Stage I
As usual, we began by selecting typefaces to express the nature of the quote. Decorative Bickham Script communicates lavish, royal praise, while DIN 16 keeps "blame softly" nice and simple. Fleurons created nice borders, and callographic flourishes added a decorative touch, but this is entirely too staid.

Stage II
We began working with color, choosing an 18th century red and adding gold and yellow accents. We played with the fleuron sizes and compositions, then got lost in making patterns for a while—the dangers of the creative process! When all was said and done, we were completely dissatisfied and wanted to head in a lighter and more contemporary direction.

Final
Zing! Much different feel. The irregular lavendar wash in the background immediately imparts a light and soft feel. We kept the fleurons but pared them down to an essential few, mixing the two types and exaggerating scale in order to play up texture. The color palette is a little unusual, making it far more contemporary than our overwhelming red above. Shadow and emboss effects were added to the type to help it stand out. We swapped brackets for the rules around "blame softly" to contrast private blame with very public praise. Finally, we moved Catherine's attribution to the top of the composition in a just-dark-enough yellow. The result is an interesting mix of contemporary and traditional design elements.