I love using an opportunity like this to question the conventional way and come up with new (and our) ways of celebrating the occasion. Ultimately... aligning the design outcome with the baum-kuchen philosophy...
So the goal for this holiday card was to create something that is "functional, emotionally durable and beautiful"... and won't be easily a throw-away like what would happen to many of these holiday cards from businesses.
FB and I brainstormed on few different possibilities but settled with the idea of "bookmark" that is also a place to capture a list of Inspirational Investment. If you know us well (either online/offline), you know how important the idea of "Inspirational Investment" is for us by now. We recently launched a map to help people visualize their inspirational investment ...and personally have a saving account named after this!
So the Inspirational Investment bookmark for 2012 as a holiday artifact to share... just seemed right!
Each letterpress bookmark has a number 1-12 and little dotted field for writing... along with a check-mark box on the right. I wanted to keep the design simple and open enough so people can come up with their unique ways of using the bookmark.
I started filling mine (from the middle instead of the top... just to avoid the pressure of figuring out what should be on the list #1) and loving it.
I also designed the envelope that is made by folded letter size brown paper... with texts/address printed on the back and front. If you have ordered item/s from our shop, you probably were able to see the familiarity in the way I package the order with the way I folded the envelope:)
Throughout the holiday season, I made conscious decisions not to fall in the urge of "selling more". People have asked me if I were going to do any email blasts on Black Friday or work with discount web platforms. Don't get me wrong... I love Fab personally but it's not for baum-kuchen. I need to always remember that I price items honestly and it's about putting love and care in each order and customer and sharing inspiration than selling more.
That's what makes us happy and that is baum-kuchen:)
We will be taking a mini break from from the shop from tonight till mid-Wednesday but will be back working on Thursday and Friday before I close the shop for the year. (stay tuned for blog update with photos:)
I hope you have wonderful celebration. We are not a part of the religion but have crafted our own ways to celebrate the occasion... and it's all about being pleasant with our family and enjoying the wonder of life...
xo
-wakako
