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Designing Christmas: Inspiring ideas by some of the world’s best graphic designers.

You’ve been asked to design the agency Christmas greeting again! Your heart sinks and you take a slow, deep breath...

***k, not again, I did it last year — like I’ve got time for this s***.

The poor account handler tasked with giving you this job helpfully (though perhaps a little naively) suggests...

You’ll have it done in an hour. It’ll be fun - just be creative! 

Whether you’re designing for yourself or a client, the Christmas card is a job all designers dread, especially those who pride themselves on coming up with ideas. It would be easy if you didn’t care - but you’re not built like that. So, each year, in an effort to be original, we spend countless hours thinking about this (seemingly) straightforward and trivial task.

The problem is this; how do you design something original and fresh to celebrate something so fundamentally clichéd?

Well, inspiration is at hand! We’ve searched through our scrapbooks and dusty boxes and found some of our personal favourites. Some we have created, many more are by amazing designers around the world and a few images have been pilfered from the awesome book A Smile in the Mind by Beryl McAlhone and David Stuart. Where work is uncredited, we sincerely apologise and if you know who designed it please do let us know so we can update the post.

Rudolf’s Red Nose for Brain Partners Chartered Accountants by Propella. 2023
Greeting card design ‘Christmas Thoughts’ featuring designers sitting at a table thinking of Xmas card ideas surrounded by screwed up balls of paper resembling balls of snow for and by Bull Rodger. 1994
‘Christmas Thoughts’ for and by Bull Rodger. 1994
Greeting card design ‘Christmas in Battersea’ featuring Battersea Power station up side down like a table with a Xmas banquet illustration on top for and by Smith & Milton. 1980
‘Christmas in Battersea’ for and by Smith & Milton. 1980
Greetings card design ‘Wishing You a Colourful Christmas’ including a Pantone colour fan and illustration of an angel for and by Propella. 2012
‘Wishing You a Colourful Christmas’ for and by Propella. 2012
‘Wartime Christmas’ for Direction magazine featuring barbed wire wrapped present by Paul Rand. 19401940
‘Wartime Christmas’ for Direction magazine by Paul Rand. 1940
Xmas greeting card featuring a rail travel pass ticket to Lapland - ‘Christmas Journey’ for Connex Rail by Johnson Banks
‘Christmas Journey’ for Connex Rail by Johnson Banks
Xmas greeting card featuring a photo of a sneaker with green laces resembling a Christmas tree - ‘Lace Tree’ for DK Shoes by Unknown Designer
‘Lace Tree’ for DK Shoes by Unknown Designer
Xmas greetings card featuring stamps positioned to resemble a Xmas tree on a postcard - ‘Stamp Tree’ for and by The Chase. 1993
‘Stamp Tree’ for and by The Chase. 1993
Xmas greetings poster featuring H+CO logo adjusted to read HO, HO, HO - ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ for H+CO Menswear by Propella. 2018
‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ for H+CO Menswear by Propella. 2018
Christmas greetings card for D&AD featuring shavings from the famous yellow pencil to resemble a Xmas tree - ‘Pencil Tree’ for D&AD by Andy & Jonny
‘Pencil Tree’ for D&AD by Andy & Jonny
Xmas greetings card illustration and photo montage featuring Xmas scenes of reindeers and snow - ‘Christmas Chairs’ for The Design Museum by Carter Wong. 1989
‘Christmas Chairs’ for The Design Museum by Carter Wong. 1989
Xmas greetings card featuring a plastic bread clip adjusted with illustration to suggest Santa - ‘Plastic Santa’ by Alan Hynes
‘Plastic Santa’ by Alan Hynes
Xmas greeting card featuring holly and eyes to create ‘Rudolf’ for photographer Andy Seymour by CDT Design. 1990
‘Rudolf’ for photographer Andy Seymour by CDT Design. 1990
