In case you’re in need of some celebration inspiration for you holidays, check out these 14 celebratory design projects—past award winners, greeting cards, and excellent holiday design projects that have struck a chord with our sense of festivity.
AIGA Design Camp – Print Celebrates Design 2013 Best in Show
The Print Celebrates Design 2013 Best in Show Winner, Minneapolis-based design firm FAME put an “Up North” spin on AIGA Minnesota’s “Connections” strategy for AIGA Design Camp 2013. On the poster invite, the campfire came to life with fire-kissed orange and crispy metallic pantones over natural, speckled paper. And thanks to augmented reality, toasting digital marshmallows (via digital campfire) became a form of artistic expression–engaging potential attendees and increasing event response. The use of color, type and a graphic pattern connected additional campaign elements, from lanyards and matchbooks, to custom patch and graphic buttons.
Wedding Art Gallery – The Voyage to October 5th
Megan Flood, founder of NYC-based design firm Marine Lane, committed herself to creating a special experience for her NYC wedding to high school sweetheart Timmy Beringer. Megan and her team transformed the wedding cocktail hour into an art gallery, which celebrated the couple’s eight year journey. This project was honored in the Print Celebrates Design competition in 2013.
Gold-Stamped Christmas Card Design
These gold-stamped Christmas cards by Singapore-based LemonGraphic employ strong typography and high quality printing to create stylish holiday greetings that also act a promotional piece. Check out more detailed photos here.
Food, Inc. Awards Trophy
Food, Inc. has become more than a film, it’s become synonymous with a loyal community of people committed to living healthier lives and taking action to change the food industry for the better and who have made choices in their lives aligned with the messages of the film. The Food, Inc. trophy was designed by TakePart of Beverly Hills to represent the iconic cow with the bar-code from the film. The trophy is laser cut from bamboo and engraved and it celebrates the real-life changes people have made. This project was honored in the Print Celebrates Design competition in 2013.
Chocolate Gift Packaging Design
Who wouldn’t want to receive the gift of Carluccio’s chocolates, especially given these immaculately designed boxes with beautiful typography and illustrations by Malika Farve. Check out image details and addtional packaging here. Via Fonts in Use.
Mid-Century Wrapping Paper
Jude Stewart showed us this mid-century wrapping set by NormansPrintery last year. Also, cruise over to Brit + Co to their guide to the 50 most beautiful wrapping papers ever.
70kft 10th Anniversary Invitation
70kft, a brand communications agency based in Dallas, celebrated their 10 year anniversary on August 17, 2013. This project was the invitation to their party and was both a printed and an interactive digital invitation. The invite counts their ten-year journey and is a visual representation of what makes up 70kft and their culture. This project was honored in the Print Celebrates Design competition in 2013.
Moore & Kreutzer Wedding Invitation/Announcement
“As a gift to my bride, I wanted to create something unexpected and creative to announce our upcoming wedding. To begin the design process, I created a crest, representing our families merging together, setting the foundation for our marriage. I scrapped the typical “save the date” in favor of a double-sided poster – an announcement on one side and a calendar on the other, merging form and function. My goal was to use hand-drawn line work to symbolize our lives intertwining, while reflecting our individual personalities and styles. The result was an elegant balance of beauty, craft and restraint.” – designer Joel Kreutzer | This project was honored in the Print Celebrates Design competition in 2013.
Winter Windows
Santa’s workshop took a 21st century twist in the 2013 holiday season, with thanks to some top-notch, interactive design. Landor Associates, (http://landor.com/) one of the world’s leading strategic brand consulting and design firms, houses its Cincinnati team in the former Shillito’s downtown department store. With a historic department store comes historic department store windows, and the talented team at Landor is not one to let them sit vacant. Read more about this project at HOW Design.
A video about the project:
Jon & Nicole’s Wedding Invites
“This is the invitation system I designed for my wedding. The first piece was a series of ‘save the date’ coasters. Each guest got one coaster with an excited phrase like ‘Hell Yes!’ or ‘Hooray’ and one with the date and location information. Then, for the invitation, I made a 18 inches by 24 inches silk screen poster showing the places my fiancé and I have traveled and things we’ve done together in three colors — blue, red and gold. I sent them in triangle poster boxes that were stamped with one of the fun sayings used on the coasters, again in one of three colors. All of these variations let me give each guest a unique invitation set.” – Jon Jackson, Brooklyn, NY | This project was honored in the Print Celebrates Design competition in 2013.
Thanksgivukkah Cards
When the entire world simultaneously discovered that Thanksgiving and Hanukkah would share a celebration date in 2013, traditional media and the Twittersphere alike exploded with puns, jokes and an appropriate mash-up of names. Enter Thanksgivukkah, the festival of lights and stuffing. Luckily, one creative firm was inspired enough to fill the hybrid holiday void. In its annual holiday card design, Colle + McVoy pays homage to eight non-traditional holidays inspired by throwing together 16 typical celebrations. Read more about this project at HOW Design.
Queenstown 60th Anniversary Commemorative Postcards
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s first satellite town and also the Queen of Estates in the nation, Paradox Media ofSingapore designed a series of postcards as memorabilia. Handed out as souvenirs at the opening event that kick-started a year-long celebration, the postcards depict scenes and landmarks from a bygone era during the early days of the town’s beginnings. Juxtaposed against these quaint and vintage backdrops are the various graphic icons and typography that draw inspiration from old signage and architecture found around town. This project was honored in the Print Celebrates Design competition in 2013.
Holiday Garden Elixir Kit
This elixir holiday gift design was created for Simone LeBlanc Inc., by Project M Plus ofLos Angeles. The project included icons designed for each elixir, recipe book and packaging; the kit uses leather foil stamping, letterpress and digital printing. This project was honored in the Print Celebrates Design competition in 2013.
DishCourse Invitation Package
In a world where executives are constantly receiving flat, forgettable invites to events not worth attending, Hélène Larochelle made sure DishCourse stood above the rest. To create an exclusive feel, each hand-delivered invite was built using salvaged materials like barn beams and vintage skeleton keys. The team hand-finished and assembled each piece to make the invites unique. The letter-pressed, multi-page invite was connected to the beam with snaps and provided invitees an access code to RSVP on the website. The invitation was then boxed up on a bed of aspen wood, tied with jute cord and addressed with a personalized tag. This project was honored in the Print Celebrates Design competition in 2013.
Have you ever waited until the last minute to buy a card, or realized you completely forgot to buy one altogether? Or maybe, just maybe, you absolutely can’t stand the monumental time-suck of standing in the greeting card isle looking for the perfect card. Avoid all of these issues with this convenient book of ready-to-fold-and-mail greeting cards in OMG! I Forgot the Card. This collection of amusing greeting cards
contains messages that are sometimes sweet, sometimes snarky, but always hilarious, so you’re sure to find something for everyone. Included are holiday cards, birthday cards, get well cards and much more, so you’ll be prepared for any occasion without having to risk losing your sense of humor by making a trip to the grocery store. Get the book here.
Take a look inside the collection in the video below.