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.