pre-packaged font and typing away. Design may look effortless, but it really isn't. #michaeljackson
@BrainyHistorian: As a calligrapher (among other things) myself, I totally agree, but still, the prices listed above are fucking ridiculous. #michaeljackson
With all due respect to the departed... ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT AMONGST THOSE GARISH AND LURID OUTFITS THERE WASN'T A SINGLE PIECE THAT YOU WERE HAPPY TO LET HIM TAKE TO THE GRAVE?
$35,000 for 'burial garments'? What in the name of all that is holy did you bury him in? A top-of-the-range Sheridan sheet set?
Good lord, Conan O' Brien is down 47 percent from where Jay was last year? Not surprising. There isn't a good show between all three of those NBC late night disasters.
@MissNormaDesmond: Someone pointed out in another thread that the "show older posts" feature, for some reason, is not activated. Scroll down to the bottom; you'll notice it's not there. #michaeljackson
Joe Jackson is an easy target, and why would Gawker be immune from racisms to which even the New York Times falls prey? Still between this and your coverage of the Hirschberg/New York Times Magazine Lee Daniels profile (and then there’s the profile itself) I’m getting a little sick of it.
Whites systematically and over generations deny African Americans education and any realistic chance at joining the upper class. When one manages to crash that party anyway, we point and, well, gawk, at their stupidity (lack of education) and boorishness (unfamiliarity with elite customs.) Both will be regularly be on bountiful display until equality has been in place for generations. That too is somehow their fault?
Congratulations, I guess, for noticing oppression took its toll.
@grayzip002: Right, because Gawker never expresses disgust toward white people who exploit their children. They think the Gosselins are dreamy, for example. Come on. I'm considered the wingnut race card player around here, and even I think that's bullshit. The scorn isn't for the language in which the heartlessness is couched, it's for the heartlessness itself, which Jackson Sr. has displayed throughout his children's lives. Was Michael insufficiently aware of the toll of oppression when he threw up? #michaeljackson
@grayzip002: Being a greedy, creepy heartless asshole who abuses and ruthlessly exploits their offspring has nothing to do with educational achievement nor race. Just ask Mozart's father. #michaeljackson
@grayzip002:
Michael Jackson talked about his miserable childhood and how Joe beat him regularly when he made a mistake. Joe Jackson is a monster and the color of his skin has nothing to do with or the reporting of it. #michaeljackson
@grayzip002: Riiiiiightt. So bad parents come only in the following colors: white, kinda white, super-duper-totes-white, pretty fucking white and hey, whitey!
Do you realize you're being kinda racist with your unspoken pre-supposition that African-Americans, unlike Caucasians, are always great parents? Bad parenting knows no gender, sexual orientation, race, national origin, gender identity and ethnicity. It's one of the few things that unites the human race. The abuse of chilren happens in every nation, tribe, community and continent. We are the world! It doesn't fundamentally matter that Michael Jackson's family is black. What matters is that an adorable little kid got beaten and tortured into becoming a monster, and that this happens all the time, everyday among Americans of all races and nations across the world. You're seriously naive if you think African-Americans always make great parents simply because there's still a lot of racism in American society. #michaeljackson
11/12/09
However, whether the cost is reasonable depends on the quantity of invitations involved and the content of the service. If the service provider was also responsible for mailing out the invitations and therefore had to be given the personal information of the guests, it's possible that she was chosen because she had a reputation of being discreet.
Just guessing.
As for the price for fancy calligraphy, just check out any issue of Martha Stewart Weddings or ask the people there.
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
Sounds like a bargain to me. #michaeljackson
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
That's just what I see on the surface when I look at the web site and see her comments and notes on the project. There are sure to be many other components that need to be considered as well. So there is a lot there that could ultimately justify the pricing in all honesty.
Good design is not just about picking out a pre-packaged font and typing away. Design may look effortless, but it really isn't. #michaeljackson
11/11/09
11/11/09
$35,000 for 'burial garments'? What in the name of all that is holy did you bury him in? A top-of-the-range Sheridan sheet set?
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/02/09
11/02/09
11/02/09
I count two NBC late night disasters, what's the third one? #davidletterman
11/02/09
11/02/09
11/02/09
10/31/09
10/31/09
11/01/09
11/01/09
10/31/09
[www.nytimes.com]
10/31/09
Whites systematically and over generations deny African Americans education and any realistic chance at joining the upper class. When one manages to crash that party anyway, we point and, well, gawk, at their stupidity (lack of education) and boorishness (unfamiliarity with elite customs.) Both will be regularly be on bountiful display until equality has been in place for generations. That too is somehow their fault?
Congratulations, I guess, for noticing oppression took its toll.
10/31/09
10/31/09
10/31/09
First of all, as others have noted, Gawker goes after bad types of all colors.
Second, oppression, especially when expressed against one's own children, is not an adequate excuse. #michaeljackson
10/31/09
10/31/09
11/01/09
Michael Jackson talked about his miserable childhood and how Joe beat him regularly when he made a mistake. Joe Jackson is a monster and the color of his skin has nothing to do with or the reporting of it. #michaeljackson
11/01/09
Do you realize you're being kinda racist with your unspoken pre-supposition that African-Americans, unlike Caucasians, are always great parents? Bad parenting knows no gender, sexual orientation, race, national origin, gender identity and ethnicity. It's one of the few things that unites the human race. The abuse of chilren happens in every nation, tribe, community and continent. We are the world! It doesn't fundamentally matter that Michael Jackson's family is black. What matters is that an adorable little kid got beaten and tortured into becoming a monster, and that this happens all the time, everyday among Americans of all races and nations across the world. You're seriously naive if you think African-Americans always make great parents simply because there's still a lot of racism in American society. #michaeljackson