The greeting card industry is a $7 billion industry, with about $1.6 billion coming from the holiday market. Many people now are celebrating secular holidays or do not observe Christmas within a religious context. I decided to illustrate the traditional carol 'The 12 Days of Christmas' in a series of Christmas cards. This solves the problem of wanting to send a greeting card to someone who possibly doesn't observe Christmas religiously or is tired of the traditional cute imagery often associated with Christmas.
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
Two Turtle Doves
Three French Hens
Four Calling Birds
Five Golden Rings
Six Geese A-Laying
Seven Swans A-Swimming
Eight Maids A-Milking
Nine Ladies Dancing
Ten Lords A-Leaping
Eleven Pipers Piping
Twelve Drummers Drumming
Women traditionally are the largest share of shoppers in that market with millennial-aged women recently making up a large, and growing, portion. They are favoring a more expensive, personalized, and handmade product. The make and design of these cards were chosen to appeal to the expressed desires of that demographic.
The design of these greeting cards was meant to look as if they were hand-printed aquatints. To do this, I first brainstormed compositions for each image while being aware of the fact that they had to appear consistent in illustration style and color. I then created a palette using neutral colors reflective of the season, with a few accents of bright yellow and red. In addition to this, I also created several custom brushes to mimic hand-drawn lines and I also created a group of texture overlays to recreate the irregularity that can be found on aquatints.
