Using a universally accepted icon of the holiday season, I created a papercraft snowflake cleverly based on two PX8000 extrusion profiles. Well known within the company, the PX8000 extrusion is very significant as it was the first flagship AGAM product early in the company's history.
With a more refined and finished look, this hand-cut prototype shows of of the first message design concepts.
A very unpolished hand-cut sample idea that jump-started the entire project.
A “barn door” card was developed to surround and protect the paper craft snowflake inside the envelope.
A secondary design component, a "barn door" card, was developed to surround and protect the paper craft snowflake inside the envelope. The "doors" open in the front of the card from the middle (one to the left and one to the right). After the card is open, it subtly reveals the paper craft PX8000 snowflake behind a translucent holiday insert sheet.
The “AGAM” letters in the company logo were embossed which added to the sense of touch.
Utilizing a simple slit on either the top or bottom of the two PX8000 extrusion profiles, the two printed components slide together to form its unique snowflake assembly. The snowflake is unfolded and intended to sit on the recipient's desk and remain long after the holiday season.
For a truly original holiday greeting, I intended to create something that stood out from other business-to-business holiday cards -- both figuratively and literally. In a sea of generic cards, this papercraft holiday greeting card conveys sophistication, exclusivity, and originality.
Primary Responsibilities:
- From initial conception to final design, I created the paper craft snowflake design, barn door card design and holiday insert sheets. Also responsible for overall art / creative direction.
- Was the sole "salesperson" for "selling" the idea to upper management -- which involved repeated explanations for why it was a justifiable expenditure despite its large price tag. This was money well spent because a design like this conveys more than a standard corporate holiday greeting.
- Created an internal creative brief, budgetary spreadsheet and explored all aspects regarding the mailing process (weight, automated postage stickers, USPS requirements, etc...)
- Responsible for hand picking the print vendor and carefully monitor their progress due to the technical complexity of the job.
- Responsible for managing internal fulfillment of cards. This includes training office staff for snowflake and card assembly, database mining, data merge usage and insert sheet / envelope printing using in-house print-on-demand equipment.
The four components are broken down into individual projects:
Component #1: Paper Craft Snowflake Design
Finished Size: 5.5" x 5.5"
Assembled Size: 5.5" x 5.5" x 5.5"
Stock: Utopia One Gloss Cover, 120#
Inks: PMS Metallic 8240C, PMS 144C, UV Varnish / 3 over 3
Special Fabrication: Laser die cutting and assembling
Finished Size: 5.5" x 5.5"
Assembled Size: 5.5" x 5.5" x 5.5"
Stock: Utopia One Gloss Cover, 120#
Inks: PMS Metallic 8240C, PMS 144C, UV Varnish / 3 over 3
Special Fabrication: Laser die cutting and assembling
The assembled paper craft snowflake consists of two identically shaped PX8000 extrusion profiles. The two "A" and "B" components have slits either on the top or bottom of each PX8000 allowing the two components to slide together. This allows for the final snowflake assembly.
The PX8000 extrusion profile is flooded with a metallic PMS 8240C solid. The company logo, in contrasting PMS 144C, is to the left of each PX8000. Reinforcing the company's commitment to its domestic pledge, the phrase "Made in the USA" is printed beneath the company logo.
On the right side of each PX8000 extrusion profile are word cloud designs detailing four main business principals: "People", "Branding", "Competence" and "System". Each word cloud has approximately 15 related words branching out from the core principal word.
Careful attention was paid to the snowflake's stock selection. A paper was needed that not only could be strong enough for the paper craft to stand up on its own, but also able to hold a rich metallic PMS solid extremely well during printing. Since heavier ink densities tend to become difficult for presses to hold fine typographical detail, the stock needed to allow for truly excellent coverage. Utopia One Gloss 120# cover was chosen and it exceeded all my expectations.
A final print process included the application of a UV varnish. This varnish was applied to both heighten the contrast between the metallic and orange and also to reduce smudging and fingerprints.
Finally, each PX8000 extrusion shape was laser die cut. While laser die cutting is more expensive and time consuming than other traditional die cutting processes, it gave the snowflake a truly precise and technical look.
