Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Covington.
Lauren, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always been enamored by collecting stamps and letter-writing. I would write anyone who would write me back — friends, cousins, the president (#41!), all with the hopes of getting a letter back in the mail and another stamp to add to my collection. As a child, I couldn’t have imagined that my career path would lead me back to making beautiful invitations, something to bring tactile pleasure to people’s mailboxes and homes.
After graduating from Texas State University with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, I worked in advertising and public relations, creating content, managing events and developing a social media presence for brands in the very early days of social media. In my free time, I began making little cards and invitations and selling them on Etsy. Once I started planning my own wedding, I took on the task to design my own wedding invitations and fell in love with process of branding an event, designing something that you can hold in your hands and literally send out to the world with beautiful postage.
I left my 9-5 job in 2013 and began Charm & Fig full time, creating luxury invitations and brand development for small businesses. My background in advertising and PR gave me a major advantage to building my own brand and being a small-business brand consultant for clients. While wedding invitations is my main gig, I’m super passionate about helping women build their businesses — many of my wedding clients have started their own companies and there is nothing I love more than helping them dig into their passion and be their own boss.
Has it been a smooth road?
When I first started out, I said yes to nearly every design job and discounted my prices. I was hungry for work and experience. I went from not so busy to extremely busy and overwhelmed — almost losing the ability to tap into my own creativity. The first few years were small business bootcamp. Long hours, mistakes were made, and sometimes I didn’t make a profit on a job. I’ve learned a lot from those early years and really sharpened my design, streamline my services, and strengthen my project management skills. I can now be selective about the jobs I take, and charge appropriately because I’ve put in the hours, developed the vendor relationships, and trust my gut on design decisions.
It feels good to be able to say no to a project that doesn’t excite me — I feel like I’ve earned it. I’d encourage young designers to listen to their gut when a project keeps being problematic. It may not be the right project for them, and it’s ok to pass on it.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Charm & Fig Paper Goods – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I create luxury wedding invitations and help small businesses bring their brand aesthetic to life with tactile objects like business cards, personal stationery and custom gifts. When it comes to weddings, the invitations are all about telling the couple’s story and bringing a little gorgeous surprise to their guests’ mailboxes. Our invitations are thick, using 100% cotton papers, printer with letterpress and foil stamping — a method that you can feel when you run your fingers across the paper. We love using details like hand-beveled edges painted with a bright color and lush botanical envelopes liners.
Over the past few years, I’ve done a lot of East Coast beach weddings and tropical weddings. Once those pictures get out in the world and circulate on Instagram or Pinterest, it attracts clients who are having similar vibes for their event. I like the contrast between minimalism and maximalism, and I think there is room for both.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love that Houston is informal and relaxed. We know how to clean up for a black-tie affair, but prefer to chow down on fajitas and margaritas. There’s not a competitive spirit that I’ve felt in other cities, and the design community is supportive. There’s a hand full of designers I met when I started out, and I only see them cheering on each other as they get more successful or shift into different career paths.
I think the population density of our city can sometimes make it harder to connect with other artists and designers. I moved to the west side from the East End and I miss being surrounded by a younger, gritter design community. But with that said, having more space and being in nature has been crucial to unwinding from work. Terry Hershey Park in the spring is the city’s best kept secret.
Pricing:
- $15 – Gold Foil Thank You Card Sets
- $32 Return Address Stamps
- $6 Gold Foil / Letterpress Cards
- Custom Wedding Invitations Start at $2K
Contact Info:
- Website: www.charmandfig.com
- Email: info@charmandfig.com
- Instagram: cfpapergoods
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/charmandfig/
Image Credit:
All Images by Charm & Fig
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