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2024 Holiday Card
Dean Etschmaier asked for a Holiday Card that featured the beautiful stained glass window in the Werkmeister Room in Dodd Hall. In previous years, my predecessor had designed something similar, but the card wasn’t see through. This year, we set out to achieve a see through card without compromising the integrity or durability of the design.
I started by hand-painting the window, scanning it, and trying to use that digitized file. However, I just didn’t like the look. I opted for photographing the window and retouching the image for clarity, since I didn’t have Master Craftsman’s original window design files.
Next, I made a mockup using a Cricut machine and cellophane paper. I tested a triple-panel structure with cutouts to emulate the window grilles. I then loosely doodled some color on the cellophane with watercolor markers to test the transparency and light reflection effect. The final card turned out very close to that original mockup.
I took the mockup to Rapid Press in Tallahassee and sent over all files. We had to make some adjustments to the window grilles to make the design sturdier, and I also ended up changing the illustration on the mylar to make the card less prone to obvious misalignments during assembly (we had a 44-email-long thread of edits!) Here’s the comparison of the handmade mockup, Rapid’s mockup, and the final card.
2023 Card
The previous year, we had a card with three flaps that fold over to complete a botanical illustration featuring a couple of cardinals, magnolias, and some other flowers that decorate FSU’s campus in December. Although we went through less rounds of edits for this card, the main challenge was perfecting all the illustrations, which I drew using Procreate and Photoshop.
