STUDIO À PART

Hi friends - we’ve been a little quiet these last few weeks, but for good reason. I’m so excited to finally share that UME DESIGN STUDIO is officially becoming Studio___À Part. Since launching UME in 2023, I’ve had an incredible few years working with amazing clients and vendors. But as the studio has grown, I realized I had naturally outgrown the original identity. My background has always been in multidisciplinary design, and while UME allowed me to focus in on weddings, it was time for the brand to catch up to the full reality of my practice - which is that intersection of brand, events, and objects. This shift aligns so much better with how I’ve always approached my work: creating things that intentionally stand apart from the expected. We’ll be taking on more brand work alongside our usual wedding & event projects, plus some new exciting additions I’ve been planning behind the scenes. To everyone who has been a part of the journey so far: thank you 🤍 As a creative, I can’t begin to explain how much it means when people support what I put out into the world. It’s a privilege to create for you. Excited to continue creating cool stuff for you guys ✌🏼 [ branding studio, brand strategy, design systems, creative direction, rebrand, brand design, editorial design, brand identity, luxury brand design, stationery design, print design ]

THE ART OF TACTILE STORYTELLING: A study in intentional, experiential design. A recent bespoke wedding invitation suite I created for Tani & Rupert, inspired by the duality of the Cabo San Lucas landscape: “between sand and sea.” The focus was on an immersive guest experience - an unfolding narrative centered on the concept of a slow reveal. Through a perforated tear strip, guests uncover one of three abstract covers (Sea, Sand, or Sky) revealing the message: Meet us where love led us. Inside, the textures do the talking: blind-embossed wave details, letterpressed stone shapes, and their story printed in white foil on ethereal semi-translucent vellum; all housed in an envelope finished with an organic, shell-impressed pearl wax seal. Coming from a branding background, my approach is always rooted in intentionality and every piece is thoughtfully curated. I think about the guest experience, how they will interact with a piece, how each component can feel unique and dynamic, yet tell a cohesive story - from the typography to imagery, to tactile print details and materials. It’s about more than just information; it’s about creating a special, physical experience that feels entirely unique to the couple. ___ #editorialdesign #weddinginvitations #eventbranding #luxurybranding #luxuryweddings

Invitations you actually want to keep 👀 Designed as part of a dreamy editorial shoot in Tuscany, Italy, this four-piece silk scarf collection blurs the line between fashion and stationery, reimagining what an invitation could be. Something that invites you to keep it, wear it, and relive the memory long after the event. (This is just a sneak peek - more from the actual shoot coming soon) My work is about creating intentional, distinctive designs that challenge convention with a touch of experimentation, and I try to create things that make people feel something. If you value design that feels unique & personal (and a little daring), let’s collaborate 🤍 ____ #weddinginvitations #luxurystationery #editorialwedding #fashionwedding #antibride #modernweddingdesign #weddingstationery #italywedding #luxuryweddinginvitations #fashioninspo #uniqueweddingideas #uniquewedding #destinationweddings

The Death of the Repetitive Grid — Vol. I Now Live In an era of infinite, mindless scrolling, The Archive Collection is a deliberate pattern interruption. We’ve distilled our studio’s visual language into a collection of 30 versatile Instagram assets designed to bypass the generic and stand à part from the noise. These are the refined structures we use in-house to ensure every post feels curated and cohesive without feeling repetitive. It’s the high-end visual aesthetic of our studio, translated into a flexible, layered format - created for the brands and individuals seeking to elevate their content into an editorial space. Unlike typical template packs that force your content into a rigid, boring loop, Vol. I: The Archive Collection provides a diverse set of visual structures that work together as a singular, sophisticated system (and easy to use in Canva). As a thank you to our supporters and early adopters, use code ARCHIVE10 at checkout for $10 off (active through Monday only). 🔗 Link in bio to shop ___ #editorialdesign #branddesign #brandstudio #luxurybranding

Stationers we’d hire if we were a 2026 bride ✨ You’re welcome. @byv____ @studio___apart @katythomas.creativeco @nubo_studio @tamborinepress @sunday.gelato Comment who else should be on our radar 💌 xx TFC, your wedding tastemaker — #thefriendclub #weddingplanning #stationery #weddingstationery #weddingdesign #weddinginspiration

From black-tie events to pizza tours, I contain multitudes (and about 4,000 calories of sourdough and burrata). A few snapshots from a whirlwind weekend in NYC 🗽 ___ #NYC #theplaza #NYCevents #eventdesign #creativedirector

