The greeting card industry is saturated with content. From birthdays to Valentines Day, there is a card for every personality. But what about the more obscure holidays? How does one design a card around a holiday that no one has ever heard of before or a holiday for which you wouldn’t typically think to buy a card? While there are a few Hanukkah cards around Christmastime, I noticed that there wasn’t really a space for Jewish holiday cards. So I sought to change that.
Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, and Passover
There are many factors to consider when designing a card. Is it catchy? Is it memorable? Does it represent the holiday accurately? For this Jewish holiday card series, I utilized song lyrics on each card to associate with each holiday. In this way, the audience will automatically connect with the design. I also chose illustrations of traditional objects associated with Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, and Passover to further the connection.
Purim, Sukkot, and Tu B’Shevat
But what about the more obscure Jewish holidays? Purim, Sukkot, and Tu B’Shevat are each fun in their own right, but less well known. For these holidays I tried to create an environment and typographic style that is representative of each. Purim is very lively and boisterous so I made the type bold and chunky. Sukkot is celebrated in a sukkah so I incorporated the type into that environment. And Tu B’Shevat is a tree-based holiday so I gave the text a long, organic feel.
Making Space
While most holidays have been portrayed countless ways in the greeting card industry, it was refreshing to take on holidays that aren’t typically seen. This gave me total freedom creatively but also presented a challenge. I had to make sure that the holiday itself was obvious and connected to the design. And I had to create a layout that jumps off the shelves since these are not holidays for which one typically buys a card. Here’s to changing the industry, one holiday card at a time.