The Periodic Table of Holiday Elements

Holiday Card, 2006 | Hamilton, Brook, Smith & Reynolds, P.C.click to download full-size PDFIn addition to being a challenging design project, the Eymer Design + Hamilton Brook team was also challenged with coming up with holiday terms that matched each abbreviated scientific element. Some of our favorites: (F) Frost Heaves, (Ar) Assembly Required, (As) Abominable Snowman, and of course–(PU) Fruitcake!

Happy Holidays! – Doug.

Elvis & Tom

Definitely and "Odd Couple"– Thomas Jefferson & Elvis PresleyQuite frankly, this is a duet that I never really anticipated. Thomas Jefferson, lead copywriter for our Declaration of Independence teamed up with “3 phases” of “The Elvis.”

Here are the phases for review:
1. He was cool in the 1950s
2. Became a movie star in the 1960s
3. Got fat, took drugs and died in the 1970s.

For only $19.95 (plus shipping and handling), you can buy an authentic colorized “Graceland meets Monticello,” $2 bill (complete with a protective display portfolio and numbered certificate of authenticity).

Should there be an emergency and you have to use the bill, my guess is that you have an excellent chance of being rapidly escorted out the express exit of the local mini-mart, $2 bill and certificate of authenticity following immediately behind.

Thomas and Elvis, perhaps we shouldn’t have gone there. I am going to resist the temptation to purchase. I hope that you do too. – Doug.

What type are you?

I just took Pentagram's "What Type are You" test and found out that I am Cooper Black Italic. I have always hated that font. I'm going to try it again. – Doug.

Rockets!: Disney's Man in Space Remix

Here is a man, way before his time, still supported by a team of creative/marketing geniuses. Working for Disney in a creative capacity, has always been a dream of mine. – Doug.

Great holidays don’t just happen. There is a science to it.

card front (closed)card front (insert pulled out to first position)the five, "scientific/holiday-related" itemsthe back of the card (with area for handwritten greetings and signatures)

During our first 21 years of producing marketing communications strategies and materials, EYMER Design has had the opportunity to work with not only extremely smart people, but people with great senses of humor. (We also are lucky to have clients willing to deal with our bad jokes and potent puns.)

In 2006, we again worked with our good friend  Audra Callanan (who had recently left Wolf Greenfield) and moved on to Hamilton, Brook Smith & Reynolds. To some, working for an intellectual property law firm may seem a bit dreary. We love the challenge!

That year’s HBSR card was designed as an adaptation of a scientific slide rule:

• The reader grabs onto the gray arrow in the thumb slot and pulls the card interior from left to right.
• Following each pull, interesting holiday-related, scientific facts are displayed.
• On the top, the scientific name (relating to the photograph below) is exposed.

We did take some liberties concerning the scientific names. For example “the mall” was described as “a multi-enterprise, merchandise-centric edifice.”

Beneath each objects photograph is an interesting fact. For example, aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) has this positioned beneath it: “Twice as many people chose aspirin over the personal computer as an invention they wouldn’t live without in a 1996 MIT survey. Frequently ingested after mall visit.”

Despite a frantic schedule, and complex production hurdles, we produced this holiday card in record time. We were also extremely fortunate to receive very positive write-ups in legal marketing blogs and newsletters. Most importantly, we were hired to produce the following year’s card!  – Doug.