Xmas animation featuring word play with Ho, Ho, Ho - ‘Lots of Ho’s’ for and by Propella. 2014
‘Lots of Ho’s’ for and by Propella. 2014
Xmas greeting featuring an illustration of an angel with a holly leaf wing - ‘Hark’ for and by CDT Design. 1994
‘Hark’ for and by CDT Design. 1994
Xmas greeting card featuring a map of Xmas Island overlayed with illustration of an angel - ‘Christmas Island’ for and by Carter Wong. 1987
‘Christmas Island’ for and by Carter Wong. 1987
Xmas greeting flip book showing how Santa got his red coat - ‘Why Santa is Red’ for and by Robinson Lambie-Nairn. 1982
‘Why Santa is Red’ for and by Robinson Lambie-Nairn. 1982
Xmas greeting card featuring a paper cup with wings and a halo - ‘Angelic Cups’ for F Bender disposable tableware by The Partners. 1992
‘Angelic Cups’ for F Bender disposable tableware by The Partners. 1992
Xmas greeting card featuring a music punch card and Christmas song - ‘Punch Card’ by Unknown Designer
‘Punch Card’ by Unknown Designer
Xmas gift of mulled wine featuring Pantone colour Warm Red chip - ‘Warmer Wishes’ for and by Designers Anonymous
‘Warmer Wishes’ for and by Designers Anonymous
Xmas greeting postcard featuring Royal Mail stamps of mother and child stuck over illustration of a modern Christmas lounge room - ‘Mother and Child’ for and by Johnson Banks
‘Mother and Child’ for and by Johnson Banks
Xmas greeting for an electronics company featuring an on button icon and Xmas tree - ‘Electronic Christmas Tree’ by Unknown Designer
‘Electronic Christmas Tree’ by Unknown Designer
Xmas greeting with Letraset sheet featuring Korinna font and message - ‘Old School Typography’ by Unknown Designer
‘Old School Typography’ by Unknown Designer
Xmas greeting of a Ladbrokes betting slip for a Dreaming of a White Christmas - ‘Dreaming of a White Christmas’ for and by Mavity Gilmore Advertising. 1985
‘Dreaming of a White Christmas’ for and by Mavity Gilmore Advertising. 1985
Xmas greeting for a paper merchant featuring an envelope where the inside flap becomes a tree - ‘Christmas Envelope’ for Wiggins Teape Paperpoint by The Partners. 1985
‘Christmas Envelope’ for Wiggins Teape Paperpoint by The Partners. 1985
Spoof Brand guidelines created for Christmas - ‘Christmas Brand Guidelines’ by Unknown Designer
‘Christmas Brand Guidelines’ by Unknown Designer
Xmas greeting card featuring Santa with a builders arse placing gifts around a tree - ‘Building a Better Xmas’ for Pro BTP Builders Insurance by Unknown Designer
‘Building a Better Xmas’ for Pro BTP Builders Insurance by Unknown Designer
Various Xmas greetings cards featuring the pencil sketch Minale Tattersfield icon making things into angels - ‘Angels’ for and by Minale Tattersfield Design. 1993
‘Angels’ for and by Minale Tattersfield Design. 1993
Xmas greetings card featuring a drinking Santa and Rudolf sharing a red nose - ‘Christmas Cheer’ by R.O. Blechman
‘Christmas Cheer’ by R.O. Blechman
Xmas greetings card featuring a tree chasing an axe and people holding up the stars behind a geometric tree - ‘Christmas Trees’ by R.O. Blechman. 1990
‘Christmas Trees’ by R.O. Blechman. 1990
DIY Xmas greetings card featuring stickers to make your own message - ‘DIY Christmas Card’ by NB
‘DIY Christmas Card’ by NB
Xmas greetings toy featuring illustration of a tree with ball bearings for tree decorations - ‘Puzzle’ for Character Photosetting by John Gorman. 1978
‘Puzzle’ for Character Photosetting by John Gorman. 1978
Xmas greetings box - ‘Happy Boxing Day’ for Alan Bancroft cardboard engineer by Zack John Design
‘Happy Boxing Day’ for Alan Bancroft cardboard engineer by Zack John Design
Xmas greetings card featuring a receipt wishing people a Merry Christmas - ‘Cost of Christmas’ for Kevin’s Kards by Unknown Designer. 2004t
‘Cost of Christmas’ for Kevin’s Kards by Unknown Designer. 2004

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