Christmas Card Designs – bespoke cards for your business
Many years ago working as a designer for a London marketing agency, I remember the groans round the studio when someone mentioned that we had to come up with an idea for the company Christmas card design. As with all self branding it was one of the hardest jobs.
Northsouth Design 2015
Last year was the first year I decided to do my own Christmas card design and I came up with the idea using the popular song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Being a lover of typography I wanted a simple design and created the lyrics on the front of the card, picking out the word Northsouth Design in a bolder colour. To add to it I did a little research into the song and found out it was written by a copywriter who was working for a marketing company in America, which fitted perfectly with my business so inside I added a brief paragraph about the history and origin of the song / poem.
The Northsouth Design 2016 Christmas card design
So this years card proved to be a lot harder! I really wanted a simple design, something that shouted Northsouth Design and so I turned to my logo for inspiration. Using the O in the middle I created the Ho Ho Ho message. I then took the opportunity inside to tell people I had just relaunched my new website. The card is printed on a lovely uncoated Conqueror wove stock which gives it a premium feel.
The card has worked well and I have had several emails back from clients telling me how much they like it. This is what I wanted to achieve, yes its a Christmas card but its also acts as a reminder to your clients or customers that you are there. This is why I think having a bespoke card is important as you will stand out from the many that will end up on their desks. I have already had a client call me who had just received my card and got in touch about meeting up next year to discuss new work. I reminded them that I was there.
This year, a few of my clients approached me to do their Christmas card design.
KFH Accounting Limited
My first project was for KFH Accounting Limited. Kylie wanted a fun Christmas card design with humour. Yes thats right, I did just say ‘a fun card with humour’ for an accountancy firm. 😉 After talking a few ideas and scribbles through with Kylie, we settled on the final idea and decided on a cartoon theme. Santa being reminded by Mrs Claus to fill in his mileage log! The KFH unique selling point is a friendly approachable accountant. Having a card that was a little bit more fun than the usual corporate cards was ideal for the company. Why shouldn’t they have a card which has humour on it, who wants to see a Christmas card reminding them about their tax? The KFH card was printed on the same lovely conqueror wove uncoated for that professional edge.
Bright Stars Education
My second was for my clients – Bright Stars Education. A tutoring company based in Hockley. After looking at generic cards where a printer adds a company logo they realised they wanted something a bit more unique. There are many companies who provide this card printing service but if you want something a little more bespoke and individual that relates to your company – then this is when a designer can come in handy. A design company always wants to come up with good concepts for their own cards – so why not do the same for their clients?
So, Bright Stars asked me to step in. Their name, to me, had to be part of this card. A star is a recognised symbol of Christmas. So I came up with several ideas for this. The ladies loved them so much that they actually decided to use one idea for Christmas cards and the other (with some slight tweaks) as good luck cards for their students. Again the cards are very on brand for them and will certainly stand out among the usual Christmas images.
Penny Poppins Chimney Sweep
My third Christmas card design was for my chimney sweep client – Penny Poppins. Oh did I have some fun with this one!! Christmas, Santa, chimneys! It all fits so well! This time of year is Penny’s busiest time. Also a lot of her customers get in touch saying they want their chimneys swept before Christmas. They make it part of the Christmas preparations.
Using the words to ‘When Santa got stuck up the chimney’ I developed a design that fits well with Penny’s strong branding. On Penny’s van and printed material, I use a silhouette of rooftops and chimneys. I used this idea for the front with an illustration of Santa stuck head first down the chimney. Inside the message continues with Penny Poppins coming to Santa’s rescue. It’s a card that fits so well with Penny’s image. I hope its made her customers smile because it makes me smile every time I look at it.
Bespoke cards for next year?
Hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post. Next November / December think about whether you need a bespoke Christmas card design for clients. Its a great tool for getting a message across as well as wishing them a Happy Christmas. It doesn’t have to be a physical card, some companies do digital email cards which can work well too. As a lover of printed material, however, I prefer the traditional approach – with the ‘Northsouth Design’ twist!