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For the 2010 RMD holiday card, we decided to reuse old greeting and post cards from our own saved stockpile along with ones collected from family, friends and some from eBay. We sketched out an array of festive design concepts by hand then drew them in Adobe Illustrator and digital die cut them out of each card. From the many design ideas: pine trees, birds, snowflakes, etc, we chose two, a mistletoe and a partridge in a pear tree.

Each card was shipped flat within a 100% recycled and 20% post-consumer waste brown kraft paper envelope with a matching belly band that was printed with a message that pertained to the card’s design. The mistletoe card belly band read: “Happy Holidays Kissing Under The Mistletoe. Share the love this holiday season by gently pushing the mistletoe cutout through the card and hang in a doorway, on a wall or hold it over that special someone’s head and see what happens. This card was made with delight from recycled greeting and post cards from family, friends and eBay strangers. Happy smooching and pass it on once you’ve had your fun!” The other read: “And a Partridge in a Pear Tree. Share the joy this holiday season by gently pushing the tree cutout up by its trunk and display the card on a table or on a wall. This card was made with love from recycled greeting and post cards from family, friends and eBay strangers. Happy holidays and pass it on once you’ve had your fun!”

We have taken used cards consequently bound for the recycling bin or landfill and reconstructed them by creating a new holiday card and small piece of artwork that can be enjoyed giving it a new life form and a repurpose in the world. So far the response has been successful as most clients, family and friends are excited to interact with the card made from someone else’s used greeting along with some even receiving their own cards back from last year.

Client: Rachel Martin Design | Designer: Rachel Martin

Rachel Martin Design always hand creates its holiday cards each year using some recycled and handmade design elements. Previous years have used hand stamping, diecut recycled paper and pine tree clippings. For 2009, we decided to get out the shredder and craft tiny packages made from bits of junk mail all wrapped up with a tiny hemp bow. We used non-toxic adhesives and worked long and hard laying each little tid bit of shred down into little squares on the 100% recycled paper stock. The outcome was a delightful success as most clients, family and friends were excited to receive the pleasant surprise made out of junk mail.

Client: Rachel Martin Design | Designer: Rachel Martin

Loftin & Company Printers hired Rachel Martin Design to design a unique gift for its customers. The result, a gift box of note cards with photography of Charlotte landmark signs all encased in a kraft box wrapped with an abstract belly band. Since Loftin & Company has been in business since 1898, we were inspired to showcase other local businesses that have been in Charlotte throughout the years. Charlotte is full of beautiful old buildings and signage from the the 40s through 60s so we took some of our favorite nostalgic spots to use for the cards and hired a local photographer to shoot the signs. We made the cards black and white and retouched each of the images to have a truly authentic vintage feel. When Loftin & Company distributed the note cards, they also included a small note about their belief in the personal touch of a hand-written note and shared the cards with each of their clients as a special thanks and to encourage them to write their own memorable hand-written notes.

 

Founded in 1910, The Poetry Society of America is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Its mission is to secure wide recognition for poetry as one of the important forces contributing to a higher cultural life. The Poetry Society of America held a dinner to honor the Poet Laureates of the United States at the Pierre Hotel in New York City. The guests received an elegantly designed invitation to the dinner and a limited edition custom crafted chapbook of poems showcasing each of the Poet Laureate’s works.

 

 

When Kathryn Lotis and Scott Fisher approached Rachel Martin Design to design their wedding invite and all of the printed components for their big day, we were honored. The couple was getting married in Baltimore, MD, the bride’s hometown, and wanted something fun, a bit quirky and hip to reflect their personalities and the cool event space that their reception would be at, the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The save the date was a kitchy retro “Greetings from Baltimore” postcard with the wedding information on the back. The invitation was just as fun incorporating the invitation, directions, hotel and travel held together with a grommet and a perforated RSVP card that could be torn off and sent back in its respective bright orange envelope.

 

Loftin & Company Printers approached Rachel Martin Design to design an invitation for an upcoming Sappi Paper Varnish and Coating Technique luncheon they were hosting. They didn’t have anything in mind for the design except to show some various varnish coatings. The outcome was a fresh looking design with a sueded aqeuous coat on the outside of the invite and subtle circular rings in a tinted varnish that appear when you turn the card at various angles.

Client: Loftin & Company Printers | Designer: Rachel Martin

700 Second Street is part of Station Place, an office complex that consists of three connected buildings (100 F Street, 600 Second Street and 700 Second Street NE) with 1.6 million square feet on a 5.5-acre site. Built with elegant materials and finishes, including pine green and gray granite, etched mirror stainless steel, rosetta marble, clear insulating glass and anigré wood, it was completed in 2009 and qualified for LEED Silver certification. The invitation, which was designed prior to the building being constructed, was created for the brokers to invite potential tenants to luncheons to learn more about the available space.

Boxed gift card sets were given out each year as the Louis Dreyfus holiday gift. Each set was based on art from the private collection of William Louis-Dreyfus and packaged in a custom-made box. The set above is “Color (Series)”, oil on linen, 2002 - 2003 by Sandra Mendelsohn Rubin.

Louis Dreyfus holiday gift card set with art by Raymond Mason, "Rome, Paris, London and New York", ink on paper, 1976 from the collection of William Louis-Dreyfus.

Designed while working with Wood Design and Louis Dreyfus in New York, NY
Client: Louis Dreyfus | Design Director: Tom Wood | Designers: Rachel Martin, Clint Bottoni | Design Intern: Stacey Maloney

Louis Dreyfus holiday gift card set with art by Raymond Mason, "Studies of Fruits and Vegetables", watercolor on paper, 1971 from the collection of William Louis-Dreyfus.