For many years we have collaborated with Cannelli Printing in New Haven to produce annual holiday cards. Showcasing our concepts and their technical skills, the final pieces indeed work as promotional materials for both of us. But our purpose goes much deeper than this right from the onset: our business is founded on relationships and teamwork, and while we enjoy being able to design pieces to highlight that, we are driven to do so while giving back: each year we contribute to causes in honor of our clients and send out a special message that becomes a gift unto itself.
This piece is a luscious folding card on Cranes Lettra Fluorescent White, 110lb. cotton. We letterpressed the design in three passes: two metallic inks for our insignia and message, and a blind deboss for the music notes. The result was a soft, tactile experience that illustrates our concept of this year’s holiday gift, with the following message…
“May the New Year bring you enough happiness to fill your voice with joy and let your words sing out. When we join one another, the melody becomes even more beautiful. So that more can share in this experience, we have made donations in the name of our clients to Neighborhood Music School and Little Kids Rock to encourage children and adults alike to experiment, learn, and grow with music. Experts have proven that music education not only enhances a child’s academic performance in math and science, but it also engenders teamwork, communication, and social skills critical to success as an adult. So let’s further our common humanity and rock out to the start of a memorable year.”
The piece showcases the ancient quotation “Harmony makes small things grow.” by Sallust. The use of gorgeous letterpress really makes our typography and illustration “sing.”
Our agency has never been a one-note shop to say the least, rather we entertain and enlighten with a symphony of creativity in each composition. Here, we had Cannelli maximize the “push” of the letterpress plate’s impression: pressing hundreds of tiny notes as deep as they could go into the Cranes cotton surface without breaking the sheet, in a celebration of our concept and the technique itself — an angelic, melodious snowy sky.
Detail view of our custom envelope flap with perfectly-placed return address, letterpressed in steely, shimmery metallic-blue on a coordinating Cranes Cotton #9 Embassy Pointed Envelope, in Celadon.