Year-end is a busy time in the world of direct response fundraising. This client sends out three different direct mail donation requests between November 15 and December 5. This one is the Christmas card from the ministry’s founder.

card outside and inside, return address label, reply device front and back, reply envelope

What I had to start with was a pretty photo with soft green tones, and a request for a gold foil return address label design for the carrier envelope. (The carrier envelope for this piece isn’t commercially-printed like the other direct response mailer designs. It will be a plain envelope with my return address label design, and the recipient’s address printed in the Dear Joe Four font.) I decided to play off the gold look by finding a festive photo from dreamstime.com, and using it to frame the founder’s photo on the card front design.

I added “Merry Christmas” in the decorative yet readable Kuenstler Script, and accented the photo with a 3 point green frame. The other pieces, including the card’s inside, were just one color, for which I selected Pantone 355. The letter and the reply device also had black type, which will be personalized for each recipient.

I selected the “Birds on a Snowy Branch” sketch to accent the reply device and envelope designs. The ministry founder has an archive of mouth-drawn and painted artwork that I can choose from for my graphic designs.

The Year-End Card Appeal is the second of the three year-end direct response mailings from this client. Now that my busy crunch-time is over, perhaps I’ll have a chance to go back and show you the November Appeal next.

Planning next year’s direct response mailing program? Why not contact me now and reserve some time in my busy schedule. I’d be pleased to provide a no-obligation quote.

From my freelance graphic design portfolio:
Direct Response Mailer Design portfolio page
Greeting Card Design portfolio page