A Festive Freedom Friday
Freedom Friday: Lauren
The festive season is upon us! And so for my first Freedom Friday at Ave I decided to create my annual Christmas card. In an effort to up-skill, I knew I wanted to explore designs using Procreate and digital illustrations. What started out as a simple brief, however, unfolded into something much trickier.
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On average, 900 million Christmas Cards are sent each year in Britain alone (according to https://www.newsletter.co.uk/lifestyle/christmas/who-received-the-first-christmas-card-how-much-did-it-cost-and-how-many-christmas-cards-are-sent-each-year-3494764). Of these millions of cards and designs, how could I make mine stand out on an average home shelf? Further, how do I make mine special so you would know it is from me? Like every brief, it started with research not only online but also through finding inspiration in shops and installations. Then it was on to moodboarding and figuring out what message I wanted my card to send.
My card needed to be imaginative, thoughtful, and fun.
Imaginative
A yeti! Linking to Christmas through its snowy habitat, but not being overly used.
Thoughtful
Creating a mini me and my dog Elmo to link the card back to myself. The card also expresses the ideology of giving.
Fun
A common Christmas gift, the humble pair of socks. How would these ever fit on a Yeti’s foot? This would be the perfect Yeti horn warmer!
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After initial sketches on paper, I moved on to Procreate to practise different styles of yeti. Once I had my preferred style, I drew out the card sections. I then brainstormed and wrote the tagline with help from the Ave team. Finally, I brought it all together in InDesign and sent it to print.
No matter the brief, and even though there are thousands of designs out there, there are always new ideas and a way to make the design feel unique to you.