Vol I. Everything I ‘Unlearned’ to Become a Better Designer After 15 years in the industry, I’ve realized that growth doesn’t always come from learning new skills, but from challenging the way we’re “supposed to work” as designers. I’ve been reflecting a bit lately on where I started vs. where I am now. Although there have been several things in my life that have helped get me to this point, these are a few perspective shifts that actually changed my work. ___ #brandingstudio #designer #creativedirection #branddesign #editorialdesign

I often find that the most complex part of design is keeping things simple while still making a statement and eliciting emotion. To tell Tani & Rupert’s story, I wanted to create something that felt soft and ethereal, like a memory. In contrast to the deep rich tones of the rest of the invitation suite, we opted for a weightless semi-translucent vellum paired with crisp white foil stamping, creating a piece that is meant to be felt as much as it is read. ___ #editorialdesign #weddinginvitations #eventbranding #luxurybranding #luxuryweddings

A look into a recent editorial elopement shoot we did with @edenxuanphoto at a remote villa in the hills of Tuscany 🇮🇹 (This was a unique creative collaboration where I designed the stationery and my husband and I stepped in to model the story.) My vision for the stationery was to create pieces that lived beyond the RSVP, so I designed the invitations as silk scarves—meant to be worn and kept as a memory of the weekend. The intimate reception was set in a massive open field, using fresh greenery and vegetables along the tablescape in place of traditional florals. We kept the experience tactile, with menus tucked into printed envelopes like sealed postcards from Italy and place cards wedged into fresh garlic and seasonal produce from a nearby market. As for the fashion, it was all about the silhouette. I wore a custom dress styled two ways: first as a sharp editorial look with a straw hat and trailing veil, followed by a ceremony look featuring a dramatic, oversized cape. This was truly one for the books, and I’m so grateful to have helped bring this vision to life alongside such an amazing, talented team 🤍 More to come soon! Planning & Photography: @edenxuanphoto Locations & Venue: Todi, Italy & @villalavandatodi Stationary: @studio___apart Hair & Makeup: @maggiekingmakeup Fashion Design & Styling: @houseofmaganda Catering: Donna Hash Couple: @studio___apart @josajima [ Italy wedding, Tuscany wedding, wedding stationery, wedding invitations, destination wedding, editorial fashion, creative direction, art direction, event invitations, brand event, wedding dress ]

Life lately. First photo is from our shoot in Italy with the amazing @edenxuanphoto 🤍 [ creative director, brand designer, event designer, visual identity, print design, lifestyle, editorial design, quiet luxury, fashion, analog design ]

ASCII meets Provence: a little peek at the design journey for Louise & Fred’s virtual save the date. L&F’s initial vision was a minimalist design with elegant, expressive typography as the main feature. But through the journey, we felt the design needed to feel more personal — so we decided to create something that matched the elegance of their Provence wedding but also nodded to their shared background in tech & design. Since lavender will be in bloom for their June solstice date, what better way to do that than with an ASCII lavender illustration? [ save the date, wedding invitations, digital save the date, digital invites, art direction, design, modern wedding, destination wedding, bespoke stationery, unique invitations ]

POV: Your brand is a 90s Hong Kong noir film 🐎🧧 Happy Lunar New Year friends, and welcome to the House of Eighty-Eight. This project is a labor of love inspired by my childhood memories of 90s Cantonese cinema—moody, textured worlds where the atmosphere told as much of the story as the actors did. The name is an homage to heritage; 8 is the luckiest number in Chinese culture, representing prosperity and fortune. As we enter the Year of the Horse, I had this idea to explore equestrian-inspired fashion brand through a lens that felt different. While rooted in equestrianism, this isn’t sportswear—it’s a high-end luxury take on contemporary ready-to-wear that feels simultaneously modern and timeless. The heart of the project is juxtaposition. Contemporary/vintage typography pairings and bold layouts, against the soft, grainy cinematic look of 80s/90s Hong Kong film stock. Every visual element—from the layouts inspired by vintage film posters to the engraved iconography of mahjong tiles, paper lanterns, and traditional Chinese stamps—is a deliberate piece of a larger puzzle. These components form a visual language that we use strategically to evoke a mood, tell a story, and build a world. For this campaign, I used AI to generate images meant to feel like authentic film stills, following the stories of different characters across the city (hence the cinematic angles and yellow subtitles). The copy was written with a specific noir-inspired brand voice in mind, intended to pull you deeper into the narrative of each frame. In the world of Eighty-Eight, the stakes are high, the silhouettes are sharp, and luck is always on your side. Here’s to a bold Year of the Horse—no more playing it safe. [ year of the horse, lunar new year 2026, chinese new year, brand identity, brand design, luxury branding, creative director, editorial design, brand strategy, asian brand ]