This has been quite a big project for me before the term 1 finishes. Every year NSI send Christmas card for their collaborators and supporters to present their accomplishment throughout a year – like a reflection.

There was a basic template they’ve been following for years, and this was the first time they letting an intern entirely produce a design.

What I choose to decide was follow the basic template but add more comprehensive personal touch to it – by using flat check patterns and hand drawn illustrations. I also desaturated the photos in black and white to create a consistent tone.

There was a limited time to keep a track on the project – about a week or bit more, I’ve put all my focus on this project. Going through all the trial and errors, I realised again, that what I envisioned is not always correlate with what the team truly needs. Especially then my superior explained the functional purpose of the card as in a sense it’s reporting back of NSI’s significant achievements through the year thus it encourages the supporters and the collaborators to acknowledge the presence.

In retrospect, I think I had a mindset as a fine artist where I weighed on the indication and the visual aesthetic rather than a functionality, thus I came to respect designing more, where it requires to juggle artistry, meaning and functionality.

Even after the design was made, I was still on the anticipation about printing, which I’d say it was frustrating, and requires great sum of patience. I made another design specifically for Robert Walters.