Case study: Design a Winter Celebration flier

The Winter Celebration flier was intended for the employees of a corporate DEI Council (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) 

1) The client provided a Word doc with a rough hierarchy—what comes first, second, etc.—as well as hyperlinks to register for the event. There were no graphics; it was up to me to create a festive and inviting flier.

2) There will be two types of events: some, virtual Zoom, and others, live in-person. The client wanted me to use the theme logos I had created earlier in 2022.

These were the steps in my process:

• Retrieve the required DEI logos from my library. Make sure they are prominent on the flier.
• Look for fun winter graphics. Fortunately, my library has many holiday files from past projects, especially snowflakes. Additionally, I copied gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate, and a candy cane from a recent magazine job.
• Search GettyImages.com for additional winter images. A group of snowmen holding hands was festive and perfect for the flier’s header.
• Add the client’s text, and finesse the point sizes and colors. “Winter Celebration” is the biggest type element. Lime green is a funky color for winter, but it’s the corporate color. This was followed by “date, time, and location” large enough for the target audience to find. 
• Split the remaining text into two columns with the virtual and live logos; fill the rest of the space with winter graphics. 

3) The client felt the two-column split wasn’t clear enough. He wanted more distinction between virtual and live. “Let me know if that makes sense/what you think – happy to discuss!” he wrote.

4) Solution: I added two background shaded boxes—blue on the left, lime green on the right—to differentiate between online versus in-person. Holiday decorations were moved to the bottom. 

5) I sent the revised file to the client. His reply: “Love it! thanks so much.” The final interactive PDF with hyperlinks was distributed to all the employees via email.

The challenge of a project like this, which has a number of elements, is to make the important information stand out while avoiding a cluttered look. The choice of font, colors, and graphics must all combine to create a unified, eye-catching whole, as well as an overall sense of fun.