Many of us love to get a card in the mail. Culturally, we still believe in the importance of the designed artifact. There is a certain kind of feeling to holding a card in your hands, opening the envelope with anticipation, then viewing, and reading the sentiment inside. Merrimack College has mailed Christmas cards since 1947. It is a time-honored tradition of strengthening relationships with fellow colleagues. For the 2024 Christmas card, the tradition continues, but with a twist. The President’s Office approached Associate Professor, Nancy Wynn, MFA, with a request to engage students in the process.
During Spring 24, Professor Wynn integrated this real design project into the Graphic Design Studio 2 course. Director of the Office of the President, Lisa Jebali, explains:” We wanted to showcase our student’s love for the season and their creativity.” Students were encouraged to conceptualize various ideas about Christmas, the Holiday Season, and the Christmas story. As the process continued with ideation, the students wanted to make more connections to the birth of Jesus. Fr. Ray Dlugos, O.S.A., visited the class, discussed the Christmas story and wrote three prayers—each focused on the Christmas story, but targeted towards a specific audience. He shares, “The birth of Jesus Christ came about as told in the Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25. The story tells of Joseph’s dream about how his betrothed became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was seen considering his options regarding Mary and the shame she brought upon herself and upon him. After waking from the dream, Joseph takes Mary into his home.” Fr. Ray made the point that whenever we welcome someone who is considered unacceptable into our homes and communities, the birth of Jesus Christ is revealed.
As the project progressed, the class presented about 20 designs by the end of the semester. The concepts were moving in the right direction, but were not yet professional enough. Professor Wynn explains: “The project was undertaken and balanced with other course projects. The students were able to devote about three weeks to ideation and design. They produced multiple designs, some of which were close to the aesthetic and feeling we were trying to achieve, while others were more experimental. However, none were ready to be presented to the President’s Office, so I asked the President’s Office if they would be interested in continuing the project over the summer. They agreed, and three students took on the challenge.” Professor Wynn had the students sign a contract, likening it to a professional job.
Throughout the summer, they worked on the project with Professor Wynn, meeting virtually each week to ensure their designs achieved a professional level. She asked the students to creatively play everyday as they developed their creative ideas. To warm up creatively, undergraduate student Ben Abdou decided to begin with a daily 10-minute creative exercise. Photography, watercolor painting, drawing with colored pencils, paper sculpture, and handwritten typography all became part of his artistic toolkit. These small acts of creativity sharpened his mind and allowed his ideas to flow freely. Professor Wynn continues: “Each student produced a set of three cards consistent in design, incorporating one of Fr. Ray’s prayers, and visualizing the Christmas Holiday in a unique way. Concepts of ‘nostalgia,’ ‘stained glass,’ and ‘Merrimack architectural highlights’ grace the sets.”
In late September, the three students presented their designs to President Hopey who provided great feedback and surprised them by accepting all three designs. One will be produced for Christmas 2024, while the others will be used for other purposes, or next year’s Christmas card.
Undergraduate student Mikaela Sordillo’s design was chosen for the 2024 Christmas card. It creates words from the prayer with pictures (similar to emojis) using a touch of nostalgia in the illustrations. She shares about the project’s concept: “I decided to go with a more playful and artistic theme…I hand-drew all of these symbols on my iPad, using the app Procreate, and then put them together to spell out the words, Joy, Peace, and Love, which are seen in the prayer on the inside of the card…I think it feels like a nostalgic Christmas…I conveyed that feeling through my symbols, color palette and whimsical drawing style.”
Abdou, explains how his design incorporated all three prayers, and architectural markers on campus: “I connected each prayer to a group of people…families, students, and faculty. Then I connected these groups to iconic campus architecture that would represent these people…this project taught me how to dig deep into a project, look for the meaning behind everything, and then explore that and apply it to my design and creative efforts. It’s a new approach that will allow me to look at everything through a perspective of inquiry, understanding, and self-education to be able to visualize, create, and communicate on a deeper level.”
Lastly, undergraduate student Angeline Setiawan’s design is based on the concept of stained glass: “These Christmas cards were inspired by tapestry and stain glass windows…and incorporated in these cards are the Merrimack colors…Merrimack blue, yellow, grey and tints of [it] them…It’s not super religious, but it has little ‘Easter Eggs’ like the cross, presents, and a Santa hat.”
Professor Wynn regularly incorporates real design projects into coursework. Besides the students conducting their own research into the challenges of the projects, she has clients, topic experts, and vendors visit the classroom. They all share detailed information for continued research and a better understanding of targeted communication for designed storytelling. Students also gain access to outside networks in the discipline of design. She adds: “Design is part of every industry. Clients, and outside topic experts, meet with our students directly, sharing their professional knowledge. The students benefit from designing a tangible project, but more importantly, they also gain more confidence with their interpersonal, oral presentation, and collaboration skills.”
