by Wayne Stuart

It’s that time of the year and the brief most creative's dread – the Christmas card. Each year it’s quite a challenge to re-imagine, re-invent and rejuvenate the Christmas theme, but actually I quite like it. Yes it’s a real challenge but it’s also a chance to have a bit of fun and we are very fortunate to have two clients who allows us that creative freedom Downing and Curtin’s. This year was no different, for Downing we usually create a digital piece, but with time pressing and all avenues exhausted I decided to fall back to just a traditional message and image with a very modern twist that sat perfectly with Downing’s target market. The inspiration came from a card I’d seen many years ago by Abbott Meade Vickers (I’m a bit of a design geek that way) see below. So simple in its execution and delivers the perfect message without actually saying it. And below is my homage to that idea. Set outside one of Downing’s latest student accommodation developments in Acton, London it was a scenario I simply couldn't resist. Curtin’s briefed us to create 2 cards; an external and internal version for their staff (a nice touch you’ll agree) last year’s internal card was a handwritten version from their CEO (age 5) see below. This year was a chance to have a bit of fun and demonstrate just how far Curtin’s have grown. We used two pieces of previous creative and combined them; the Caricature’s from the MIPM wine invite (image below) and the DNA strands used to re-imagine their boardrooms (image at bottom of page) featuring the names of each and every member of staff.