Component #2: Translucent Holiday Insert Sheet
Finished Size: 8.3125” x 5.5”
Stock: Platinum Translucent Text, 30#
Inks: PMS Black 7C match from laser printer / 1 over 0
Special Fabrication: Cutting
Finished Size: 8.3125” x 5.5”
Stock: Platinum Translucent Text, 30#
Inks: PMS Black 7C match from laser printer / 1 over 0
Special Fabrication: Cutting
A translucent vellum insert sheet contained the printed holiday greeting. Keeping the holiday greeting independent from the snowflake paper craft and outer shell allowed for maximum flexibility for messaging. This allowed the paper craft to remain on a person's desk throughout the year and not tied to a specific holiday time frame.
Several different layouts were created for the vellum insert sheet. Different departments within the company could pick-and-choose the layout and then customize the message best suited for their target audience.
Using data merge techniques along with in-house print-on-demand technology, each vellum sheet could be specifically printed for the recipient. This approach allows for a very personalized and unique end-user experience.
Component #3: Barn Door Card
Finished Size: 8.3125” x 5.5”
Total Document Size: 18.8125” x 5.625”
Stock: Utopia One Gloss Cover, 120#
Inks: PMS Metallic 8240C, PMS 144C, UV Varnish / 3 over 0
Special Fabrication: Laser die cutting, embossing, scoring, folding, and assembling
Finished Size: 8.3125” x 5.5”
Total Document Size: 18.8125” x 5.625”
Stock: Utopia One Gloss Cover, 120#
Inks: PMS Metallic 8240C, PMS 144C, UV Varnish / 3 over 0
Special Fabrication: Laser die cutting, embossing, scoring, folding, and assembling
The barn door card was specifically designed to contain the paper craft PX8000 snowflake and translucent holiday insert sheet. Similar to the PX8000 snowflake, the outer shell is flooded with a metallic PMS 8240 solid.
The company logo, in contrasting PMS144, serves as the card's "belt buckle". On the back side, the company contact information was knocked out from the PMS 8240C solid.
The card was both scored and folded so the card's "doors" open in the front of the card from the middle -- one to the left and one to the right.
Like the PX8000 snowflake, the card was also laser die cut. Laser die cutting is more costly and time consuming than traditional die cutting methods, but the results have a higher level of precision. Gentle 1/4" radius corners were applied to all 90° corners. Additionally the "AGAM" letters in the company logo were embossed adding to the sense of touch.
Component #4: Envelope
Size: 6 x 9 Booklet Envelope
Stock: Naturally white translucent, acid-free uncoated paper, FSC Certified
Inks: PMS Black 7C match from laser printer / 1 over 0
Size: 6 x 9 Booklet Envelope
Stock: Naturally white translucent, acid-free uncoated paper, FSC Certified
Inks: PMS Black 7C match from laser printer / 1 over 0
To complete the entire presentation, a carefully selected translucent envelope was chosen. The Western Translucent 6 x 9 booklet, a naturally white, acid free uncoated envelope was selected because of its ability to showcase the contents of the envelope while offering a high level of durability.
The raw envelope stock of this particular envelope uses more paper fibers than other translucent envelopes. While its aesthetics look quite translucent, the envelope also is able to handle the rigorous stress of being shipped through the USPS with much less rips and tears than other translucent envelopes.
The envelope layout of the recipient's address information was also carefully scrutinized. The recipient's name was purposely centered in front of the company logo inside the translucent envelope. And to avoid any problems with the USPS automated OCR hardware, the recipient's address was place well below the company logo.
To further increase the personalization of each envelope, the recipient's first name was printed on the back flap of the envelope along with a customizable holiday saying with the help of data merge techniques and print-on-demand technology.
Final Assembly:
The final assembly included a removable glue dot applied to the center of the barn door card. This glue dot holds the PX8000 paper craft snowflake snugly in place. Then a translucent holiday insert card is placed on top of the snow flake. Finally, second glue dot on the backside of the company logo keeping the barn doors closed. Once assembled, each card was inserted into a translucent envelope the recipient's name in front of the company logo.
The entire presentation was something truly sophisticated, exclusive and original.
Time frame:
Early concepting started in late October 2012. A finalized design was ready for the printer by Thanksgiving week. Printing and fabrication took approximately two weeks and internal fulfillment took approximately two days.
